Rodney Saulsberry had the unenviable task of being the first presenter at VOICE 2007. But, he pulled everything off brilliantly. Stephanie, over at Vox Daily, has recovered from the week in Las Vegas enough to post a fabulous and detailed report on Rodney’s presentation.
I especially appreciated Stephanie’s detailed report because I ended up missing the second half of his presentation. Why? Because I was actually putting into practice one of his techniques: overcoming obstacles! When my plane landed in Las Vegas I had enough work waiting for me in my email inbox to pay for the conference, my hotel room and most of my meals. But some of that had to be done and delivered right away. The obstacles to accomplishing this task were many, though none had to do with actually recording the pieces. Providentially, I was assigned a room way off in a quiet corner of the hotel and except for a plane flying overhead 2 or 3 times a night, I had no problems getting studio quality audio from my room.
No, the troubles began when I started to upload the audio. As soon as my FTP program would connect to the server and start transferring the audio, the Internet connection would drop. If I canceled the transfer, the Internet connect would re-establish. After several unsuccessful attempts, I called tech support for the hotel Internet service. The walked me through several steps, and we thought everything was back to normal; but as soon as I hung up the phone, the Internet connection dropped again. I called tech support back. They sent a technician to my room, this time. He too, was unable to fix things. But, he suggested that I try the business center in the hotel, as they were on a different Internet connection.
So, I packed up my laptop and mouse, and trooped up to the third floor of the other part of the hotel to try from the business center. No soap. It fact, it wasn’t even possible to connect my laptop to the Internet in the business center at all. I called tech support for the business center, but they didn’t have anything helpful to add.
So, I check with the front desk at the hotel (it’s now well past Midnight, Pacific time) and they suggest I try the FedEx Kinkos that about 2 miles from the hotel. I take a cab over there. The cabbie gives me his cell phone number as I’m getting out so I can call for a ride back and pulls away as I’m walking through the doors. I ask the clerk for directions to the laptop station and he says, “You’re welcome to try, but our Internet connection has been down since 4:00 PM this afternoon. Not just here, but everywhere in the company.” He’s right. No soap again. I try for several minutes. No soap. No connection. No uploads. It’s now about 1:45 AM Pacific, so I try calling the cabbie. I get a “this line is not in service” on the first attempt and a woman’s voice (voice mail, thankfully!) on the second.
Collecting my laptop and mouse, I begin the 2 mile walk back to the hotel. At 2:30 AM Pacific, I arrive, having walked through what turned out to be a really terrible neighborhood, but seeing only one other living soul, an older man trudging home carrying his lunch box. Needless to say, I’m praying the entire way and I’m ever so grateful to have made it back to the Palace Station safely.
At this point, I think maybe the Internet connection will work because the amount of traffic has to be somewhat lower this late at night. Nope. Same experience as noted above.
How does this tie in with Rodney’s presentation? Because in the middle, Frank Frederick was gracious enough to drive me back to the Kinkos where I finally was able to get online and deliver the audio. Late, but at least on the day it was needed. And truly, what a great guy Frank is. He’s one of the 3 folks putting this whole event on, and he takes the time to help me finish overcoming obstacles. I’m forever in his debt.
By the way, with thanks to Stephanie at Vox Daily for linking this in the first place, here is Rodney’s video that was part of his presentation during VOICE.
(edited to fix typos and to add video)
Bob-
What an incredible story! I would never have known you experienced such frustrations…you are always so calm and gracious!
I’m so glad to know you.
Kara
Kara,
Thank you. Actually, once that first series of obstacles was overcome, the rest of the week went really smoothly.
And I’m very glad I know you, too.
Be well,
Bob
I think the message here is clear: stake out every free wi fi location within a 10 mile radius of where you’re staying when you’re a traveling VO 🙂
Or in a pinch, go to a starbucks (on everyother corner) and they’ll charge you $6 bucks for the day.
I hope you remembered to tip your 2nd driver :))
Peter,
Strangely enough for being a city that never sleeps, at 2:00 AM, there are precious few WIFI hotspots available on Las Vegas; at least in the part of the city where we were.
There was a Starbucks, but they were closed.
As for tipping my second driver, you’ll have to ask Frank if I did an adequate job of repaying my debt.
Be well,
Bob
PS: I really like the new design on your blog. Good work!
Wow, Bob….what an ordeal! Glad to hear that all went well in the end! I wasn’t able to go this year, but I’m looking forward to attending next year (schedule permitting), and hope to see you there!
Justin
PS: it appears that you put “PM” when you meant “AM” in some of your time references. At least I _hope_ you weren’t working over twelve straight hours on that stuff…yikes!
Justin,
Thanks for the catch. I’ve edited the post to corrected reflect the AM rather than PM time references.
And I look forward to meeting you at VOICE 2008.
Be well,
Bob
Hi Bob,
What a night you had! I knew you were working throughout the week, but that night you referenced was above and beyond the call of duty for most 🙂
You have a supreme business ethic and level of customer service for your clients. I trust they appreciate all that you do to make their organizations shine.
As Kara noted, I wouldn’t have guessed either! I’m sure that the wi-fi issue will not crop up at next year’s conference. That was one of my feedback items as well – that and the endless stream of cigarette smoke – my goodness, what a struggle for the majority of us who do not smoke 🙂
I’m working on a few lectures today and intend to post on each one as well as the special appearances.
I’ll be keeping my eyes glued to your blog and those of others who attended to learn more about your unique experiences at VOICE 2007.
Hopefully we get to run into each other before the next conference. You are truly a delight to know and a class act.
Bye for now,
Stephanie
Stephanie,
It was just a delight to get to meet you last week. And thank you for your kind words. I’m so glad you took such excellent notes because after that first night I was so fried I don’t know if I wrote or said another coherent thing all week.
I will be posting thoughts and reflections here over the next several days and weeks. I look forward to reading what you write, too.
Be well,
Bob
Wowie, Zowie, Holy Cow-ee Batman! What a great story Bob! I am glad it all turned out well. We are fortunate to be doing voiceover work but even more fortunate to be surrounded by colleagues and clients that are first class people:)
Ralph,
It was indeed a wild day, and I’m very glad that everything worked out OK in the end.
Be well,
Bob
Peter,
Thanks for the link. And you’re right. Free Wi-Fi is da bomb!
Be well,
Bob