Dave Courvoisier's Blog

Archive for the ‘Conferences’ Category

FaffCon is fast coming.

Read THIS previous blog for the basics.  For those of you too impatient to do so, FaffCon is an “unconference” being organized by voice-actors FOR voice-actors, and it happens in September in Portland, OR.

From casual chatter, to catalyst, to serious planning, to scheduling and reality, this event took shape in what seems like a whirlwind of time.  Many many voice-actors have contributed, but probably none more so than the true force behind it all: Amy Snively, the event producer.

See below the line for an official PR release on FaffCon, but check out the video below for a fun video presentation of the upcoming event.  The video is populated by many of the people attending (moi included), and it was written, produced and edited by the highly talented Peter O’Connell.

If you’d like to come, though…better get on the stick…the special room rate at Hyatt Place Portland runs out on August 9th.  Everything you need is on the FaffCon site.

Read the rest of this entry »

Maybe you’ve noticed a fairly-new icon over on the right side of the blog.

FaffCon

‘Old enough to remember the advertising splash 7-Up made with the “Uncola”?  Apparently, when something gets too predictably flavorless, adding an “un” prefix immediately brands the alternative as a welcome rebel.

Hence, the ‘unconference’…the upstart stepchild of mundane meetings.  Not that there’s anything wrong with a conference.  Most of us have likely benefitted in some way from them…but admittedly, the concept is a bit overworked of late.

And it’s more than just the trip to the Vegas convention center for endless walks down the exhibit aisles of NAB or CES or BlogWorld Expo.  There’s the seminars, the teleseminars, and the webinars too.

Sure, we all hanker to rub shoulders with others of our ilk.  After all, virtual liaisons only go so far.  But there MUST be something that moves forward the notion of meet-ups.  ‘Something that’s a bit more organized than a lively conversation over drinks, but a little less stuffy than sitting at a table with a sweaty water pitcher, taking notes on a thin hotel pad.

There is.  THAT’s the unconference.

The Voiceover business has a short history of traditional conferences, but more than holds its own in the area of teleseminars and webinars.  The unconference idea took hold quickly, though, in the backrooms and hallways of VO forum fixture VO-BB.com.

Now it’s grown into a full-bore, headstrong movement with a date, a hotel, a registration, a website, and even a catchy name:  FAFFCON (it has to do with Scotland).

Faffcon, the VO unconference, took on an early character all its own, but has been, is, and will be defining itself right up to and through the event itself.  Voice actor, Comedian, Improv artist, and general gadabout Amy Snively – reflecting the true spiritual essence of an unconference if there ever was one – included all her VO peers from the start in evolving the concept, the website, the tenor, and the parameters of Faffcon.

UnInfo on the UnConference

The official site of Faffcon – http://www.faffcon.com explains much of what this experience will likely be, but as a teaser, here are a few bullet points:

• Faffcon seeks to provide a free-form, encouraging, enabling environment for established and seasoned voice actors.
• Early-on, organizers set an attendance limit of 100.
• The schedule is purposely loosely organized, the topics vaguely categorized, the format arbitrary (remember, it’s an UNconference!)
• Discussions may pop-up and last long, or play-out and dissolve in a short time.
• Faffcon is participant-driven, bring questions you have, give answers when you can.

Faffcon is an Open Space concept “based on the belief that the sum of the expertise of the people in the audience is greater than the sum of expertise of the people on stage.”

You won’t find boring speakers, slide shows, official hand-outs, and an expensive registration. There are no heavy expectations of your participation, and there is no rigid schedule of planned presentations. There is not likely to be a big exhibit hall populated with vendors, salespeople, hangers-on, and free, logo’d ballpoint pens. FaffCon is not forced relationships, uncomfortable liaisons, or pricey mandatory banquets.

One of the early commited contributors – Peter O’Connell puts it thusly: “…the conference will only be as strong as the people who attend because it is the attendees who most often are the presenters and each presentation will be very interactive and extremely participatory.”

Fun, creative, experienced VO souls, gathering spontaneously in their blue jeans and carrying only expectations of a high-level of interaction with their peers.  It’s a rich atmosphere can only spawn some of the best we all have to offer.

The conference is quite inexpensive: an early-bird rate of $149 is good until the end of July.  Of course, you’ll need to find your way there, and for some that may be a distinct cost, as Faffcon is being held in Portland, Oregon at the beautiful brand-new, all suite, Hyatt Place Portland.

You’d do well to register first at the Yahoo Group set up specifically for those hoping to attend. (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/faffcon/).

Registration for the event is on the Faffcon.com website itself:  http://sites.google.com/site/faffconwiki/home/register

CourVO

The Society of Accredited Voice Over Artists (SaVoa) began organizing in earnest about the same time James Alburger, Penny Abshire, and Frank Frederick put together the first true convention for voiceover talent: The Voice Over International Creative Experience (VOICE).  Both were the natural progression of an industry coming of age.

VOICE held its first conference in Las Vegas in 2007, its 2nd in 2008 in Los Angeles, and the 3rd is scheduled this June…also in LA.

SaVoa is also steadily growing and gaining members, and for the first time, will be appearing in force at VOICE.

VOICE 2010 is scheduled for the first weekend in June, which puts it roughly 8 weeks away.  As an organization, SaVoa is moving to make its presence known to the attendees at VOICE 2010. This is consistent with its goals, good for its growth, and just smart marketing.

