Dave Courvoisier's Blog

Archive for the ‘Training/Education’ Category

….or Congress should declare it as such.

I know there are always workshops and conferences and meet-ups going on EVERY month, but for some reason September seems to be a veritable cornucopia of opportunities.

First and foremost, there’s FAFFCON.  Ho, boy!  Have you signed up for this yet?  Do. Be part of the first-ever VO UNconference.  Portland.  2nd weekend in September.  Click on the logo for all the info.

Then, there’s THAT’S VOICEOVER, Septemer 22nd.  Hosted in NYC by David Letterman’s Alan Kalter and created by Rudy Gaskins and Joan Baker.  This is an event that just keeps getting better.

And then, there’s Marice Tobias — that elusive, but coveted coach holding an “Established Men in VoiceOver” event in my own hometown of Vegas on the last weekend of September.

Will I  make all three?  Nope…but 2 out of 3 ain’t bad.

Sleep?

It’s so unnecessary…don’t you think?

CourvO

You’ve seen ‘em a million times in this day of networking affiliates, spam newsletters, and hyped promotional ads.

A pitch that runs the full length of the carpet down your hallway.

Roll this video to watch as I scroll down the page:

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Normally, I’d say (and HAVE  said) run as fast as you can the other way! when you see promotional ads taller than your back yard Elm.

Only this time, the guys putting on the VoiceOverClass are top notch.

You don’t find any better coaches and genuinely experienced guys in the this business than Harlan Hogan and Dan O’Day.

Click HERE to see the whole pitch….just….couldn’t it have been said in one page, guys?

You dont’ need the hype…your reputations precede you!

CourVO

Voice coaching is something to approach with caution.  Usually the best way to know whether it’s worth the time/money is through a referral from a trusted friend, and even then you should qualify whether your needs are the same as your friend’s.

Some coaches are so way off-the-charts in demand that you have trouble getting on their roster (Wolfson, Tobias, Horvath).  OK, I shouldn’t name names, but there’s no shortage of VO coaches, and no shortage of debate about the efficacy of some operations, and whether they are a conveyor belt, flooding the market.  Ya know, I’m not here to get into all that in this article.

I just wanted to throw out the following link for those who may be considering an alternative.  VOCareer.com.

All I know is Gabrielle Nistico is on the staff, and one of the founders, and I’ve heard nothing but good things about her.  They’ve been around for quite a while, which is a good sign.  Call ‘em up and ask questions.  It’s the only way you’ll get answers.

Right now VOCareer is sending out the ACCELERATE flyer, and you may find something of interest there for you.

CourVO

The folks over at the VoiceOverDirectory have put together another great teleseminar…this time on developing believable characters.

Voice over artist, casting director, voice coach, and producer MJ Lallo will be the focus of this session.  She’s the best.  I keep running into her at VOICE conventions, and her material is always right on the money…a great person to get to know, as she can open doors for you.

VoiceOverDirectory.com set me up with a teleseminar back in November, and their product is everything it’s advertised to be…speaking of which, their ad for THIS event can be seen by clicking HERE.

This teleseminar is Saturday, so now’s the time to move on this.

CourVO

More and more I’ve been thinking about all the great voice-actors who are teaching:  Pat Fraley, Deb Munro, Marc Cashman, Hillary Huber, Bettye Zoller, Harlan Hogan…

Why?…

I mean, is teaching VO more lucrative than DOING VO?

If you can do both, then, of course, more power to ya!…but all I EVER wanted to do was VO…not teach VO.

Do you reach a point in your VO career where you want to teach more than voice?  Don’t you just want to put all your waking energy into getting better VO jobs?…wouldn’t that pay better than putting all your energy into teaching VO?

Do you reach a point where teaching VO is more FUN than doing VO?

I’ve been anchoring local TV news for 30 years, and I’ve never reached a point where I want to coach TV newscasters for money.  I LOVE mentoring others trying to get a leg-up in the business… but coaching people to be better broadcasters?  ‘Doesn’t appeal to me in the least.  I’d rather just anchor.

So I ask…why teach?

The only variable I keep coming back to is money.  It must be more lucrative to teach than to voice.  Maybe ego.  That would motivate some, I guess.

Of course, you can’t just set up shop and teach VO without having DONE it to the point of respect.  THEN you can legitimately hang out a shingle, and expect to get students.  Right?

