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Blogging, vlogging and the new mainstream
June 12, 2006 -
Vloggercon: Where everyone's the media
June 11, 2006
What was not clear were the circumstances behind Congdon's departure. Rocketboom's majority owner, Andrew Baron, has said that Congdon quit because she wanted to move to Los Angeles and that he wasn't able to meet her demands to move the video blog's production facilities there. Among other places, Baron posted his version of things directly on Rocketboom.
For her part, Congdon--who in many ways had become not just the face of Rocketboom, but the face of video blogging as a medium--insisted that she had not quit and that, in fact, she had been fired. She admitted she wanted to move to L.A., but maintained that she wanted to do so within the confines of what would work for Rocketboom. She posted her version of events on her blog and included a video in which she told her side of the story from in front of an upside-down world map, a reference to the map that had always appeared behind her in Rocketboom episodes.
It quickly became clear that the legions of Rocketboom fans would probably never know the exact truth of this "he said, she said" drama. But one thing was clear: People cared, in spite of the unseemly public back and forth. Stories appeared in national media and, as one would expect, the blogosphere went crazy with speculation and commentary.
Now, as Rocketboom struggles to get back on its feet and rumors swirl about Congdon's future--including fodder on Valleywag that she may join the popular videoblog 88Slide--CNET News.com got an opportunity to ask the former face--and more--of Rocketboom what's really going on.
Q: Why don't you start off by telling me about your crazy day?Congdon: I've been mostly trying to focus on having my side of the story heard and communicating with the press. I just got back from talking to MSNBC.
So talking to the press suits your bigger picture and your personal goals, or are you just trying to deal with what's going on right now with your having left Rocketboom?
Congdon: Well, I didn't leave Rocketboom. I was pushed out and I am determined to have my story heard.
Video:
Rocketboom sans Amanda
Will Hollywood embrace the vlog starlet?
Video:
88Slide creator on vlogs and more
Site is focus of Amanda Congdon rumor
Do you think that Baron expected the media frenzy surrounding your departure?
Congdon: I don't think so. I think he probably hoped I would just continue with Rocketboom just being the face. But he knows me well enough to know that I couldn't do that. So when he gave me the ultimatum, it became clear that I was no longer welcome.
What was the ultimatum?
Congdon: The ultimatum was that I could continue to be the face of Rocketboom and talk to the press but nothing beyond that. No involvement in any other aspects of the business or anything else. Perhaps in the future, I could produce shows, but not for the time being, and it was definitely not a promise.
But you would still be able to keep your 49 percent ownership of Rocketboom?
Congdon: He wanted to reduce my share of the ownership, and he did not want me to manage the business. But our contract stated that I was entitled to be part of managing the business.
Did he tell you why he wanted to change things?
Congdon: I'm still not entirely sure. I think a lot of it may have had to do with Andrew's insecurities about me moving out to Hollywood and what would happen then. I was very forthright with him that I was going to be working on the Jet Set Show (a Rocketboom production) and continue to do Rocketboom and try to make business contacts for us out there. He basically wanted all of us to stay in New York City and for me to work a 10-to-6 job and have all of my projects that I ever do in my life be under his control.
"In fact, this graph is similar to the suspicious Breitbart graph. It's possible that a deliberate Internet hype campaign is underway to drive interest in Internet video and the associated companies."
I notice that both whats-her-name, and CNet, named-dropped the "I just spoke with MSNBC" tidbit. Is that why CNet considers this news? Because MSNBC does?
I notice that both whats-her-name, and CNet, named-dropped the "I just spoke with MSNBC" tidbit. Is that why CNet considers this news? Because MSNBC does?
Is this like the girlfriend of one of CNET's 'journalists' or something?
Is this like the girlfriend of one of CNET's 'journalists' or something?
I've been diving into the vlog realm head first lately, so when I read everyone's comments I became concerned that I had a skewed perspective on the importance all of this vlog busines. So I did a quick search. The first page turned up some interesting names commenting on growth of video blogging (as well as R.B.) in the last month; Gates, Forbes, Scoble, Malik, MSNBC, Google, to name but a pinch. Warner Bros. cutting deals with YouTube... Gates telling CEOs that starting a channel9 (Microsoft's vlog network) is the best thing they could do for themselves... Scoble's recruitment at Podtech being the biggest tech news for two weeks straight... 300 regularly updated vlogs to 6000 in just one year...
I have to stop somewhere. But this ain't it. Vloging represents the dissolution of media power structures - now mega-media such as "Lost" is facing competition from low-fi content produced with $10k worth of equipment in some college kid's dorm. Don't trust modern big media? No worries, there's about 10k other sources you can find thanks to vlogdom. Most of it is junk? Sure, same goes for TV news content, what's new? start sorting.
