Amanda Congdon

Amanda Congdon
Amanda Congdon promo shot
Born	Amanda Thornton Congdon (1981-08-04) August 4, 1981 (age 43) New York City, U.S.
Known for	Video blogging
Notable work	Rocketboom

Amanda Thornton Congdon (born August 4,[1] 1981, in New York City) is an American former video blogger. She began her on-screen career as the first anchor of the online daily news show Rocketboom which she hosted and produced until June 23, 2006.

Involvement with Rocketboom

Congdon began as Rocketboom's anchor with the show's October 26, 2004, debut.

The show went from an initial 700 viewers in 2004 to 70,000 viewers in the first ten months. BusinessWeek labeled it "the most popular site of its kind on the Net".[2] More viewers visited Rocketboom after a June 11, 2006, interview with Congdon on CNN.[3] Rocketboom's audience continued to increase, going from 100,000 vlog viewers at the end of 2005 to 300,000 by the spring of 2006.

Congdon interviewing Jimmy Wales at the Time 100 Most Influential People Gala, 2006

On July 5, 2006, Congdon released a video statement on her blog, announcing her departure from the show.[4] Andrew Baron, majority stakeholder of Rocketboom, stated she was leaving the show to "pursue opportunities ... in Hollywood"[5] and Joanne Colan stepped in as Congdon's replacement. Congdon claims that she was fired.[6]

Amanda Across America

Congdon's first endeavor after Rocketboom was AmandaAcrossAmerica.com, a blog based on Congdon's travels through America in a hybrid vehicle. The journey took a circuitous route with stops in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Tennessee, Washington, D.C., Missouri, Wisconsin, Arizona and California.

Now living in California, Congdon and her husband, Mario Librandi, opened a restaurant called Vegan Mario's. The restaurant serves vegan food for lunch daily, upon which Congdon initially planned to create a website series.[7]

References

1. "Rocketboom : thursday august 04, 2005 : special feature". Archived from the original on December 2, 2007. Retrieved March 23, 2008.
2. "Rocketboom's Powerful Lift-Off". Business Week. Archived from the original on September 23, 2005.
3. "Transcript of Howard Kurtz interview with Amanda Congdon". CNN. June 11, 2006.
4. Amanda UnBoomed - "Announces retirement from RocketBoom"
5. Shields, Mike (May 7, 2006). "Congdon Flames Out at Rocketboom". Mediaweek. Archived from the original on July 19, 2006. Retrieved July 6, 2006.
6. Amanda UnBoomed: For the Record
7. "The Working Life: Amanda Congdon a Virtual Expert in Video Blogging". Nooz Hawk. April 29, 2011. Retrieved November 6, 2015.

External links

• Amanda Congdon at IMDb