Amanda goes Hollywood?
The video that Amanda Congdon made to inform everyone of her departure from Rocketboom left the impression that she was 'let go' from her gig. According to this statement (currently on Rocketboom), Amanda is moving to L.A. to pursue opportunities in Hollywood.
I don't know which account is accurate, but if Amanda is truly leaving the geek world to pursue a life of stardom, it wasn't too cool to play the 'poor me' card to the audience. She spoke of transparency and the need for honesty, but if she was leading the viewers to think that it wasn't her decision to leave, there is nothing honest in that.
If the statement on Rocketboom is correct, I wonder why Amanda would try and leave us with the impression that she was fired, rather than just saying, "Man, this is so rockin'! I joined Rocketboom to do this and ended up landing some HUGE gigs in Hollywood!" - which everyone would understand.
Maybe she was afraid of the following questions: "Did Amanda sell her viewers out for a shot at Hollywood?" "Are we not good enough for her?"
I don't know...to each their own. I believe that if Amanda hits the silver screen because of her roots at Rocketboom, that is a testament to the power of the new media. There is nothing to be ashamed of there.
But if she was let go as Amanda led us to believe...I'm not sure what Andrew is thinking...
Or...maybe as Valleywag put it...we are being Punk'd.
I don't know which account is accurate, but if Amanda is truly leaving the geek world to pursue a life of stardom, it wasn't too cool to play the 'poor me' card to the audience. She spoke of transparency and the need for honesty, but if she was leading the viewers to think that it wasn't her decision to leave, there is nothing honest in that.
If the statement on Rocketboom is correct, I wonder why Amanda would try and leave us with the impression that she was fired, rather than just saying, "Man, this is so rockin'! I joined Rocketboom to do this and ended up landing some HUGE gigs in Hollywood!" - which everyone would understand.
Maybe she was afraid of the following questions: "Did Amanda sell her viewers out for a shot at Hollywood?" "Are we not good enough for her?"
I don't know...to each their own. I believe that if Amanda hits the silver screen because of her roots at Rocketboom, that is a testament to the power of the new media. There is nothing to be ashamed of there.
But if she was let go as Amanda led us to believe...I'm not sure what Andrew is thinking...
Or...maybe as Valleywag put it...we are being Punk'd.
10 Comments:
My guess is that it's probably a combination of the two; she wanted to move, Andrew didn't, and words were said such that Amanda honestly believes she was let go, and Andrew honestly believes she quit. And ne'er the twain shall meet, lol.
Ms. Rogue,
I wouldn't be too quick to judge Amanda if I were you, one can question your motives and the real truth behind you "leaving" Riya
Have you seen Amanda's latest post on her personal blog?
http://amandaunboomed.blogspot.com/
She actually posts a letter from Andrew and then points out every place she disagrees with him or where she thinks he's lieing. Personally, I think that it was probably a bad move on her part.
Both her and Andrew now look really bad. Even though it appears Andrew was a jerk, she shouldn't post things like that online. I'm sure that Andrew didn't think Amanda would post their correspondance online and if I was in a position to hire her, there is no way I would because what if we had to let her go? Would she then post our internal communications online like this?
I think that she's also managed to do a lot of harm to her brand in a day. The video probably wasn't so bad. But the posting of the letter when she was apparently angry was probably a mistake.
@ anonymous...
Real truth? LOL. I hardly think it's the drama this little story has become.:)
I left Riya and Riya needed to go in a different direction. Mutual break up, I think. Perhaps you heard differently? Read Munjal's blog post. I think he may have put it differently if that wasn't the case. He's pretty shoot from the hip.
And I still love them, no matter what. :)
In fact, you've reminded me to give them a shout tomorrow to touch base. I've been so busy lately, I've lost touch (oops...supposed to have weekly check-ins...damn).
Sorry...what was I responding to again?
I think it's a Star Jones parody and a brilliant strategy to get the 'sphere buzzin about Rocketboom.
Then again...could just be wishful thinking.
I don't see any inconsistency in the two sides' accounts of events. The inconsistency is only in the interpretation.
Amanda says she was "fired", but in all the detailed history she gives, complete with dates, at no point does she list an event that seems like firing to me. The final dated event is that Andrew said she "must either move back to New York or Rocketboom was over" — and even this was not said directly to her.
She also says that "To dictate where I live is unnecessary and outrageous and has resulted in the present situation."
So it seems to me that she wasn't fired, but the job she thought she had in LA was apparently taken away — which could certainly seem like being fired.
I'm not surprised at a split. It had become increasingly clear that each person thought s/he "was Rocketboom". Unfortunately both may have been right.
Is this the star system of web 2.0?
Shall we end up discussing Amanda's new boyfriend? Will she pose for photos when she gets pregnant?
We shouldn't make such an issue of this. There are essential things happening out there.
What we need is a writeup on how Gorilla Marketing can save RocketBoom. They need to have a contest where new hosts can send in their tapes and the audience gets to vote on them. They could stretch it out for a while and if they are brave, they could save themselves from all the people who would hate them without Amanda.
To chime in on "old news". I find it increasingly disturbing how publicly personal this all becomes. We are not in HS 2.0. Tara left Riya, Amanda left Rocketboom, I left Six Apart (and this is why I chose not to post about it). I love and believe in Six Apart and the entire team there and we all keep in touch. People grow, change have different needs--it is a personal decision that often is no reflection on the company or individual. That does not mean that we did not enjoy our tenure and contribute and learn. Tara puts it well above - Amanda could have ditched the pity party. Companies grow and change and have different needs. And even in the industry I love --web 2.0-- being in the same city is often vital to an early stage company.
Touche Lauren - hopefully Andrew and Rocketboom will use this as an opportunity - and fast - and not get caught up in all the hype
At tonights CaseCamp in Toronto instead of giving a presentation Andrew told the group his side of the story and explained the challenges of the situation and some of his ideas about moving forward. I am pretty confident that Rocketboom will be better then ever. I shot a video with my digital camera but the sound in the first 60 seconds is weird. I will try to fix that and repost. Check out the video.
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