VOICE 2008- Day Two

Between you and me, I considered putting this post off until tomorrow, as I'm just plain beat from another amazing day! But, I figured it best to put pen to paper..ahem, fingers to keys while the memories were still somewhat fresh in my brain!

The day began at 8am. I received a phone call from my local newspaper with some follow-up questions to an article being written (details to come on Sunday!). Then, I had some other work to take care of...so sadly, I missed both morning sessions at VOICE. Dagummit!

I arrived at the Hyatt at noon, and joined Bobbin Beam, Rick Reid, and a few other voice actors for a quick lunch. After some chit-chat, I went to my first session with Gabrielle Nistico from Voice Hunter. She spoke about the ins and outs of radio imaging. It was truly fascinating, and incredibly informative! Sitting next to me was Rick Party from the VO Universe, an imaging VO extraordinaire! I kept looking over to him for his reaction to Gabby's presentation. It was awesome to see him mouth, 'she's REALLY good' over and over :) I wish I could write out everything she taught, but honestly- there was so much info, it would take me the rest of my time in LA! One of the points she did discuss is the time frame to use when marketing to radio stations. She said most imaging contracts are up in the 4th and 1st quarter of the year, therefore- target most of your marketing in the 3rd and 2nd quarters, just before they are looking for voices. She also showed us how ad-libbing in radio imaging can really raise your value with a station. Great stuff all around!!

After an intermission, I attended the session with Richard Horvitz. My friend and voice coach, Nancy Wolfson had mentioned that Richard's session would be right up my alley, and she was correct!! Richard is so full of life, and really had everyone waiting on the edge of their seats to see what he would say next! It was such a fun session! Richard discussed his daily mantra, "I am enough because I am a human being". I think I will be borrowing that from him! My other favorite thing he mentioned is that there is no right or wrong way to do voice over...only a healthy and un-healthy way. Meaning, if we spend our time second guessing ourselves, or talking ourselves down...we will never be as great as we could be. He was such an inspiration!! After the session, I took a quick photo with Richard and spent some time chatting- what a great guy! I plan to make it back to LA at some point to study with him further.

After the final session of the day, I ran upstairs to check e-mail. While trying to figure out why the wireless internet wasn't working, I ran into Bob Bergen and Deb Munro who were headed to dinner with Marc Cashman, John Taylor, Stefan Chinell, Steven from Audio Technica, and a few others. They were kind enough to invite me along, so I decided it was a great time for some food and great company! Bob had to leave during the meal to attend the AFTRA evening panel. The rest of us chatted, ate, and had a wonderful time. Following dinner, I snuck into the AFTRA panel, where the voice cast from the long-time series "Land Before Time" were speaking. It was wonderful!

At the panel, I ran into Caryn Clark, who was coming back from dinner with Randy Thomas and Peter Rofe. We all hopped over to the bar for a drink and a chat before calling it a night. Peter is a hoot! I can't wait for his panel on Sunday! I've already let him know that he simply must introduce me to Wally Wingert :)

Needless to say, it was another fantastic day here in LA! I'm exhausted (again) but looking forward to tomorrow!!