Video blogging is the most interesting thing going on in media news, and one of the more interesting things going on in democracy. Rocketboom, as the golden child of that world, is bound to make headlines, it's just a reflection of where the power increasingly lies; in the hands of the little guy. Alas, I am but a humble video production designer, so please, dont take my word for it. Trust the names that DO know a little about business, media and trends - here's a couple links to get you started:
Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/bow/b2c/category.jhtml?id=316
Scoble blog:
http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/
Technorati:
http://www.technorati.com/tags/vlog
For small business:
http://seedsofgrowth.com/what-the-heck-is-a-vlog
What we've never heard of is this Rocketboom thing.
I've been diving into the vlog realm head first lately, so when I read everyone's comments I became concerned that I had a skewed perspective on the importance all of this vlog busines. So I did a quick search. The first page turned up some interesting names commenting on growth of video blogging (as well as R.B.) in the last month; Gates, Forbes, Scoble, Malik, MSNBC, Google, to name but a pinch. Warner Bros. cutting deals with YouTube... Gates telling CEOs that starting a channel9 (Microsoft's vlog network) is the best thing they could do for themselves... Scoble's recruitment at Podtech being the biggest tech news for two weeks straight... 300 regularly updated vlogs to 6000 in just one year...
I have to stop somewhere. But this ain't it. Vloging represents the dissolution of media power structures - now mega-media such as "Lost" is facing competition from low-fi content produced with $10k worth of equipment in some college kid's dorm. Don't trust modern big media? No worries, there's about 10k other sources you can find thanks to vlogdom. Most of it is junk? Sure, same goes for TV news content, what's new? start sorting.
Video blogging is the most interesting thing going on in media news, and one of the more interesting things going on in democracy. Rocketboom, as the golden child of that world, is bound to make headlines, it's just a reflection of where the power increasingly lies; in the hands of the little guy. Alas, I am but a humble video production designer, so please, dont take my word for it. Trust the names that DO know a little about business, media and trends - here's a couple links to get you started:
Forbes:
http://www.forbes.com/bow/b2c/category.jhtml?id=316
Scoble blog:
http://scobleizer.wordpress.com/
Technorati:
http://www.technorati.com/tags/vlog
For small business:
http://seedsofgrowth.com/what-the-heck-is-a-vlog
What we've never heard of is this Rocketboom thing.
Other things to know about these days: youtube & stickam (video), lunarstorm & hyves (Europe), vmware & xen (virtualization), GDrive & Amazon S3 (hosted storage) etc. etc.
But back to this RB story...
I'm not convinced that Amanda's side is the only side that needed to be heard. I heard about her departure from HER blog (unboomed) before anything appeared on RB.
Quite frankly I think this was a case of an anchor overestimating her contribution and feeling indispensible after becoming 'the face' and a producer who did not want to lose controle over his creation.
If Andrew had truly 'planned' to push her out, wouldn't he have had another person lined up to replace her?
PS I never liked RB, *because* of the humor and 'boobie-appeal'.
Other things to know about these days: youtube & stickam (video), lunarstorm & hyves (Europe), vmware & xen (virtualization), GDrive & Amazon S3 (hosted storage) etc. etc.
But back to this RB story...
I'm not convinced that Amanda's side is the only side that needed to be heard. I heard about her departure from HER blog (unboomed) before anything appeared on RB.
Quite frankly I think this was a case of an anchor overestimating her contribution and feeling indispensible after becoming 'the face' and a producer who did not want to lose controle over his creation.
If Andrew had truly 'planned' to push her out, wouldn't he have had another person lined up to replace her?
PS I never liked RB, *because* of the humor and 'boobie-appeal'.
http://spiralbound.net/2006/07/19/amanda-congdon-bisonboom/
http://borkweb.com/story/bisonboom-logo
http://spiralbound.net/2006/07/19/amanda-congdon-bisonboom/
http://borkweb.com/story/bisonboom-logo
- Wow
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by ss_Whiplash
May 2, 2008 11:30 PM PDT
- I've been in this industry for a quite a while now and I think I'm pretty plugged in... but this whole Rocketboom thing just surprised the heck out of me. I'd never even HEARD of them until this whole "fiasco" took place. I went and took a look at their archives... and now I know why. This was a horrible piece of video production. I can't help but think that the whole hoopla surrounding this was becuase Amanda Congdon is kinda cute, and we techies are just a ***** bunch.
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Reply to this comment
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- who cares
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by curtegg
July 12, 2006 7:54 AM PDT
- nuf said
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- No Doubt
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by WileySkier
July 12, 2006 9:21 AM PDT
- I can second that bit about her being a hottie. Unfortunately, the ruckus she's stirring up about how she was so "wronged" overshadows what creativity and intelligence she may have. Come on?stop whining and move on. If you were really righteous, you?d give him back the shares he ?gave? you, start up something else and never look back.
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- Thoughts On Meme Manipulation
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by Broward Horne
July 12, 2006 9:57 AM PDT
- http://www.realmeme.com/roller/page/realmeme?entry=rocketboom_and_vlogs
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(30 Comments)"In fact, this graph is similar to the suspicious Breitbart graph. It's possible that a deliberate Internet hype campaign is underway to drive interest in Internet video and the associated companies."