With a brilliant smile and amazing energy, MJ Lallo was another superb presenter at VOICE 2007. Stephanie has done a fabulous job of summarizing MJ’s presentation over at Vox Daily. Especially if you do character and animation voices, you need to study with MJ Lallo. She’s brilliant.
People
Among the special guests at VOICE 2007 was…
Don LaFontaine! Yes, the king of the movie trailers (and GEICO commercials) was there in person. What’s more he answered questions and shook hands and demonstrated over and over again that he is an amazingly down-to-earth guy. Stephanie, over at Vox Daily, has done her usual superb job summarizing what took place. And as a bonus, you to get to see a photo of Stephanie with Don.
Don’t just do it, think about it
I always enjoy reading the blog posts of Kara Edwards, who is a mighty talented young lady who also happens to live here in the Charlotte, NC area. Recently, Kara has written about taking time to think about what we’re doing.
I really needed this encouragement, because it’s very easy for me to just do something without being really thoughtful about what and why I’m doing what I’m doing. Take a few minutes and read Kara’s post. I think you’ll be glad you did.
Summit 2007 registration is open
The final details about registration information are now available for this year’s Dan O’Day “International Radio Creative and Production Summit.”
I’ve attended this event every year since 1997. Some times it’s more focused on writing and production, which other years more on voiceover. This is one of the latter. Pat Fraley and Don LaFontaine are both confirmed to be there.
This is an event intended for more than just voiceover folks. There will be a lot of radio station people there (creative services directors, production managers, writers) and it’s always a very international event. Folks from Asia, Europe, Australia and Latin America are almost always in attendance. Registration is limited to 100.
Details are available here at Dan’s site. The lowest price for registration is available through the end of May. I’ve already registered. If you’re going, it would be a good idea to register sooner, rather than later.
Audiobook instruction from Bettye Zoller at VOICE 2007
Bettye Zoller’s presentation at VOICE 2007 was on audiobooks. Stephanie over at Vox Daily, has done a superb job of capturing the essentials of Bettye’s talk.
Now this is a home studio!
As you might imagine, Don LaFontaine has a rather nice home studio. Nice enough that Mix Magazine has done a feature on the place. (My thanks to Nancy Wolfson for pointing me to this article.)
A great deal on some superb gear
My friend Brian Haymond is upgrading his studio hardware which means you have an opportunity to score some great gear for way less than you’ll pay retail. Details are on Brian’s blog, here.
Giving Voiceover the Once Over
Radio station KCRW has a regular program called The Business, hosted by Claude Brodesser-Akner.
Their program from March 26, 2007 includes an extended interview with Jerry Ryba, Voiceover agent at CESD. You’ll need to listen through some other material first, but there is so much solid information about voiceover work, especially the big leagues. (My thanks to Nancy Wolfson for alerting me to this interview.)
Reviewing VOICE 2007 from another point of view
Alex Torrenegra, founder of Voice123.com, has written up a very nice review of VOICE 2007. I think it’s well worth a few minutes of your time. And may I also say, I found Alex to be a charming and very pleasant man with whom to talk. Meeting Alex and his team was certainly another of the highlights of my time at VOICE.
Your best deal
Gregory Best is not only a voiceover guy, he’s a brilliant business negotiator. You can see the valuable information he contributed to the VOICE 2007 conference is Stephanie’s excellent summary post at Vox Daily.
Thank you, Stephanie, for this valuable service.
(Edited to fix typo. Greg may be a brilliant negotiator, but I’m no great shakes as a writer!)
Chris Wagner added much value to the VOICE 2007 discussions
Chris Wagner offered some superb ideas on how to more effectively use the Internet, and specifically our web sites, to market our voiceover services during his VOICE 2007 presentation. Laurynda, over at Vox Daily, has done an excellent job summarizing that presentation.
You’ll notice in the comments to that thread that I do have a couple of small nits to pick with some of Chris’s material; but the vast majority of it is so good that I recommend you read and heed what he has to say.
Still more about VOICE 2007 at Kara Edward’s blog
You couldn’t miss Kara Edward’s smile as she lit up the conference room where we met in Las Vegas. Even in a crowd of over 200, her cheerful enthusiasm stood out unmistakably.
Kara has posted a wonderful summary of comments and reflections about VOICE 2007 on her blog. Go. Read. You’ll be glad you did.
Do you tell your clients you love them?
At VOICE 2007, Frank Frederick’s presentation on Love Notes was one of many highlights for me. Not only because Frank has become a dear friend over the last year; but also because what he had to say struck a powerful chord of resonance in my own heart.
Stephanie, over at Vox Daily, has done her usual superb job of surveying the material presented. And if you want to dig deeper, Frank has published an audiobook on Love Notes, as well. (I’ll add a link to purchase Frank’s audiobook once I find one!)
Connie’s time in and out of the spotlight at VOICE 2007
Connie Terwilliger is a very talented voiceover professional, with a heart as great as her talent. Stephanie, over at Vox Daily, has done her usual superb job of reviewing the information Connie presented during her time on the mike at VOICE 2007. Part one is here. Part two is here.
I very much appreciated what Connie had to say during her presentation, but what I most admired about Connie was her generous and gracious spirit out of the spotlight.
The specifics are not all that important, but I’m confident that if you’ve had the benefit of Connie’s advice, you’re better today that you were before.
By the way, search this site on Connie’s name and you’ll find an interview I did with her some time ago. There’s plenty of good material for you there, too.
