...what Amanda & I have been up to.
**check back later for a big 640 x 480 .mov
***updated 7/25/06/9:54pm high quality 640 x 480 .mov is avalable

I know YouTube is gross, but I needed to destress...

This is a response to a post on the Yahoo Videoblogging Group. The original post is below in red.

WOW Randolfe Wicker,

"Amanda was just a pretty face, a label on his product."

That is sexism if I ever did hear it. You are apparently extremely unaware of how Rocketboom was produced every day, so you shouldn't make ludicrous claims like you know what is going on. And if you take things you hear on DEMBOT as fact, I feel sorry for you.

Amanda was not just an actress as you claim, she was also writer and producer of the show. Amanda is extremely intelligent. She graduated Magna Cum Laude from one of the best schools in the country with a degree in Organizational Communications (business communications) and English literature. Just an actress? Without Amanda the writing alone would have been enough to kill the show in the first month.

Get real.

Andrew brought the tech info, Amanda brought the jokes. Now Amanda learned all the tech stuff and Andrew still can't tell jokes. I honestly hope he puts aside his pride and finds some writers to collaborate with.

"Enric did everyone a favor by posting the thirty-minute talk by Andrew Michael Baron in three segments."

Don't you recall Andrew lying about Amanda being on vacation? How about Andew's claim that Amanda ran off to Hollywood, lie #2. And have you seen the recent claims on DEMBOT, with all his percentages? Classy, Andrew. I directed at least 20% of all rocketboom episodes (casual fridays), not including the past 3 months when I also directed all the news shows (besides June 15th's show). 95%? Yeah right. And now you just believe what he says carte blanche? Ridiculous.

You talk about journalism, what about doing some research of your own.

Andrew's big mistake was believing that he was a much larger part of the show than he actually was. That's why the show is not up right now.

Best wishes, Andrew. You are a good person, who made some very big mistakes.

-----

Andrew Michael Baron's big mistake was starting a news business with an actress instead of a journalist as a partner.

His second mistake was not sharing the podium with Amanda from the beginning. He is really the "creator" of the show, its brains and guts. Amanda was just a pretty face, a label on his product.

As a business model, RB shows the necessity of binding legal contracts between people working together. Everyone knows of Hollywood stars who signed 3-movie or 5-year contracts with studios "before" they became famous but were bound by them nonetheless.

However, "working together" really requires a certain shared empathy and interests between two people. Andrew points out that his relationship with Amanda was strictly business and they were not even close "socially". Hiring an aspiring actress to do a news show with you is like inviting a ballet dancer to go mountain climbing.

The major media consider RB to be "a fake news show" because it never really broke hard "new" news. It resembled Keith Oberman's "Countdown" show on MSNBC which is also "a fake news show" (when it parodies news stories) but which also has hard news stories/interviews.

Enric did everyone a favor by posting the thirty-minute talk by Andrew Michael Baron in three segments.

Randolfe (Randy) Wicker

As of right now, the Rocketboom homepage displays an "ANNOUNCEMENT" full of misinformation. I have cleared up the misinformation in red.


ROCKETBOOM ANNOUNCEMENT: the facts

Amanda Congdon has decided to move to L.A. to pursue opportunities that have arisen for her in Hollywood.

Amanda Congdon is not moving to L.A. She was planning on moving to L.A. whilst working with Rocketboom, but now, since she is out of work, she cannot go. Andrew knows this yet continues to claim Amanda is "off to Hollywood." Amanda now lives with her parents in CT.

We wanted to meet her demands to move production out to L.A., however, we are a small company and have not been able to figure out a way to make it work, financially and in many other ways at this time. While we continue to remain with open arms, Amanda has in fact quit and left Rocketboom. So sadly, we bid Amanda adieu and wish her all the best.

Amanda did not quit Rocketboom, she refused to accept Andrew Barons final proposal to reduce her share in the company, and become only, "the face" of Rocketboom. Very old media of him. In a meeting, Andrew Baron could produce no reason that Amanda Congdon could not move to L.A. other than, "I just don't want it." Amanda has in fact not left Rocketboom, but has been kept, by Andrew Baron, from Rocketboom and its viewers.

Rocketboom goes on.

Andrew Baron, the founder and creator of Rocketboom, will stay with the company in New York and will continue to produce and direct the show. We are in the daunting process of recruiting a replacement for Amanda.

While Amanda will be sorely missed, we have big plans for Rocketboom and are determined to make the show better than ever.

After Field Week and a week on hiatus, we know that you are hungry for the news! Rocketboom will be back with a news episode and an interim host this MONDAY, JULY 10.