Matthew Odam is a Sellout

Almost 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.

After 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.

It 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