SaVoa is also encouraging members to attend VOICE, and has been working with James Alburger and Penny Abshire  to get the best deal possible for SaVoa members.

From now until April 25th, all SaVoa members are eligible for a 15% discount in the price of attending VOICE 2010.

But wait, there’s more!!!

In order to achieve SaVoa’s goals at VOICE 2010, SaVoa will incur some expenses. SaVoa have a booth for attendees to visit for personal contact with attending SaVOa members, along with small promotional items for all attendees to help promote SaVoa. We need your help to offset those expenses. If would like to donate to the effort, you can make a $20 donation and you will automatically be entered in a drawing – exclusive to SaVoa members only – for one free registration to the entire conference!  Non-SaVoa members are welcome to help in this endeavour by making a donation as well.

The deadline for the $20 drawing is April 15th.  Click on this link: http:// http://www.savoa.org/donate to make your donation. The winner will be announced on the 15th.
After the drawing for the free registration is held on April 15th, if you aren’t the winner, you can use the code SaVoa20 when registering, to apply your $20 donation to your registration fee on top of the 15% discount.  Again, your donation helps defray the cost of SaVoa’s presence at VOICE 2010.

We hope you’ll take advantage of this special pricing. Feel free to contact your SaVoa Advisory Board member if you have any questions, or contact Dave Courvoisier at CourVO@CourVO.com 702-610-6288 or Dan Lenard dansvoice@verizon.net  716-689-8179. If you’ve ALREADY registered for VOICE 2010, and you’re a SaVoa member, please contact us and we’ll make sure you get the discount.

SaVoa members, please see check your recent e-mail from Board Member Thom Wilkins for the special SaVoa member registration codes and links you can use to get your discount.

We’ll see you at VOICE 2010!

CourVO

Terry and I just had way too much fun putting together the presentational promo announcement for our General Session on New Media.

Terry’s a talented voice actor and producer, and we’re planning one heckuva program for Friday morning of the conference.

Click HERE to take a listen!

CourVO

Still eight months out, but already starting to get pretty stoked about the upcoming VOICE2010 conference being held in LA by James Alburger and Penny Abshire.

Today, they released the slate of presenters, along with the schedule of the conference.  You’ll note that Terry Daniel and I are the General Session presenters Friday morning on the topic of Social Networking.

Click HERE to see the matrix of presenters and days/times.  You will not want to miss this event…the talent, resources, and networking possibilities will boost your VO career in ways you never imagined.

C ya there!

CourVO

James Alburger and Penny Abshire today threw open the doors of the next in their series of highly-succesful Voice Talent confabs.

VOICE 2010 will be held June 2-5 at the Century Plaza Hyatt Regency Hotel in Los Angeles…and YOU’RE invited.  In fact, YOU MUST COME!

If you’ve been to VOICE 2007 or 2008, you know how valuable is the experience of networking with your peers, and the advantage of rubbing shoulders with the presenters and professionals who gather at such events.

Why wasn’t there a VOICE 2009?  ‘Cause they’ve been working incredibly hard to make sure ’2010′ is JUST THAT MUCH BETTER.  (these things are tough to organize!)

Yes, there’s the expense of the conference, not to mention the travel…but every soul who’s been to either of the previous events would tell you it’s well worth it…IF you can get them to come down from walking on air!

I know this blog sounds a bit “cheerleader-ish”, so bear with me…I’m gonna be there as a host, and I’d love to see you there!  Please consider it.  Click HERE to see all the details of how to register, and reserve your room.

CourVO

Would that I could be there…but I can’t.

Dan O’Day is described generally as a marketing genius/coupled with an incredibly savvy sense of broadcasting, voice-overs, and how the world works.  He holds his “Summit” every August in LA.

Some wonderful VO blogging friends of mine are there, and have been twittering and blogging (with pics) about the event.

Here are some links and twitter profiles to follow:

Bob Souer:
Blog:  http://www.bobsouer.com/blog
Twitter:  http://www.twitter.com/bobsouer

Bobbin Beam:
Blog:  http://blog.bobbinbeam.com

Blain Parker:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/blainparker

CourVO

This looks like one helluva party on water…I wish like heck I coulda pulled it off to be along for the ride.  Maybe YOU still can.

I’m re-printing all of Deb Munro‘s latest e-mail with all the last-minute announcements of VoiceLympics, plus her ADHD schedule of upcoming coaching sessions, and more…below.

If I’m lucky, I may be able to catch up to the cruise wrap-up party in LA.

BTW, HERE is the official VoiceLympics website.

CourVO

Read the rest of this entry »

The Comic Book Industry’s biggest convention of the year is coming up in about two weeks in San Diego, and there’s a significant VoiceActing presence.

It’s called Comic-Con.  HERE’s their website.

Legendary voice actors June Foray and Stan Freberg will be special guests.

Know how I tracked-down all this info?  On Voice Chasers — a site whose stated purpose is to be “…one of the leading online destinations for information related to voice acting.”

‘Might not be a bad idea to register (for free) on this site, and knock around with some of the established names there.

At any rate, click HERE to see more information on VoiceChasers about Comic-Con voiceacting focus…or you can sift through a rather busy and complicated Comic-Con website on your own if you’d like. 

CourVO