If you are in or around the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania area and have a new or continuing interest in social media as it pertains to you life (business or personal) I highly recommend you attend Podcamp Philly 2010.

Of course if you have a Podcamp ANYWHERE near you, I recommend you attend it.

The cost is only $20 (which basically weeds out the real attenders from the pretenders and makes headcount more efficient for the volunteer organizers) You can sign up HERE.

The one that started it all, Podcamp Boston, will celebrate its fifth anniversary this Saturday and Sunday, September 25 & 26, 2010 at the Microsoft N.E.R.D. Center (yes, you read that right).

That’s the good news. The bad news is it looks to be sold out and there is a wait list for tickets. So I guess blog posts like these for their event don’t seem so necessary anymore.

Well, good luck to all involved anyway.

September is National Voice Over Month

Not to be too dramatic about it, but it’s about damn time.

Almost every group, organization and/or species has a week or month named in honor of them. Often times it sounds like a joke when you hear some of their names and so too may the impression here now for some, but it’s not.

My friend and fellow Voice Over Talent Dave Courvoisier kinda mentioned the idea in passing when he noticed in his blog about a week or so ago how many voice over activities were taking place in the month of September (more than usual, it seemed).

For example: Amy Snively’s Faffcon is taking place in Portland, Oregon on September 11 & 12th. Joan Baker’s New York City-based “That’s Voiceover” LINK is taking place on September 22nd. These events in addition to the usual voice over seminar suspects like Pat Fraley’s regional seminar in Buffalo, NY on September 25th & 26th mean that the summer slumber has been shaken off.

Then Dave sent me an email Saturday (yes, just this past Saturday) saying this National Voice Over Month idea was gnawing at him and what did I think.

I copied him, Amy Snively and Bob Souer on my answer (because I feel it’s always better to cause trouble in a group); my answer was that Dave’s idea for a National Voice Over Month was the right idea and that we could pull it off in four days…and now we are.

Somewhere in there, Voice Over Xtra!’s John Florian and Voice Talent and Social Media Tour De Force Terry Daniel I believe also got roped into this and I think there are many others who are contributing to this month long event as well. I hope you’ll take time to acknowledge all their efforts when you see them on-line on blogs, podcasts, videos or social media outlets like Twitter or Facebook etc.

Dave grabbed a domain and created a web site, Amy drew up a logo, I helped with some copy and we’re all still actively adding to the program – as a professional voice talent you are sincerely encouraged to participate in whatever manner you feel you want to…maybe comment on blogs, retweet NVOM announcements, or maybe create a Voice Over meetup in your city where all the voice talents get together for a visit.

One of the more interesting things to see was how Dave (the true driving force of this idea) called for a hastily called weekend vote on Saturday from the board of SOVOA to endorse and support September as National Voice Over Month; by Sunday it was passed. Brilliantly executed and kudos to the Board for the response time.

Our goal, I think, is simple and openly self-serving– share with as many people as possible what Voice Over Talents do, who they are and where they can be found. Yes, we are trying to create awareness among potential employers for every voice over professional in this industry but I think we’re also trying build on the credibility we’ve established in the wake of our collective professional works this far.

I’m proud of my very small part in all this because I believe strongly not only in the art and industry of Voice Over but also in the men, women and children who perform within it around the world. We are a talented bunch and it’s not a bad thing that we say that ever so briefly…maybe once a year.

Will you celebrate with us? Let me know how you’ll be a part of National Voice Over Month.

Some will think this stuff and nonsense but I have been stewing about something for while and it has truly been bugging me.

Facebook Fan Pages.

Specifically, should I have one for my voice over marketing?

I have one for the Voice Over Entrance Exam and I have my own personal Facebook page…but do I need a “Fan” page? Sheesh!

Social Media clearly has a narcissistic component to it. Rarely are you asking people on Twitter or Facebook or LinkedIn or on your blog how they are doing – more likely you are telling people who, what, when, where and how you are doing.

There is no ME in team but there sure is ME in Social Media.

Yet most of us play the game and often times enjoy it especially when there is give and take, usually always pleasant.