Maybe the pros who are teaching are just more naturally drawn to teaching or suited for teaching rather than voicing….

This is just stream-of-consciousness thinking-out-loud, here…

I’m trying to understand this.

I’m doing a session at VOICE2010 on social networking, but it’s not because I really want to.  I was asked.  I’m not getting paid.  People say they’re interested in what I might have to say.  Maybe I can help.  I could see where ego comes into it.  It’s nice to be wanted…but I’d much rather spend that time voicing a sweet national network spot at union rates.

Could it be that picking the low-hanging fruit is too irresistible?  I mean, there’re all those eager newbies who say “…I’ve always been told I have a good voice…could I do commercials?…” Do they make it more lucrative to teach than to voice?

Anyone?

CourVO

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At 3:54am PST, I ponder this issue.

How much more of my personal time can I afford to give over to Social Media?

That simple question begets a rash of other questions that belie the complexity of the issue.

• First of all is the question: “Can I afford NOT to give that time, if I want a successful freelance Voiceover business under today’s new internet paradigm?”
• Secondly: “Is it really a burden if I’m having fun?”
• Thirdly: “Is it really a waste of time if it’s bringing me clients?”
• Finally: “If I DO draw a line…WHERE do I draw the line?”

(There are even more caveats, but again, you have to draw the line somewhere.)

RETURN ON INVESTMENT

I’ve been especially pondering this issue on behalf of the upcoming attendees of June’s VOICE2010 conference in LA.  Along with voice-actor Terry Daniel, I’ll be expounding on the ROI of Social Media for VO’s in a morning general session, and I hope to have some darn good answers for people who paid good money to learn something.

‘Trouble is, Social Media is such a moving target these days.  There’s a lot of flailing around in a pushing-the-envelope environment that sees trial-and-error success and failure in weeks, days, sometimes even hours.

Yet, in this new frontier, there are gold mines to be found.  Luckily there are also volumes being written daily…mostly in the blogosphere…to help.

RESOURCES

HERE is an extremely helpful, informative article entitled 10+ TIPS FOR USING TWITTER TO GROW YOUR FREELANCE BUSINESS.

And for those of you brave enough to take on Google’s latest Twitter challenge called BUZZ,  HERE is a primer for getting around, called HOW TO DO EVRYTHING IN GOOGLE BUZZ (INCLUDING TURN IT OFF).

Will you be there in June?  It really will be fun and worthwhile. I hope you try to make it.  See the registration site HERE.

CourVO

…on my audio during the recent Teleseminar conducted by VoiceOverDirectory’s Mark  Davidson.  The topic was “Leveraging Social Media for Your VoiceOver Business”. But  how embarrassing to hold a event for vocieover people, and the audio quality is below par!  We’re…uh…blaming it on the phonelines for now.

Luckily, I recorded MY end of the seminar on video, and Mark incorporates THAT audio instead of using my telephone-line recording.

Also, Mark puts together the links and information for downloading that’s very easy to follow.

Begin by clicking HERE. 

CourVO

Edge Studio is just the greatest.  I am sooo looking forward to meeting it’s founder and CEO David Goldberg when I go to the VO mixer in NYC Dec. 5th.

“Below the Fold” is their latest newsletter…I’ve copied and pasted the whole thing with all their notices, promotions, ads, and contact information (with their permission)…’cause you should look through it.  And if you don’t already get this newsletter…sign up for it!   The link is at the bottom.

Seriously good stuff!

CourVO

Read the rest of this entry »

…You can hear it in a teleseminar with James Alburger and Penny Abshire later this month.

Zurek is the visionary who launched VoiceOver Universe, and is quite an accomplished Voice Actor in his own right.

As James & Penny note:  “we secretly think he never sleeps”.

There’d be much to learn in this session, I’m sure.

Click HERE to learn where and when.

CourVO

VO Career.com sent out an engaging newsletter early this week that you may want to take note of…certainly worth a few minutes to visit the site HERE and take a look around.

‘Some knowledgeable articles, links, and references to people in the business who have made a good name for themselves (i.e. Deb Munro).

I’m honestly not all that familiar with this resource, so this is a neutral referral…but I can see some quality work that’s gone into this newsletter, and would welcome any feedback you have about VOCareer.com.

CourVO