Part of my ever-changing social media strategy is to delay letting anybody know when I’m gone on vacation (duh!)…so that would-be robbers will not take advantage of my absence.   But nothing prevents me from spilling the beans now that I’m back!

“But Dave,” you say, “I read a fresh blog article or two every day last week on Courvo.Biz.  Why did you mess up your vacation by blogging”?

I didn’t.  I sandbagged 5 fresh blogs, and scheduled them to be published one each day.  Here’s the cool part, though.  At the 3-level beach house in Sayulita, Mexico, the neighbor had Wi-Fi, and I was able to tap in, thanks to a worker who slipped me the code.  Gotta love the black market in Mexico!!!

So I did occasionally check email and tinker with the blog as seen in this photo:

…and yes, that’s the ocean in the background.

I took the time to inform my regular clients well in advance of my planned absence from the studio this week.  I DID take a rudimentary mobile studio but regretted it several times over.  If it were just a laptop and a mic it wouldn’t be so hard, but you need the cables, the mic stand, the patch cords, the battery charger, the USB cable, and when it’s all said and done, the TSA scanner Nazi’s just cant…quite…see…everything, and that means going to the “special” line where they have to break down everything in your bag.  Add Immigrations and Customs to that formula both going and coming back in TWO countries,  with connecting flights, and you have a wife who starts rolling her eyes.  Next time, I’m leaving the portable studio at home.  I never used it, and it was too much hassle.

I did, however, find an idea for a whole new genre of voice work that seems untapped here in the US.  Here’s a pic that shows one of several trucks that roam the streets of most Mexican towns with a loudspeaker mounted on the hood or the roof.  It plays a loud advertisement either recorded or spoken live by the driver into a mic.  See short video clip below.  Just think:  grab a couple of clients who want real-time advertising in YOUR city…promise them at least as much exposure as the taxicab placards get, and with a professionally-voiced message that can be altered at a moment’s notice.  What’s not to like?  (Uh, better check with your municipal noise-nuisance standards first.)

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‘Just talked to a Peter O’Connell referral – a guy from Reno who wants to break into the biz.

You’re never too far.

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You’ll see an ebb and flow of quality, but there should always be something new.  That’s my commitment.  At least one new blog every 24 hours, and hopefully something that contributes to your VO business.

I’ll be blogging for the next few days, but the only thing you’ll find that might augment your VO business is a little inspiration from the mountain West.

I’ll be vacationing with my family near Truckee, CA for the next few days.  That’s Lake Tahoe country…very close to where the Donner party had their tragic Winter-over in the Sierras.   It’s beautiful there, and I can veg.

So, stop back here for a few gorgeous pics if that will bring some tranquility to your day…there just won’t be much about business.  Even computer/internet/geeks need some time away from the digital universe.

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Yes, you have to drive about 10 miles on a bone-jarring, wash-board gravel road, but so what!…I was going to be walking on a giant see-through SkyWalk, projecting me out over the rim of the Grand Canyon 4,000 feet up!

As soon as I arrived, the disappointments began:

1) The place has a military-camp feeling…lots of tight security
2) You feel “handled” from the moment you step onto the site.
3)  You also feel like your pocketbook is being assailed from the get-go.
4)  By-pass all the Sight-seeing plane and helicopter booths if you can find your way past them.
5)  To be able to walk the SkyWalk, it costs $75
6)  It’s not till you’re riding the bus TO the SkyWalk that they explain YOU CANNOT TAKE YOUR CAMERA ONTO THE SKYWALK!!!
7) WHAT!!!???
8]  Pass through a metal detector before walking the SkyWalk.  You get a locker to hold your stuff. (‘used to be a dollar, now free — wow!…thanks!)
9)  Watch with frustration the West Rim Photographers with THEIR cameras on the SkyWalk sell you their photo packages of you.
10)  Ice Cream Cones $2.25 (well, it is a remote location)
11)  The ultimate disappointment: The SkyWalk doesn’t even extend over the Colorado River canyon itself…you’re extended out over a tributary canyon.

Total time on-site:  2-hours.  Total time on the SkyWalk: 5  minutes.  I coulda stayed longer, but I was so steamed by then, I didn’t want to.

Here’s a link to a short video I put together of shots I took while I was there.  My suggestion:  go to the South Rim or the North Rim.  Both are much more beautiful, less expensive, and more accessible.

VIDEO

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Actually, I’ve been doing a pretty good approximation of that all week, as I’ve taken a week off my TV job, and have just been sticking around the house catching up on a host of  stuff.

But Friday, I’m taking a day drive in the old Chevy SSR to the West Rim of the Grand Canyon.  Yes, the WEST rim.  ’Never been there, and it’s about a 2.5 hour drive from Vegas.

Check back here in 24 hours for pics, video, and the complete story.

….and yes, that is the see-through-bottom horseshoe-shaped walkway out OVER the canyon where I’ll be Friday.  ACK!

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Andy Boyns

The thing I like about Andy the most…and the character trait that will serve him best in all his VO endeavours, is his enterprising spirit.  During 2009, Andy dug in and got to know many of us in the biz through his social network connections.  He has an engaging personality, a wonderful growing family, and a respectable talent.

Here’s the deal though:  like most of us who build up relationships online, he has the eventual desire to enjoy the face-to-face in-the-flesh meeting.  A chance to rub shoulders, share some laughs, some stories, and maybe hoist a cold one together,.

