Together, we’ll be presenting on Secrets of Social Media especially designed for Voice Actors in a VOICE2012 break-out session.  There’s a tremendous amount of preparation going into this, and we know you’ll learn a lot.

For a better look at the announcement tomorrow, click on THE SOCIAL NETWORKING EVENT OF THE YEAR!

And just a reminder that valuable Early Bird registration for VOICE ends February 15th…so check it out now!

CourVO

Clipped from: bit.ly (share this clip)

NAMM originally stood for North American Music Merchants, but now it’s an international show for manufacturers, affiliates, resellers, and other vendors in the world of audio.

On the heels of CES in Las Vegas, NAMM was held this year in Anaheim, CA, and broke previous records for attendance.

If you saw my quick review of the new Blue Microphones at CES, well, NAMM is that…on steroids… times ten.

Apparently USB mics continue to be the darling of any recording set — vocals, voice-overs, or musical instruments.  Most audio engineers agree it’s not possible to get the same high quality fidelity from a USB microphone as you can with a XLR input, but that isn’t keeping manufacturers from trying.  That’s mostly driven by the insane pace of iPhone and iPad sales, and the realization that these devices can actually serve as excellent portable/mobile recorders.

At CES and NAMM, many of the name mic vendors bring their prototypes to show off, and then make vague promises that they’ll be on shelves “mid spring”, or “sometime in March or April”, or “just before Summer”…as was the case with the 3 new “Blue” mics I reviewed.

The mic pictured above, though — the MXL Tempo — is available now.  You can even get it in red and black, and it’s being priced all over the place at $59.   MXL also touts it’s iPad-compatible TRIO USB mic.

There are others, of course.

The iRig MIC Cast Mobile Microphone is a nice unit, but plugs into the earphone jack of your iOS device…not the 30-pin connector.

Finally, the Editors Keys SL150 USB mic comes with a kit that lets you plug right into your iPad for recording.

So many choices!  So little budget!  It almost makes you wanna hope for a road trip just to justify the expense of a USB/iPad mic to your better half!

CourVO

(I think you get the idea).

The microcosm of the Exhibit Floor is like a futuristic city of commerce with all the finest in hucksterism, sales, presentation, hype, sex appeal, and product that you can stomach…and thousands of people — like ants — bustling around like they know where they’re going, and they have something important to do….most of them on their smart phone trying to text or call someone, and finding it pretty hard, ’cause there aren’t enough cell phone towers in the USA to handle all that concentration of traffic in one place.

I put together a little video of a few shots I took while I was there to give you a flavor of the scene.  Its only 1:10.  Check it out, and then I have some unexpected meet-ups with VO people to tell you about.

You saw my story about the Blue Microphones yesterday…after visiting that booth, I wandered.  I had no plan of where to go next, and at CES, that’s bad; you can get lost.  From the cavernous South Hall, I meandered my way to the behemoth Main Exhibit Hall where the Microsofts, the Sonys, the LG’s, and the Panasonics hang out.

A Voice actor named Christopher Flockton had briefly written me on FaceBook that he was working the Haier booth next to Panasonic, and I should stop by if I had the time.  Christopher turned out to be a wonderful conversation.  He was actually working as a spokesman for Haier.  These are good gigs to get as an actor…they pay well, but you’re exhausted by the end of the day.  Christopher had memorized the schpeel for his presentation…which he had to deliver several times during the day.  I’ve done similar work at NAB before with an ear-prompter for presentations, but I actually think memorization is easier.

I had barely said goodbye to Christopher…and walked about 50 yards, when I bumped into Steve Savanyu who (among other things) is the Director of Educational Services for Audio Technica.  I’d first met Steve at VOICE 2010.  He’s a technical whiz, and audio expert, who can quickly get you lost in hi-fi verbiage that maybe only George Whittam and Nikolia Tesla can understand.

In my mind, running into John P (yesterday’s blog), Christopher, and then Steve in an exhibit hall PACKED with thousands was not only beyond coincidental, but underscored for me the place audio and especially VOICE has in the consumer world of  hi-tech.  We matter as a profession, and as a force within the world of entertainment, advertising, elearning, publishing, and on and on and on.

And THAT quickly… 3.5 hours was gone!  On my way out, I stopped by the TwiT.tv location in the main hall.

The set-up was a veritable audio/video delight…mics and cameras everywhere.  And there was the man himself:  Leo LaPorte just ambling about talking to people.  In Las Vegas, some people call me a celebrity, but to me Leo LaPorte is a celebrity.  So, yes, I was shocked when Leo called me by my first name and started a friendly conversation.

