Hey there, Voiceregistry Platinum pals! See you this weekend at the Weekend Workout with Jeffrey Umberger of the Umberger Agency! And if you’re coming to FaffCon 4, keep FaffCon Friday night free because we’re doing the first ever Voiceregistry Weekend Workout LIVE! a special after-hours treat for all Platinum-member Faffers! Details coming soon.
In the mean time: Read & Learn from Talent Agent Jeffrey Umberger | Voicebank U.
You might not know this about ol’ Faffy, but she’s a freak for Lifehacker.com. A lot of the tips, apps, and products that that I use and recommend were ones I discovered browsing their digital pages.
I just noticed an article for voiceover people there, titled Keep Giving Them You, Until You Is What They Want. Of course, it’s for everyone–they weren’t specifically thinking of us when they wrote it. But they might as well have.
You’ll like the article. But if you don’t have time, there’s enough wisdom just in the title. I’m sticking it on my copy stand right next to my favorite Oscar Wilde quote: “Be yourself. Everyone else is already taken. I’m convinced that these two messages combine to become the Best Voiceover Advice Ever.
Attention all Faffers! The Marriot hotel where FaffCon will be held is sold out for the weekdays (Thursday and Friday). The alternate hotel, the Crowne Plaza, is sold out on the weekend. If you don’t yet have your FaffCon reservations and you’re a registered attendee, you should visit http://faffcon.com/Hotel right away so you can get your reservations squared away!
Don’t delay!
Today, I’d like to share a post from Connie Terwilliger’s blog. It’s beautifully-illustrated, not just with her always-interesting photos, but with examples and insights borns of years of solid experience.
“Unless you dig clay from the earth, use your hands to form a pot, grind rocks to make paint, gather wood to build the fire to bake the pot and then stand by the side of the road to sell the pot, you probably have to spend at least a little money to be in business…
Read more on the blog of « Connie Terwilliger – ISDN Voice Talent.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
FaffCon
Pam Tierney – Media Relations
312-636-3174
E: <http://www.privatedaddy.com/?q=cl55ZnF-2FeWxeGAlOb3BzNHZiWnVvTkNK_19>
VOICEOVER PROFESSIONALS LINE UP TO SIGN UP FOR FAFFCON 4
Ventura Beach, CA, January 5th, 2012 – Registration opens this Friday, January 6th, for FaffCon 4: the voiceover unconference. Slated for 3 days in sunny Ventura Beach, it’s the first time the event for working voiceover professionals has come to California.
FaffCon, the semi-annual peer to peer learning event, is unique in that it is the only event serving those actively working in the voiceover industry – and so focuses specifically on those topics of interest to working professionals. Through the unconference format, the attendees themselves determine the content and set the agenda on-site thereby guaranteeing a schedule that covers precisely those areas of interest to the group. It’s a format particularly well suited to an industry where professionals may work in many different genres, yet share the same challenges and it’s the first time this underserved population has had a professional development event of its own.
Voicebank.net, the voiceover casting network for industry pros, is presenting sponsor of the event. “Voicebank.net looks forward to the fourth FaffCon event in Ventura” says CEO Jeff Hixon. “We have been one of the supporting sponsors of FaffCon since the very beginning and feel that it is one of the most important voiceover events in the industry.”
FaffCon 4 runs from March 23rd to 25th kicking off on the 23rd with the FaffCon Friday Field Trip, a mixer that will be held on a private whale-watching excursion.
Registration opens on Friday January 6th at 9am Pacific Time / 12 Noon Eastern at www.Faffcon.com and is limited to 100 qualified attendees. FaffCon 3, held in September 2011 in Harrisburg, PA, sold out quickly and it’s expected this fourth event will do so as well.
###
FaffCon is a participant driven peer to peer event for working voiceover professionals. It is an open space unconference revolving around a dynamically generated agenda to share tips, generate ideas and have fun. Unconferences are an emerging way to meet fellow professionals to share ideas and problem solve with others in the trenches.
Launched in 1998 and recognized as the service that “put the voiceover industry online”, Voicebank’s voiceover audition system is the most widely used casting software on the Web. It is the primary casting and project management tool used by more than 1600 top Ad Agencies, Animation Houses & TV/Film Studios, Independent Producers, Production Facilities and Casting Directors (voiceover & theatrical) around the world.
Today’s “must read” comes from Doug Turkel (which, by the way, rhymes with “excel,” not “Urkel.” This should be easy to remember since excelling is something Doug does intentionally, but this is entirely coincidental.)