But I guess it’s the term Fan Page that has bothered me (I think Facebook is trying to get everyone to call it a Like Page but you’re basically asking for fans or for people to vote that they like you.)

That’s awkward to ask and seems kinda desperate in appearance when the Fan Page is about me (the e-book is a “thing” and it helps people – I have no problem with a Fan Page there).

I have joined a ton of fan pages for other people and never gave it a second thought. No, I didn’t think they were desperate at all because of their Fan Page.

But I look at myself differently. It feels like I am being egotistical if I do this Fan Page thing. The old comic line “But enough about me, what do YOU think of me?” comes to mind. Again…awkward is the word that keeps coming to mind for me.

From a business stand point, it could help me communicate with people on Facebook who are interested in my voice over business (the same reason I participate on LinkedIn and Twitter). That’s the big “Pro” in the “Pro/Con” debate that’s been raging in my cranium literally for months.

Well, ultimately that was the deciding factor for me and shamefully, I am announcing I have a Facebook Fan Page now (talk about burying the lead). Peter K. O’Connell – Male Voice Over Talent is what its called (for the SEO lovers out there). In this context, it sounds as ridiculous as “Peter K. O’Connell – Male Model” but, in for a penny, in for a pound.

We’ll have to see how long I can stomach this. I make no promises.

Thanks for listening.

So Wednesday was Social Media Day around the globe. As part of it, there were over 600 meet-ups and I went to the one in Buffalo (#smdayBUF) at Merge on Delaware Avenue.

I’ve been to countless networking events and unconferences and the like so I figured it would be fun but wasn’t really sure what to expect.

The venue was very nice and they even had a DJ spinning vinyl (old school – nice touch). There was a registration table so you could get a name badge with your Twitter address (@audioconnell) and everyone was very nice….and very young.

There really is no age (as such) in the social media space but when reality checks in, when you meet people in person, you see the disparity in age right away.

That doesn’t mean social media is strictly for the young. It might mean that social media meet-ups are going to be populated primarily by young people who have the interest in going out (didn’t we all at that time in our lives); there’s nothing wrong with that nor was there anything wrong with me attending.

But aside from visiting with a few people I knew and meeting a few others, I just knew this wasn’t my place, my space. I’m glad I went but if I don’t go again, I won’t be missed and that’s OK…my place and hope for social media hasn’t faded.

Your mileage may vary.

I’m not sure if it’s cause I look old and decrepit or what, but when I go to professional events, people who know of me but who I don’t really know yet (except maybe sort of on line) often say “Hello Mr. O’Connell, my name is Ken and I’ve (read your blog / seen your videos / listened to your demos / got a warrant here for your arrest etc.)”

Mr. O’Connell?

It’s a sign of respect that I’ve offered to people as well and it’s certainly appreciated…but with me, it’s also unnecessary.

I noticed it a bit at the Voice Talent Production mixer and some other professional events…I’m not any type of hot shot but people know of me and that I’ve been doing VO for a while (a long, arduous while) and so they wonder if it’s OK to say hi to me.

It’s more than OK, it’s encouraged! I’m looking forward to meeting YOU!

And I cannot think of anyone at this week’s conference who should be considered unapproachable.

So as we approach VOICE 2010 and you see me in a conference room or in the hall way or on the corner selling pencils, don’t be shy, say hi.

When it comes to technology, I am not an early adopter like, say Dave Courvoisier. This is especially true for me with internet technology.

I was late to Firefox as a browser and I only kind of embrace things like Gotomeeting.com as just two examples.

As a business owner though, I know that I need to at least have a passing understanding of the purpose of some this technology because many of my voice over clients have it or will begin using it.

While we all don’t need to necessarily be internet technology experts in the eyes of our clients, we shouldn’t appear technologically inferior either.

So you may have seen on the web talk of something called Google Wave, you may have even gotten an invitation to participate in it (yeah, it’s currently an “invite” thing but its not that crazy exclusive).

I don’t understand Google Wave very much…maybe because I haven’t used it. But because it’s Google it has a better than average chance of being universally adopted by people I work with. So I need to try and understand it…and you should probably try to learn about it to.