‘Turns out he watches me when he’s in town.  I am so grateful for my life…it’s  not all good, but parts of it are amazing.

Thanks for taking the time to read about my wanderings at CES2012.

CourVO

]]> http://www.courvo.biz/2012/01/ces-for-vos.html/feed 3 http://www.courvo.biz/2012/01/3-new-blues-at-ces.html http://www.courvo.biz/2012/01/3-new-blues-at-ces.html#comments Wed, 11 Jan 2012 10:34:03 +0000 CourVO http://www.courvo.biz/?p=9220 After a refreshing 5 hours of sleep, I forced myself out of bed, and down to the Las Vegas Convention Center Tuesday morning for the Consumer Electronics Show.

My main goal was the Blue Microphone booth, but go ahead….try….just try to keep your attention on only one thing when a tempting cornucopia of visual stimuli reaches out to grab you with every step on the exhibit floor.

Barely had I arrived at the Blue Mic booth when the king of geeks bumps into me!  An old friend some of you may know (if you’re geeky enough)  John Pozadzides.  Don’t try to pronounce the last name, everybody just calls him John P.

John has made and sold more fortunes than I have fingers and toes.  He’s an internet, social media, and marketing genius.   In the last couple of years he’s put all  his considerable talent and resources into GeekBeat.tv.  Maybe you’ve seen it.  He is THE force behind the show, even though Cali Lewis is probably their most conspicuous spokesperson. (She was over doing a full-time show gig at the huge Panasonic Booth).

Why am I telling you this?…because just as I was dragging out my camera to do the Blue Mic interview with the booth salesman for this blog, John P. shows up with a professional video crew, a hand-held mic, and an interview subject all ready to go!  My meager little mini-cam with ambient mic wouldn’t compare.  In fact, there are about as many cam crews around the show floor as there are Elvis Presley imitators in Vegas.

Below, then, is the nicely-composed interview John did with Hillary Money of Blue Microphones on the Mikey, Tiki, and Spark Digital.  Maybe  you’ll recognize someone in this video:

I hate to admit it, but this TV guy was trumped by John P.  He did a fine job, doncha think?

Hillary gave me a complete press kit on a 1-Gig thumbdrive, and below is that info for you to download.

So, the Tiki ($50), the Mikey (~$100), and the Spark Digital (~$200) are all due out in “the Spring” (probably March).  Which one are you getting?

Blue Mics_Tiki
BlueMic_Tiki_productsheet

Blue Mics_Mikey Digital
BlueMic_MIKEYdigital_productsheet

Blue Mics_Spark Digital
BlueMic_SparkDigital_productsheet

I’ll have more on Blue, other products, some more video (my own) and comments on some interesting VO people I ran into at CES, tomorrow on this blog!

CourVO

Bettye has more VO knowledge in her microphone carrying case than I’ll ever be able to garner.  And there’s very little waffling.  Bettye has a well-formed answer for most any topic.  Her experience comes to bear on issues of rates, demos, marketing, agents, unions…you name it!  Sitting and listening to her rattle off pearls of wisdom — one after the other, –  made me wonder if I wasn’t ill-suited to be her webinar partner.

I began my portion of the program by saying not only am I hooked on information gathering and disseminating, but that I’ve never considered myself an expert at anything.  I’m immersed in Social Media tools, and I’m a student of Social Networking…but a guru?…don’t put that label on me!!!

People ALWAYS ask me how I keep up with it all.  Well, my presentation included hints about a lot of tools that cut into the time-suck that social media can be, and three of them neatly end up with the suffix -FY

Summify

Storify

Amplify

I’ve enthusiastically blogged about Storify and Amplify before…but it occurred to me I hadn’t blogged about Summify before, and of the three ‘FY social media tools, Summify is perhaps the most time-saving.

Summify filters online articles that you’re likely to read (according to their algorithm), and emails you daily a feed of the top five.

A Mashable article says about Summify:  “…users connect their RSS feeds, Twitter accounts, and Facebook profiles to Summify. An algorithm takes into account what feeds they follow and what their friends are talking about, and determines what they should read. Stories that are unusually popular on social networks are also accounted for. The resulting list is e-mailed to users directly…”

You can subscribe to other people’s Summify feeds, and they can subscribe to yours.  I find it amazing all the different ways innovation has led to new methods of interacting socially.