Anyway, Doug has crafted a list of things you want to be thinking about as you launch your 2012. As he puts it, “Most of the items below won’t take you much time, but you’ll get loads of benefits: more time, more money, better control of your career and happier, more loyal clients.”
Read it here: 30+ Ways to Strengthen Your Voiceover Business.
If you were told by successful voiceover professionals that you could learn how to become a successful voiceover professional from successful voiceover professionals, would you follow their the advice? Here, let some successful voiceover professionals tell you…
Read more here: The Voice of Your Business Blog Be One of the Faffcon 100!”.
Originally posted 10/5/2011
That phrase sums up, to the best of my ability, what I think of Faffcon. It’s been a bit over a week since I returned home from Faffcon 3. My head is still buzzing and swimming from all that I experienced and learned there. It’s almost impossible to explain Faffcon to someone who hasn’t attended at least one, because from the outside it sounds like it would be chaotic. I mean, you show up and there’s no set agenda? You don’t even know who is going to be speaking, much less what they’ll be talking about?
Exactly. And this is a big part of the reason that the sum of Faffcon is greater than the parts. Each of us who was there at Faffcon 3 had something valuable to contribute; but the value received (at least for me) was far more than I expected.
How much money are you leaving on the table due to voiceover business mistakes?
It’s a new year! We here at FaffCon hope that your 2012 is full of everything positive and profitable. Even if you’re not big into New Year’s resolutions, you’re surely thinking about what you want from your voice over business in 2012–setting achievable annual, quarterly, and monthly goals, right?
And, if you’re like me, your goals include improving your standard of service and booking more work. So, let’s all review a terrific article that David Goldberg, Edge Studio‘s owner and director, wrote for Voice Over Xtra:
Why Many Voice Talent Aren’t Hired
(Are You Making These Mistakes, Too?)
I hope you find these insights from the other side of the glass helpful as you get ready to take on the new year. What are you going to do differently in 2012? (Answer in the comments.) I hope I’ll get to see you at FaffCon 4 this coming March–if so, I’d love to hear about how this is going for you!
Happy New Year!
Amy
An ordinary person would be galled to think that they’re going to Faffcon 3 in good faith and hoping to take something away from it. But instead had their car stolen.
There’s only two reasons I did not alert Harrisburg’s finest and report the theft. First of all it’s a figurative car. It doesn’t actually exist. I took a plane there. The second and most important reason is. I don’t want the car back. Simply because when I arrived at Faffcon and was so warmly greeted first by Randye Kaye I knew in more ways than one that we were in the right place. You see my career was that car you’re sick of driving but can’t afford a new one. You can’t bring yourself to flat out torch it. So you do the only thing you can do. Which I’ll work my way up to.
So if you’re a people watcher like I am you try to get a read on someone by how they come across as people. Being a male it might be easier for me to use other males as an example. Two guys I can think of off the top of my head are Zak Miller and Doug Turkel. Never would I say anything to embarrass them but It’s only human nature and I’m comfortable enough in my manhood to say that beyond the fact that are attractive looking men you observe how they carry themselves. How do they walk? Which of the two Big “C”s are they? Cocky or Confident? I can vouch for both these guys it’s the latter. My point being they and so many of you have the gift of gab I so desperately want. So if by any chance you wondered why the guy in the odd hat seemed stand-offish, such is the life of one who has suffered from crippling shyness his entire life. Who can emcee an event in front of thousands of people but has trouble talking to one. If you also wondered why the guy in the odd hat didn’t go to the dinner or karoke, such is the life of the alcoholic. I’ve beaten it for years but didn’t wish to chance saying “You know what Larry? You’re out of town. A couple won’t hurt.” I wish I could.
And as if the weekend could have ended any better, my dear friend Michael Coon who without I could not have made the trip were waiting out a half hour flight delay when who came strolling up but Amy Snively. We enjoyed the finest conversation and when we actually got on the plane Mike said to me “That’s why our flight was delayed. We would have missed that time with her.”
So I can affirm after returning from Faffcon I actually like what I see in the mirror better than before I left. Except for that damn zit. Because I parked that car with doors unlocked and the keys in the ignition hoping it would be stolen it was.
So I’m proud to say that car that I was sick of driving and had stolen at Faffcon now sits in Amy Snively’s driveway. You can’t actually see it but it’s there. It Los Angeles so it’s little invisible hubcaps are now gone. But it’s there.
By the way. The insurance company paid off.