So far, the best explanation of Google Wave that I have found so far was written by Gina Trapani over at Life Hacker. It’s a kind of an FAQ that helped me understand the business applications of Google Wave a bit more and I hope it will help you too.

Look, if it was easy, anybody could do it. Open your brain a bit and let some stuff in this post seep in. It may help.

I am well aware that this may be of interest to no one but me or it may encourage you to take a well-times critical eye to your own web site; it was time to clean up audioconnell.com

Let it be said up front that the clean up was on account of (bad english alert) stuff that I put on the site in the first place. Was I wrong then? Probably not…the web is an evolving place and our job as business owners is to stay on top of the changes for our site. What made sense then may not make sense now. Plus, refreshing a brand or at least tweaking it on occasion (note that) is not a bad thing.

My point is with the growth of the International Voice Talents, Voice Over Workshop and even the female voices, the site can revert back to its original platform – promoting my voice over business. The plan I developed when I started those businesses was to build on my web equity and that would mean sacrificing a little of my own voice over business to do that. Well, I got ‘er done enough for those two as they are up and running on their own; it was time to update the web site and I did…and will….forever.

I realize that my graphic abilities are not the best so the representation above may not look as beautiful as the site does on your browser but this is for demonstration purposes only. So here’s a rundown of the cleaning and polishing (maybe they will offer you some helpful ideas as well):

A. This is the first part of the changes involving the navigation of the site. It used to say male voice demos – which were all mine. Now it has my name on there which is clearer for the visitors (over 1,400 of you unique folks last month and I thank you). The other part was clarifying how to book/hire me…sort of asking for the order, if you will. This involved looking at some of the content on the site already and reordering it within the navigation.

B. This part involved cutting out some navigation stuff that was old or unnecessary. Just as a couple of quick examples: I dropped the client login button (I email an FTP address to clients which is easier and simpler) and dropped the voice over workshop link (people use www.voworkshop.com now). Much cleaner.

C. This is a bit of the pizazz and razzle dazzle . First, this spot used to have a variety of old mic pictures which were nice but used up important web real estate…bye bye mics. Hello audio’connell’s secondary logo (the “ao” logo as opposed to the full “audio’connell word mark logo with the microphone which is on the left of the site). Most social media pals are very familiar with this icon as is anyone who remembers the story of my favicon. BUT also I added some client logos up there on a rotating basis just to gently let people know some of the folks I’ve worked with. The cool fade process is done by adding pixie dust (and that stuff’s expensive!)

D. A break with lower case tradition, in just this one instance. We’ll see how that goes.

E. Pulled out about three demos here having everything to do with money. Thank you God it’s been an OK year for business and I’ve been making money in my core areas of commercial and narration. But message on hold sounds the same everywhere and podcasting is not an area where many folks focus on quality or expenditure…of any kind. So buh bye.

F. As mentioned earlier, a little branding paint has been applied to the site and this text area was a key place to convey this message. Plus it’s not a bad thing to freshen up the text for the bots occasionally.

G. A key part of my marketing effort is to get out a press release every month and yet I fall behind. Not because I don’t have stuff to write about but rather I don’t make the time to get the writing done. So there are two fresh press releases on the home page.

Just so we’re clear, this post isn’t meant as an ode to me but rather as a pot stirrer for you and your web site. Certainly if things are going exceedingly well, I am not encouraging you to screw with your formula. But a reflective and maybe even critical eye could help you see things on your site that need a little improvement. And there was no heavy lifting involved in this process.

Your thoughts?

In doing a little Google Analytics review (which I haven’t done in a while) I noticed that my frequently asked questions page is one of the more popular pages on my web site. Who knew?! (Google analytics, evidently).

This could be for a couple of reasons:

A. Clients are learning about how I can help them and what my business terms are (which is why I have the page)

Or

B. Other voice talents are reading the page trying to learn about how to present themselves to their clients on their web sites

For the purposes of this blog post, I’ll hope for the former and ignore the latter.

So here’s what I would like from you: please look at my FAQ page and give me YOUR ideas for what OTHER questions I could answer for clients about my business that they might find helpful. You can also advise if you think some questions/answers should be changed or omitted.

Any insight you have would be greatly appreciated because as I get older, I know just how much I don’t know.

Thanks!