Speaking of which…in just a few hours, I’ll be rising uncharacteristically early to make my annual pilgrimage to CES (Consumer Electronics Show) here in Las Vegas.  Yes, it’ll be a madhouse.  Even MORE yes, it’ll be a visual phantasmagorical geekfest.

My first stop (after press credentials) will be the Blue Microphone booth in the South Hall to see their new offerings for iOS-devices:  The TIKI, the Mikey DIGITAL, and the Spark DIGITAL.  For a quick review, visit Billy James’ blog.  Blue produces some very innovative (and eye-catching) mics, and I hope to have a video demo for you from the exhibitor’s hall.

I’m sure I’ll stumble into other tempting gadgets, as well, among the thousands of vendors.  Hate that!

CourVO

This week: CES, the Consumer Electronics Show. This is the biggest conference on the Vegas calendar. More than 120,000 attendees are expected from all corners of the globe.

Luckily, the TV station where I work is 3 blocks away from the Las Vegas Convention Center, so I park at the station, and walk to CES, and score journalism credentials, and I’m in!

This is the epitome of geekdom for a guy like me. The whole week will be crazy. I’ve been to CES many many times, and it’s a fact that without an agenda, walking the exhibit floor means nothing but foot blisters.

So here’s my question for you: Who do you need me to go see? What booth…what vendor…what manufacturer…which new THING do you want me to scout out for ya? Let me be your eyes ‘n’ ears on the ground in Vegas at CES this week. Give me my marching orders, and I’ll do my level best to track it down.

CourVO

Founders James Alburger and Penny Abshire announced their staff for the event in a news release today.

I’ve been with this conference as a host from the beginning in 2007 in Las Vegas, then in 2008 and 2010 in Century City.  In the new year, the event is at Disneyland, and there are any number of great reasons why.

To see all about it, and to sign-up for the early-bird specials, visit the Voice Over International Creative Experience website as soon as possible!

I’ll also be presenting with Terry Daniel and Trish Basanyi on Social Media Secrets for Voice Over professionals.

CourVO

VOICE began in 2007 in Vegas, then 2008, 2010 both in Los Angeles.

Co-Founders James Alburger and Penny Abshire have been working behind the scenes for the last several months to secure the site for the next big Voice over convention, and they say Disney came up with an offer they could not pass up!

Having MC’d all the VOICE conventions so far, I can tell you this is not an event you should miss.  The turnout is big, and the energy and excitement of the conference is career-changing.  James and Penny have some big surprises in store that will blow previous sessions out of the water…and hey!…there’s’ Mickey!

See their big announcement here.

See their new web page, and information and sign-up here.

Join the VOICE2012 FaceBook Group

See you there!

CourVO

Because they shared, we will all learn and grow.

I’ve been keeping track of tweets and FaceBook posts coming from many of the attendees, and you can find that on Storify.

I’m also sending out a personal request to any and all FaffCon attendees to visit the VOAToday.com site and offer just ONE “nugget” of information you learned in one of the sessions, that you’d be willing to share with the rest of us.

I don’t have any prize lined-up yet…we’ll see…but just do it out of the goodness of your heart, OK?  Let’s see how much info we can collect that will uplift the  whole business of voice-acting.

CourVO

Today, about a-hundred FaffCon3 attendees begin arriving in Hershey, Pennsylvania for the third “unconference”…a voice-over event like no other!

Among the attendees at FaffCon are Anthony Gettig, voice actor, and winner of the Week-3 VOAToday prize package.  He wins a lifelong subscription to Voice123.com!…and a 10-ft mic cable compliments of SweetWater.

See the complete announcement of the winners of the week-3 VOAToday.com promotion.

If, like me, you are not able to attend FaffCon3, just set up a Twitter search in your favorite Twitter app (Seesmic, Tweetdeck) for the word “Faffcon”, and watch the info roll in.  I’m hoping most of the FaffCon attendees will be marking their posts with the #FaffCon hashtag, which will make it easier to track the info. Watch for blog posts, too on VoiceOverXtra, Bob Souer’s Blog, Rowell Gormon’s blog and others.

This should be one of the most edifying FaffCon sessions… 100 attending.  To see a whole list, and find out more about Faffcon in general, visit the FaffCon website.

Also, be ready for the announcement of the NEXT FaffCon.  FaffCon founder and sustainer, Amy Snively, I’m sure, has thought that far ahead.

Finally, FaffCon attendees are encouraged to visit the VOAToday site when you return home to share ONE NUGGET you learned at the unconference.  That will wrap-up the VOAToday promotion for September.  The final week’s winner will be announced next Friday, the 30th of September.

VO rocks!

CourVO