Dave Courvoisier's Blog

Posts Tagged ‘voice over’

Here’s a slick idea for a website…and in a second, I’ll give you a link to MY video within it.

The site promises: “We spent years gathering recommendations from the people breathing life and culture into their cities around the world, and filming video features on the very best local spots. With this information we have created the first worldwide city guide that learns what you like.”

And it IS a very easy interface with lots of video, links to hot-spots, plus (of course) the ability to use various Social Media platforms to spread the word.

Some months ago, I got the call out of nowhere to be profiled for this site’s showcasing of Las Vegas.  I said I’d participate, not really knowing exactly what it was all about.  I did the interview about “my Vegas”…you know — how I perceive my town, what’s to do here…etc.  Then I waited several more months, and now here it is…a fully launched site with obviously TONS of work and thousands of man-hours put into it.

You have to register (for free) to gain access to everything (quite extensive)…but then you can click HERE to get to my video….or just browse around and choose LAS VEGAS, then see my listing among the others interviewed for this project.  The home page is:  http://www.inthemo.com….or click on the logo above.

Let me know what you think.

CourVO

A few days ago, I blogged about a “Sublime Predicament“.  The predicament being that I had no efficient way of cohesively keeping my work records (jobs, invoices, pay-dates); and sublime because I AM getting jobs, and sending invoices, and receiving payment.

One of the early responses I got to my quandary was from Brian Vermeire, the CEO of Holdon Log.  I’ve long known of the various services Brian’s company provides to the acting business, and have even blogged about them, but didn’t think to consider one of their products as the solution to my ‘sublime predicament’.

Vermeire contacted me.  After some back ‘n’ forth emails, and an online demo, I’ve decided to give Brian’s PERFORMER TRACK online software solution a try.  So far it’s a thumbs-up.

Making a good product

Brian’s company has developed, listened to it’s subscribers (mostly actors), then responded by augmenting, changing, and building a solution for keeping track of your business that is top-notch.  Even since I signed-up a couple of weeks ago, they’ve made some small improvements.  The online software package is “in the cloud” so it’s accessible from any computer, anytime.  It’s deep…broad…well-conceived…and it’s especially designed for the needs of actors.

Secret Ingredient:  YOU

Like any other record-keeping solution, though…it DOES take some time to set up, and there is a constant input of information IFF you want it to really work for you.  For instance, I no longer record my auditions, send them, and turn off the light in my studio.  After sending the audition, I log onto Performer Track, and enter the date and time of my audition.  I input the KIND of audition it was (commercial, industrial, cable, etc.), who sent me the lead, the nature of the spot, the copy involved, whether it deserves a follow-up, the price quoted, and even more if I needed to.

With actual jobs completed, I note the date an invoice was sent, enter contact information, enter the day and the amount of payment, and almost every other conceivable sort of contingency has already been thought-of and offered in drop-down lists as options.

Pudding (The proof is in the)

The real pay-off will be in a few months, when I can collate all that information into an analysis report…and yes, Performer Track does that too.

For all the questions I raised in my previous blog about record-keeping for my acting business Brian’s Performer Track solution seems to have an answer.  Nice going Brian!

In six months, I’ll let you know how things worked out, and whether I’ll be re-upping for the better-value year-long subscription.

CourVO

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

5 Gigs seems so paltry these days, but hey…5 GB is 5 GB, and if you need it, and it’s free, and you can access it from any computer anywhere, it might just come in handy.

Uploading demos, auditions, or finished files could make this an easy solution for you and your clients.

Check it out HERE.

CourVO

Ever since VOICE2010, and the wildly acclaimed presentation I did with Terry Daniel on Social Media for VO’s (I lied about the wild acclaim thing, BTW), I’ve had many questions about what a person should “DO” when they finally get somewhat established on these sites…like Twitter, FaceBook, and LinkedIn.

The answer — written succinctly — and explained better than I’ve seen anywhere, is summed-up in THIS article by @thatdamnredhead for Social Media Today.

She expands on everything I’ve tried to say over and over.
.
BE YOURSELF.

CourVO

(P.S. see this link and more tips about Social Media for your VO business on the website http://www.SocialMediaVO.com)

You know at least once a month, I’ll post this link and encourage you to slip on over to EQ Magazine‘s uber-browser-friendly online publication.

Not only is it fun to flip the virtual pages, but the content itself is top-notch.  Sure, it’s mostly written for people who actually know what VST stands for, and can describe the difference in polarity fields for the various types of condenser mics…but for the rest of us, there is a lot left that’s actually quite applicable to our VO indutry.