Andy’s dream is to do that at VOICE2010.  But again, Andy is in Istanbul, and VOICE is in LA.  Being a young father, running a fledgling VO business and trying to keep a day job in a foreign country, Andy’s budget is thin.

For some reason that hasn’t seemed to bother him.  He’s always just gone on faith that he’ll find the means.  Now he’s backing up that faith with an open appeal on a new website he’s designed.

You may not know Andy, but here’s your chance to help him get a leg-up on his travel plans.  Then you WILL know him, and your world will be richer for it.

Click HERE to go to his website and consider donating to his travel arrangements.  I did.

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More food than I can possibly eat.

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That’s it.

Now….it CAN involve a change of scenery, people, duties, demands, responsibilities, or even internet habits, but it doesn’t have to.

Take last week, for instance.  I took 5 days away from my TV job.  That alone constituted a vacation.  Monday and Tuesday, I just hung around the house, and spent time with family gloriously untethered to deadlines.

Wednesday  I drove to Boise on 2-lane roads up through Nevada.  Thurs. and Fri., I participated in my duties as a member of the Board of Directors for a charitable organization headquartered in the Capitol city.  Saturday, I spent several hours driving through mountain passes of Idaho, but once I hit Interstate-15 in Eastern Idaho, I drove until I found my own bed in Las Vegas at 4:30am Sunday. Almost exactly 1640 miles covered total in the trip..

To me, that was every bit as good a vacation as taking a Royal Caribbean cruise to Mazatlan.  I mean it.

Driving is cathartic for me, and with the 2004 Chevy SSR (retro roadster super sport pick-up  convertible muscle car), I can’t imagine being any happier.

Sure, the work piled-up is crushing when I get back, but luckily the Bed ‘n’ Breakfast where I stayed had free internet, and I was able to  keep up with virtual things pretty well on my laptop.

Yes, I will absolutely suffer clinical depression on my second full day back to work.  I always do.  At least I know it’s coming.

Still worth it all?  Yes!  I was able to actually forget – completely separate myself emotionally, physically, and spiritually – for long periods of time, from THE ROUTINE by planning distractions and diversions.

Have you planned yours lately?  ‘Worth every bit of whatever lost work or productivity you may suffer.

Just do it! (with respect to Nike)

If you’d like to share in the fun I had along the way.  I’ve completed two videos of the pics I took, first of my cloudy-day drive through Nevada, and second, of mountain scenes in Idaho.  Enjoy!

Nevada
Idaho

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At least twice before I’ve blogged that a regular part of my business plan should be that I travel…like…all the time.  ‘Cause when I do..I invariably catch a boatload of sudden interest in my voice.

Wednesday, it took me 12 hours to drive from Las Vegas to Boise.  Don’t get me wrong, the drive was one of the more enjoyable I’ve ever taken.  Clouds, fog, rain, rainbows…very uncharacteristic weather for Nevada, and beautiful to see.

But when I finally made it to my room and opened up my laptop to check on things, I found at least four decent requests for auditions.  I know, I know, some of you get that and more EVERY DAY, and you love to tell us all about it.  (See MushMind…I’m not done with this topic yet!).  But four requests for audition – in my mailbox…as in, I DIDN’T have to chase ‘em down – THAT’S a good day for me.

Oh, and did I mention I had 300+ fresh e-mails waiting for me besides the auditions?

All of which brings me to the trouble with traveling.  Anymore, can we afford to be even ONE DAY without checking e-mail? (for some add Twitter, FaceBook, and LinkedIn to the question)

If the answer is “no”, is that good?  I mean, of course I’m kidding about traveling merely to prompt auditions…but I’m NOT kidding about the serious ball ‘n’ chain we have in the form of virtual communications.

If I took a day to enjoy my drive to Boise…then why doesn’t it feel like I was really free of encumbrances and cares? 

To me this underscores the fundamental dependence we in voice-acting have on electronic communications as an intrinsic part of our business plan.  If this bothers you…I think you’re in trouble..

CourVO

P.S. If you want to see a quick video of my trip…click HERE.

Click HERE for the list on Paste Magazine.

And…this note that for the next few days I’m taking my annual, lone-driver trip out West…since I’m already here, and I don’t have to drive to get there…just drive IN it.

I’ll be hoppin’ in the ole 2004 Chevy SSR (with brand new tires, shocks, and alignment), destination Boise, Idaho.  That means driving the entire length of Nevada on 2-lane roads, and wouldn’t you know it…there’s a huge rain storm predicted.  IN NEVADA!

Actually, that’s OK….sunny and clear comes 320 days/year in NV.  Clouds, rain, even snowtopped mountains, should make for some beautiful shots that you rarely see out here.

Of course, I’ve got my iPhone and laptop, so I won’t be far from posting stuff, once I find a good wi-fi.

Finally, I’m burying this next link here, ‘cause it just seems so…no other way to say it….egotistical.  But maybe I’m just getting caught up in semantics. 

I’ve got my own FaceBook fan page now, not published by the director of my fan club (there is none)…it was posted by ME.  This is the thing to do now, I guess….(or should I say everyone else seems to be doing it, so naturally – me being a lemming – I have to do it). 

That’s right, I posted my OWN fan page, and (get ready for it)…I’m asking if you’ll visit, and become a “friend”.  HERE is the link.  Disclaimer: No real or implied advantage comes from becoming a fan of the Voice Overs by CourVO fan page!

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