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Matthew Odam is a Sellout

smallefty.jpgAlmost two years ago I joined a motley crew of a couple dozen folks looking to enhance the entertainment landscape of Austin and help explode Austinist onto the scene via the wonders of the internets. Since that time, many of the names and faces have changed, but the desire to provide fun, entertaining and informative content to Austinites (and former Austinites) has remained the same.

Therefore, it is with a mixture of sadness and excitement that today I announce I will be leaving Austinist and moving over to the Austin American-Statesman, where I will be working as a Content Producer for Austin360.com. The job will consist of content production and development, as well as a Staff Blog (tentatively titled The M.O.). I hope you will all swing by once my blog is up and running at 360, and imagine you will be able to read more about when that will happen somewhere in this space. Leaving my friends at Austinist was a very tough decision to make, and I will miss the camaraderie and fellowship that has come with being a part of such an amazing collection of friendly and talented people.

aycmo.jpgAfter contributing posts in my first six months with Austinist, at a rate with which my former employer during that time would be none too pleased, I had the good fortune of getting to take over editor duties with the talented and amazing Allen Y. Chen. In our time as co-editors, I have had the chance to interview newsmakers, filmmakers and generally funny and brilliant people who are passionate about what they do. I've had the chance to tell you about cool local businesses that make good neighbors. I’ve made fun of the nouveau riche and their questionable taste and taken shots at celebrities and a few politicians. You've read as I rambled on about some excellent plays, movies and albums, as well as a certain Rose Bowl Legend. For your time and patience (especially with my occasional typo), I thank you.

My work for the site was always a labor of love, and I have always felt extremely grateful to be part of such a great organization. I want to thank the dozens of contributors who have posted amazing work to the site during my time as co-editor. The wonderful people who write for this site do it out of a genuine love for their community and the artistic environment of Austin. I can not thank the contributors enough for all of their time and effort. They should all feel proud of the work they do that makes this site the wonderful resource that it is. I will miss collaborating with each of them. I know the site will continue to flourish under the tireless leadership of the incomparable Allen Y. Chen -- a man with the energy of a hundred people and the brainpower of a thousand.

austinistboys.jpgIt has been my immense pleasure to get to know hundreds of amazing people though my affiliation with the site. For those of you in the community with whom I have formed a working relationship, please continue to email me your tips, fliers, news and event information, and hopefully I can find a place for it over at my new gig.

Thanks again to everyone for allowing me to come into your Mac/PC over the past two years and for supporting Austinist. Without such loyal readers, there’d be no reason to get up and keep logging-on each day.

I will now unplug my laptop and proudly leave it in the middle of the wrestling mat. And for those of you who don't know what I’m talking about, well, you obviously weren’t there when I won the Goodwill Games in 1996.

OK.

-Matthew Odam

*Header image (c) Jackie Young

Contact the author of this article or email tips@austinist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

Comments [rss]

  • Pookie

    Matt!!! You SOB! Don't leave me... Let's work it out!!

  • Sweet Greggo

    This is tha Hammer! Sweet Greggo out!

  • CJ

    congrats Odam!

  • Mustang

    i use to beat Odam's ass on the Houston Memorial HS b-ball courts. good luck.

  • p-diddle?

    that's hilarious.

    if only the Hammer actually left me props...

  • Greggo

    Stay Hard Matt!

  • Erica

    Good work, kid.

  • somerset maugham

    "All paid jobs absorb and degrade the mind."

    -Aristotle





    ...just sayin'.



    also, bring a b-coat. i've heard rumors.



    your bird,

    somerset

  • matthew! who's going to do sports now? you were the only one to remind us that we lived in a town with the best damn college football team in the nation!



    congrats & good luck!

  • shlee

    is mark hammer single?

  • I will keep pretending.

  • Lacey

    I just want to leave a comment so maybe you'll be the most commented post this month. Woo!

  • Lacey

    Does this mean you can't go back and edit my comments to praise your intellect?



    PS. Although you are a genius

  • shlee

    is mark hammer single?

  • Tom

    Also, when I read your first paragraph, I thought you were leaving to actually join Motley Crue, which would've been awesome.

  • Jon

    I was front row when you took down Dan Gable in Reno, Nv, though.

  • cb

    Dude, where's my austinist t-shirt?!



    Don't make me come to the AAS offices and get pushy.

    That won't look good during the newest employee's first week...



    Love,

    Chris

  • Math

    Congrats Matt. We'll miss you :(

  • Jen

    at least you're not selling out to come back to the lawyers. Congratulations, smokey.

  • *tear*



    Don't forget, Austinist retains custody of the Tacos.



    We'll miss ya!

  • kenneth

    Austin360. Is that the highway with the red bridge?

  • Eve

    Selling out rules! You're gonna love it, Odam.

  • Ryan Joy

    Well, welcome to the team. I'm a developer at the Statesman and a regular reader of Austinist, so I look forward to meeting and working with you.

  • Stew

    ...and Connecticut pizza still sucks!

  • spencer

    may the road sink beneath your feet, and may the gods smite you. wait. what i was trying to say was "i love you, and good luck." god, i am so bad at this.

  • Barney Nooodle

    Austin american Statesman sounds like a very impressive business. I am not too sure what it means, but I am sure that you will be a big big hit over there.

  • Congratulations, mang. Much deserved. Please make them start to be good or something.

  • adamr

    Who are these people being fed by blogs? Oh the internets, I love you.



    And I love you MO. Congrabulshunz.

  • omit - austin360 has feeds, but it only sends you the title of a post - you have to click through to the site to read more than that.



    I'll admit, that's why I stopped reading the austin360 blogs regularly.

  • omit

    Congrats, man! I've always enjoyed your posts and will be checking out your Statesman blog (if I can find it and subscribe to it--the Statesman seems a little inconsistent in their RSS support).

  • adi

    Odam is a hoss

  • Why must you tread on me so?



    love you, matthew.

  • Em

    To be fair, the typos were more than occasional, Matty-O ;) Congrats, love!

  • does this mean i am fired? i certainly hope not. for the sake of the people.

  • Tom

    As a going away gift, would you prefer a Taco Xpress gift certificate, or Taco Shack? Mi Madre's?



    Thanks, I'm here all week.

  • Buena suerte! I guess this means I have to read austin360 more often now.

  • ::sniff::

  • may the road rise to meet you, and all that sentimental shit.



    LYLAB,cowpoke.

    erika

  • Erin

    Congrats! Go ahead and rock the Statesman!

  • Good luck, Matt.

  • Good luck odam. I cant believe someone actually wants to give you a bigger megaphone but you deserve it. ;). Take care.

  • Your face is a sellout.



    IT NEVER GETS OLD!

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