This month, for instance…besides having a fetching picture of Cheryl Crow on the cover, you’ll find articles like:  ”Give Your Mixes More Headroom”, and “8 Questions That Can Save Your Sessions”.  The publication favors the music industry, but applies to us too.  Even the ads are great.

Give it a look-see, and you will find it thoroughly engaging.  I promise.  CLICK.

CourVO

When I walked into the newsroom today there was free pizza.  ”Why?” I asked the nearest reporter.  ”The fires,” he said. “Oh,” I replied…not having the foggiest notion what he was talking about.  ’Turns out the fire season came to Southern Nevada today, and I had no clue ’til I walked into the newsroom. (We sometimes get free food when there’s no time to take a break in the coverage.)

The important lesson here is that the veil of self-assurance can be quickly and easily ripped from your over-confident face in a flash.

Here I was a newsman, who didn’t have a clue about the news.

Similarly, I’m a voice-actor, who apparently is the LAST to know about Harlan Hogan’s excellent list of voiceover coaches, pleasingly arranged by region.

Harlan is no slouch, and is certainly one of the top voiceover coaches himself, so while I haven’t vetted this list myself, I feel fairly safe in passing it along.  A quick run down the list affirms many of the names I’d use in a second, and plan to use in good time.

So, there you go…free pizza, and a heckuva list.  I’m humbled.

CourVO

(also, grats to the VO-BB for this tip.  The VO-BB: a spot-on community forum for all that matters in VO-land)

Sooner or later, I can count on getting a call from just about anybody saying they’re coming to Vegas.

This last weekend, there was a glut.

My friend Mark Johnson, News Anchor at the Boise NBC Affiliate KTVB had an all-expenses paid trip to Vegas to participate in the national finals of a karoake contest (he does Sinatra).  He didn’t make it past the first cut, but we had a fun time partying that evening at mydaughter’s college going-away party.

At the same time, Merlên Hoekstra called. I met Merlên when she was a volunteer at VOICE2008.  She attended VOICE2010 in a lesser role about a month ago, but wanted to make sure to look me up when she was in town.  Merlên lives in France, but has extensive worldly VO experience, including broadcasting in Japan.  She made a point to visit me at the TV station this week.

Just one day later, Randye Kaye sought out a lunch meeting with me.  She was in town with her husband, who I discovered was the brother of a friend I knew from church for many years.  Small world!  They live in Connecticut, and she works at Edge Studio as a coach, while pursuing a successful career in voice-acting in many different niches.

These face-to-face meetups are important.  We voiceactors maintain virtual liaisons with a wide spectrum of characters…and the natural curiosity is to (some day) sit across the table and share the same space over a meal or a game of dominos.  It doesn’t matter what the backdrop is…the important thing is conversation in the same airspace.

I am blessed by rich relationships with interesting people.  I hope I give to them at least as much as they return to me…

CourVO

…purposely misspelled in the spirit of texting.

For a while during my hour-long teleseminar on Social Media sponsored by Edge Studio June 22, 2010…I waxed eloquent on the suggested do’s and don’t's of social media…that is, if you want to get and keep friends and followers.  Otherwise, it doesn’t matter what you do.

The whole teleseminar, of course, was based on the supposition that you DO want to get and keep followers and “friends”.  Furthermore, extending your brand onto those social media platforms may even garner you some new clients.

These concepts are not new, but apparently — with a teleseminar attended by the maximum allowable 100 listeners — a good many voice actors have a hunger for learning more about social media tools.

I set up my trusty FLIP video cam to record some of my end of the call, and the clip is below.  Mind you, I took NONE of my own advice for how to set up a good shot, as stated in my helpful website: OnCamTips…so forgive the terrible angle, and the news map of Las Vegas in the background.

To hear the full hour’s teleseminar session click HERE, and scroll down to the subheading ‘Marketing’.

Also, visit SocialMediaVO to see a more complete resource on leveraging New Media for your voiceover business.

CourVO

….links to stuff I’m finding.

First, Edge Studio posted the audio of my teleseminar with them about a week ago on the topic of Using Social Media for Your VoiceOver Business.

Click HERE….then scroll down to the Marketing section.  It should be the top link under that heading.

Also, as you’ll find if you’ve visited the SocialMediaVO.com site at all…I’m a big fan of SocialMediaToday.com.  They consistently publish some good material for staying on top of social media trends.

I love this one:  TOP TEN WAYS SOCIAL MEDIA IS TEACHING US TO BE HUMAN AGAIN.  Good reading…and all true, especially when building the your brand on social media for your VO business.

CourVO