Amanda Leaves Rocketboom, but Job Offers Abound

July 5th, 2006

Amanda Congdon, host of popular vlog Rocketboom, has announced that she left Rocketboom.  The front page of Rocketboom has more information from producer Andrew Baron about her leaving.

For those who haven’t seen it or followed it, Rocketboom is one of if not the most popular vlog and has been looked at it as the first to really make it a viable business.  I wasn’t an avid watcher of it, but I did see a few episodes and found it mildly interesting, and really Congdon was the only thing that made it that way.  Otherwise I found the tech content to be the same stuff I could read much quicker on tech news sites, and their interviews were okay but nothing that I found that entertaining.

If others are like me, this could be a huge blow for Rocketboom as it might have been the talent that made the show, and it speaks to a new era we’ve reached on the web.  In many cases the blogger, the writer, or the onscreen talent is becoming the brand.  Congdon may end up having more followers than Rocketboom itself, which isn’t really the way the web has worked in the past.

Regardless of the reasons for her leaving of what will happen to Rocketboom, it’s fantastic to see the way opportunities now open themselves up for talented people on the web.  Weblogs Inc. founder and now head of Netscape Jason Calacanis has already offered Congdon a fairly lucrative and attractive opportunity through his blog.  I am sure there are others who will be making offers for her services.

• Five Reasons Audio Podcasting Isn’t Going Anywhere
• Myspace Is Dropping the Bomb on Affiliate Networks Accused of Spamming
• Matt Cutts Just Got Some Negotiating Leverage
• Yahoo! Gets Smarter With Display Advertising
• Wikipedia Taking Ads, People Hating Ads, and People Hating Jason Calacanis

Entry Filed under: Blogging, Web 2.0