If you’d like to know more about what VOICE 2007 was like
Be sure to spend some time reading this thread at the VO-BB. It is, without a doubt, the longest and most viewed thread in the history of the board, filled with stories, photos and comments. Well worth your time.
You’ll also find photos and thoughts from Bobbin Beam, here and more from her here. Thanks for helping to document and preserve the experience for all of us, Bobbin. And what a lovely and delightful person you are.
Update: And a brief comment from a non-attendee, Doc Phillips, here. And don’t miss the poignant commentary from Kara Edwards on her blog. Kara is truly a beautiful soul, inside and out. And she added much to the VOICE 2007 experience.
One of the things I like best…
Is meeting young, talented people and, when possible, offering a bit of help. A very fine example of a talented young voiceover guy is Donovan Corneetz. Donovan lives near Raleigh, North Carolina so he’s not a long way from where I live in Charlotte. But, the only two times we’ve actually spent any time together has been out West. Two years ago we met for the first time at the 2005 edition of the Dan O’Day International Radio Creative and Production Summit, which is held in Los Angeles.
And Donovan was at VOICE 2007 as well, which was in Las Vegas. (Technically, we did actually say a brief “hi” while we were both in North Carolina, because he had to change planes in Charlotte on his way to Las Vegas and we ended up on the same flight there last Tuesday. But, you get the point.)
We enjoyed some wonderful conversations between the many sessions; but the most fun for me was getting to see Donovan in action. Here’s what happened. He knew from our conversations that I had brought my portable studio with me to VOICE 2007. So, when he received a call from one of his voiceover clients asking him to get a commercial recorded and delivered in less than 24 hours, he asked if he could record on my system. I was happy to help. We got his script through the web interface to his email, got levels set and began recording. In only a couple of minutes we had all the material recorded that we would need for the voice track for this spot. I then edited the pieces together and we had a nice clean take of everything straight through. That’s when the fun really started.
You see, Donovan not only had to record the voice track, he had to mix the spot with a donut jingle! Since all I had with me was my Sony Sound Forge set-up, which has only the most rudimentary of mixing functions built in, we had one big challenge. But, that wasn’t all. We also had to get the music bed! Donovan thought he’d saved a copy in his email, but he hadn’t. So, he called his wife and talked her through finding the file on his workstation at home and emailing it to him. We then made a few trial and error attempts to mix the voice track with the jingle, only to discover that the script had the length of the donut wrong. So Donovan had to re-record the voice track. (Eventually, to get things “just so” we combined portions of the 2 reads to get exactly the right length and delivery.) And then more trial and error attempts at mixing. Since I only had headphones with which to mix, it was a real “shot in the dark” as to the quality of the mixing, but eventually we arrived at something that sounded right to both of us.
Donovan then emailed the mixed file to the client and we hoped for the best.
The following day, he said he’d heard from a different client, who needed another voice track (this time without music, thankfully) and again it was a “right away” job. So we trooped back up to my room and did the email, record, edit and return email thing again. One side benefit to this project was Donovan’s discovery in his inbox of a note from the first client. They were very happy with the spot! Huzzah! And as it turned out, the day after, the second client was also very happy.
Mark my words, this young man is going places. Donovan Corneetz. You’ll want to remember his name.
The voiceover business’ high profile guy
As you probably know, Don LaFontaine is the most famous voiceover guy in the world and has been for some time. But, now, thanks to a Geico television commercial, his name is known to everyone, not just those of us in the voiceover business.
Here is an interesting article and interview with Mr. LaFontaine. (My thanks to Tom Ackerman for linking to this article on the VO-BB.)
A marketing example from the Real World
When I started publishing interviews on this voiceover blog, I knew the first person I wanted to feature was Mary McKitrick. Who? Oh, if you don’t know by now, you need to strap yourself in for a bit of a ride. Mary’s is a remarkable story. In the last few years she’s made the transition from college professor to voiceover talent. And quite successfully, I might add.
Indeed, a bit part of the reason I admire Mary so much is that in just a couple of years of voiceover experience, she has far surpassed me in her understanding of how to build and grow her voiceover career. And I’ve been making professional money at this game since 1983.
But, this post is about something specific that you’ll find at Mary’s voiceover blog. She has carefully documented her efforts to market her voiceover business through her local Chamber of Commerce, specifically…
I signed up for a table at the Tabletop Expo sponsored by my local Chamber of Commerce. The tables were quite inexpensive, putting the expo within reach of small business owners such as me.
Next came the question of what to give away. Mary, for some time, had…
been longing for MCM Voices pens…
The local business she chose to help her with her pen supply turned out to be a great choice, because not only did they do a terrific job with the pens, he asked a lot of questions…
…what I expected to get out of my participation in the Expo – what kind of people would I be marketing to and what would I be trying to sell? This was very important, because if not for his questions I might not have realized that the one thing I was most likely to be able to sell was something I don’t usually market, namely on-hold messaging and telephony. I subsequently designed a brochure that featured that part of the business much more than I would otherwise have done.
I highly encourage you to read the whole thing from Mary. It’s well worth your time and might yield some valuable lessons for your own marketing efforts.
Famous Voices
A nice voice isn’t enough
Gary Terzza is a voiceover talent and coach based in the UK. On his voiceover blog he writes about what’s really required to deliver the goods as a voiceover artist.
I suggest you read the whole thing, it’s not long; but here are a couple of key lines…
Voice-overs are all about bringing a script to life…voice-overs come from the mind not the larynx.