Andrew Baron

Andrew Michael Baron (born 1970) is the founder of Rocketboom, video aggregator Magma and Humanwire, and the co-founder of Know Your Meme.[1] Baron has taught undergraduate and graduate classes at Parsons School of Design and was teaching IDTech at M.I.T. when he came up with the idea for Rocketboom.

For the paper engineer, see Andrew Baron (paper engineer).

Andrew Baron
Baron in 2006
Born
Andrew Michael Baron

(1970-03-31) March 31, 1970
NationalityAmerican
Notable workRocketboom

In 2017 Baron was arrested on charges that he stole money from his non-profit, Humanwire, to which he pled no contest.[2][3] Forensic accounting verified Baron's side of the story and ended the court case. He pled no contest in order to end the case as quickly as possible.[4]

Early life

Baron holds a BA in Philosophy from Bates College and a master of Fine Arts in Design and Technology from Parsons School of Design.

Early career

In 1999, Baron was the owner of a visual and performing arts gallery, Movements Gallery on 6th Street in Austin, Texas which the Austin Chronicle named 'Best New Multi-Disciplinary Space in Austin' in the 'Best of Austin's Critics Poll'.[5]

An active music composer throughout the 1990s and early 2000s, Baron scored numerous scores for Austin-area artists, including "Mad About Harry", a film by AMFILMS awarded as a Hollywood Film Festival, 2000 finalist. He was appointed by the City of Austin Arts Commission to serve as a Mixed Arts Advisory Panelist, 2001.[6]

Online video
Baron with Sarah Austin in 2008

After releasing Rocketboom in late 2004, Baron established himself as one of the first vloggers and arguably one of the most influential. With Rocketboom, Baron built one of the first large audiences around a video show, and went on to generate the first large-scale advertising deals.[7][8]

On August 19, 2005, Baron was interviewed on CBS Evening News. In an "Eye on America", segment CBS veteran Jim Axelrod commented on the effort at daily news coverage on a limited budget and Baron's early grasp of the next Internet wave. "You know what they call that? Vision."[9]

Baron directed a portion of "Killer," an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation which aired February 2, 2006.[10]

Steve Jobs featured Baron's Rocketboom on stage when releasing the video iPod[11] and again when releasing the AppleTV.[12]

In March 2006, Baron commented on the sale of a week of advertising for $40,000 on eBay in Brandweek:

"Advertising with us has extra value because we aren't going to accept advertising from someone whose morals are against us, someone like Hummer," said Rocketboom producer Andrew Baron. The creators of the show are acting as ad agency as well as media for the ads for TRM and EarthLink. "We've got to approve the ads and if we like them, chances are our viewers will like 'em."[13]

In 2008, Baron created the first version of the Know Your Meme database, to accompany a spin-off show he created and produced for Rocketboom.

Also in 2008, with one of the most followed Twitter accounts, Baron made international news when he put his Twitter account up for sale on eBay.[14][15][16]

Baron released his third major site, Magma, in 2009.[17]

In 2011, Baron sold Know Your Meme to Cheezburger in a reported "low seven-figure deal".[18][19][1]

Awards

Baron's work had been recognized by the Webbys,[20] the Vloggies and Streamys.[21]

Personal life

Andrew Baron is the son of trial lawyer Fred Baron. Andrew Baron made international news again in 2008, when he used his blog to plead with a drug company to help save his father's life.[22]

Arrest for fraud

On November 16, 2017, Baron was charged with theft in excess of $100,000 from Humanwire, the nonprofit he established to help Syrian refugees.[23] Baron entered a plea of no contest in October 2018. "Prosecutors dropped two counts of theft between $100,000 and $1 million as part of the plea deal."[24] Baron was also given a one-year deferred sentence, charged $26,999.97 in restitution, and made to perform 40 hours of community service. "An investigative report by The Denver Post in 2017 [25] found that the charity, which Baron founded in 2015, struggled with delays in promised aid to refugees.[26] The newspaper found that more than 100 refugees who had been promised aid from Humanwire faced evictions and other deprivations, according to interviews with former volunteers, workers and donors."

References
  1. Wei, Will. ""Cheezburger" Network Acquires "Know Your Meme" For 7-Figures". Business Insider. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  2. "Founder of Boulder charity for Syrian refugees pleads no contest to fraud, receives deferred sentence". October 29, 2018.
  3. Estabrook, Rachel. "Boulder Charity Allegedly Cheated Donors, Syrian Refugees". Colorado Public Radio. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  4. "Humanwire founder Andrew Baron reflects on the charity's good work, challenges and unhappy ending". October 19, 2020.
  5. "Movements Gallery - Andrew Baron". Archived from the original on October 7, 2011. Retrieved 2011-09-11.
  6. "Andrew Baron - Portfolio". Archived from the original on September 26, 2011. Retrieved 2011-09-12.
  7. "How to be a Star in a YouTube World - WSJ.com". Archived from the original on September 29, 2015. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  8. "Dembot: Chit Chat". Archived from the original on April 2, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2011.
  9. "- FutureMedia News, Reviews, Interviews, Analysis, Expos, Press Events, Parties: CBS Features Rocketboom Leading Vlogger Revolution • Andrew Baron Admits $25-A-Day Expense • Amanda Congdon Shines • Jim Axelrod Giddy with Exclusive".
  10. "Andrew Baron". IMDb.
  11. "Dembot: Apple Video iPod Demo". Archived from the original on April 2, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2011.
  12. "Dembot: Rocketboom Affirmed by Hero". Archived from the original on April 2, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2011.
  13. "Rocketboom Takes Off: Earthlink and TRM are First Advertisers". Archived from the original on February 27, 2006.
  14. "Rocketboom creator selling Twitter account on eBay | Geek Gestalt - CNET News". news.cnet.com. Archived from the original on March 20, 2012.
  15. "Selling Twitter account on eBay boosts its value". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  16. West, Jackson. "Andrew Baron accelerates Twitter's descent into spam platform". Gawker. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  17. "Magma! - Dembot". Archived from the original on September 14, 2011. Retrieved September 12, 2011.
  18. "'Know Your Meme' Acquired by Cheezburger in Seven-Figure Deal". Archived from the original on August 14, 2012. Retrieved September 11, 2011.
  19. Tsotsis, Alexia (March 28, 2011). "When LOLs Collide: Cheezburger Network Buys Know Your Meme". TechCrunch. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  20. "Dembot: Rocketboom Nominated for 2 Webby Awards!". Archived from the original on April 2, 2012. Retrieved September 12, 2011.
  21. "Rocketboom: @alyankovic this Streamy's for you!!... - Dembot". Archived from the original on September 18, 2011. Retrieved September 12, 2011.
  22. "RocketBoom Founder Fighting for Father's Life; Meanwhile, Drug Company is Committing PR Suicide". October 14, 2008.
  23. "Boulder entrepreneur under fire for nonprofit's fundraising practices amid delays in aid to Syrian war refugees". September 29, 2017.
  24. "Founder of Boulder charity for Syrian refugees pleads no contest to fraud, receives deferred sentence". October 29, 2018.
  25. "Boulder entrepreneur under fire for nonprofit's fundraising practices amid delays in aid to Syrian war refugees". September 29, 2017.
  26. "She came from Lebanon to help fix a struggling nonprofit, but says she found evidence of a crime at Boulder's Humanwire". The Denver Post. December 6, 2017. Retrieved April 9, 2023.
  • Axelrod, Jim. CBS Evening News: "Eye on America" (August 19, 2005)
  • Farhi, Paul. "Rocketboom!": American Journalism Review (June–July, 2006)
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