Over the weekend I spoke at the Mid-Atlantic Voice Over Conference in Hernon, Virginia. 100 aspiring voice talents from all over the country converged on this suburb of Washington DC to explore the world of voiceovers, work with some amazing presenters, and network with some of the voiceover industry’s best and brightest. I’ve spoken at a lot of voiceover conferences over the years and MAVO was lovely, just lovely.
This is me and my carpool buddies Johnny Heller and Suzanne Barbetta having a grand ole’ time on the road.
This is marketing guru Marc Scott crushing it in one of that many incredible sessions he did. Preach it, Marc!
This is branding expert Celia Siegel wowing the crowd with both her vast branding knowledge and her awesomeness as a good human.
And this is me taking a quick breather in between sessions. No, I’m not whistling. Or singing.
The 100 Mid-Atlantic Voice Over Conference attendees were eager, enthusiastic, and kind. My fellow presenters, everyone from keynote speaker Kari Wahlgren of Phineas and Ferb fame to Joe Cipriano (the promo voice of almost every TV you show you enjoy) are top-notch in their field and provided a wealth of information. BTW Kari is freaking hilarious.
Val Kelly did an extraordinary job of putting it together almost single-handedly. She is one impressive lady. The Mid-Atlantic Voice Over Conference is every other year so the next one will be in 2020. If you can go, go!
TIP OF THE WEEK
Some of the attendees I had the pleasure of talking to were concerned about their lack of experience. Everyone in the voiceover industry has something to offer as both a professional and as a person. I don’t care how many spots you’ve done or if you don’t even have a demo yet, you have something to offer. You came from somewhere and have life experiences and insights to share that could potentially change someone’s life. If you are a good human, take your training seriously, and work your tail off, good things will happen.
One more thing. I was sitting in on one of Kari’s animation workshops and she talked about what to do if you flub a line during an audition. She said that it’s not about whether you make a mistake, it’s how you handle that mistake. If you apologize a zillion times and then ask permission to do it again, it makes you look like a nervous amateur. If you just pause and pick up where you left off, you’re keeping both yourself and the client in the moment. I raised my hand and said “Professionalism is not necessarily perfection.” I’m proud to say she is stealing my line. 🙂
NEWS AND NOTES
Thursday, November 15th @8PM EST: My next Edge Studio Business and Money 201 webinar will be “Managing Your Money”. We’ll talk about how to think, earn, spend, and save money like a business. Click here to sign up.
Sunday, November 18th @2PM EST: At Soundvine Studios in Manhattan I will lead the workshop “Marketing for VO”. Since there are only seven seats available this will sell out super-fast so sign up ASAP! Click here to register.
March 29-31, 2019: I’m presenting at VO Atlanta 2019! Details to come…
HAPPY HAPPYS
Happy Pickle Day and I Love to Write Day! Can you tell…?
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
Love is not a zero-sum game. Jennifer Angela McRae
Tom Dheere is a 20+year veteran of the voice over industry who has narrated thousands of projects for hundreds of clients in over a dozen countries. He is also voiceover business consultant known as the VO Strategist and is currently producing the comic book “Agent 1.22”.