this may be the biggest thing that’s ever happened wherever there is Injustice you will find us wherever

there is suffering we’ll be there wherever Liberty is

separately they are humble Canadian voice over Superstars together they are

the three amiibos ladies and gentlemen ladies and gentlemen now the amiibos and

Friends super fantastic Happy Hour podcast

seen dabby Coleman in um Cloak and Dagger yes that was a good

movie that was one of my favorite movies as a kid fantastic by the way um welcome to episode four of the meatballs and

Friends super fantastic Happy Hour podcast

you’re all here sorry oh we didn’t realize we’d started the show go on Mike

we didn’t realize I left the door unlocked we’ve uh we’ve just decided to you know start in a different way which

is fair enough wait is it Dabney or dabby Dabney Coleman Dabney Coleman I suppose the show he was on in the 80s

Buffalo Bill Buffalo Bill Buffalo Bill I have you know what it’s a shame the only time you have it on DVD no no I I just

mean I can pull stuff like that I’ve got like all this pop culture stuff just rattling around in my head asked me two

plus two and I need like a calculator but that kind of stuff just comes right at you know that’s like not finish the

sentence that’s that’s a good word there’s like 32 toothpicks wow I I was going to ask you to finish a

sentence I realized it would be too easy because you’re just too phenomenal yeah does it does does your brother let you

drive uh on the driveway on Sundays only to Kmart I’m not wearing any underwear Kmart do my immediate left

amiibo Dave McRae everybody it was a Rain Man reference yeah I know I’ve Seen Rain Man

as you can see this edition of the amiibos and Friends super fantastic Happy Hour podcast has started off with

a movie theme but that which is not uncommon because our resident uh movie geek I want to say yeah

I am I give you a video I could give you the year of of of almost every movie if

you tell me a movie I might be able to give you a year all right uh The Cutting Edge

come on who did not find Moira was it Moira Kelly was was the actress she was

attractive I said I’m not even gonna I don’t know what year that was what year

was that I don’t know actually I was hoping you could tell me DB Sweeney was in that he was

the Pacheco twist I actually haven’t seen it okay I’ve heard of it I know the

movie you’re talking about but I haven’t I haven’t well I just don’t fell off the rails didn’t it yes I I do have a film

background yes I I make movies and not the kind of movies you were thinking of ladies and gentlemen I make regular

movies but Dave also uh it should be noted if it hasn’t been to this point Dave also does our vodcasts he does the

video transfer or the video productions yeah the interests the trailers and all

that stuff and he also did a video of us in the studio the last time that we were here yes yes

you posted that did you know yeah I did yeah I did I thought it was kind of funny it was except the ending there’s

some random screaming you’re telling your dog to get off some guy named Andy was under the table well

no we don’t we don’t know we don’t know because the video the video hasn’t been analyzed we need to analyze a video

we’re going to figure out whether or not I was screaming at a man under the table named Andy or if I was screaming at my

dog named Indy you as the public you decide to give us a call I’m gonna go at 1-800 three amiibos and you could win

two tickets to amiibo land next summer see this vodcast as it started off in a

weird sort of tangent but that’s because now that we’ve we’ve added guests to the

mix we’ve actually added friends to the amiibos and Friends uh super fantastic happy hour vodcast last show we had the

incredible amazing super nice and extremely talented Patrick Sweeney on incredible sort of the Canadian wave in

the Canadian flag to start with and this time we’re going to to shifting a little

bit to the South a little bit yes yes a tiny bit a tiny bit Peter K O’Connell

will join us on this episode of the vodcast if you do not know who Peter K O’Connell is uh hello get your head out

of the sand that’s exactly it he is based and he’s in Buffalo is he now Buffalo New York Buffalo New York Times

Friendly Markets I have to ask him about that because he’s America’s friendly neighborhood Spider-Man voice Talent oh

voice Talent yeah well that too I’ll probably screw that up when we talk to him I’m just saying that now because I have a hard time remembering that I

think he is I want to ask him about if if he’s close to America’s Friendly Neighborhood Market which is tops tops

Growing Up in Southern Ontario that’s we’d watch wutv in Buffalo that’s right and they always at the Tops Friendly

Market Lackawanna Tanawanda oh yes I I was DJing at a bar in Buffalo uh called

good bar good bar that’s right and uh I had some time to kill before uh I I had

to actually start my shift and there was two girls there I was there with a buddy and asked if we wanted to shoot some pool uh before I had to start Eugene and

I said sure and she asked me if I wanted to be stripes or salads

I fell on the floor laughing you talk funny

yes it says the man and the boots um Peter K O’Connell who uh not only an

accomplished voice Talent uh he’s also he doesn’t say he’s a coach but uh he actually had a great phrase and you’ll

hear him say it uh uh he calls himself the uh consiglieri that’s right right because

he’s not a full coach he’s not a full coach but the man knows what he’s talking about but we don’t know if he’s gonna say it yet because he hasn’t been

on yet Garnet no but he said it in previous no previous times he’s probably gonna say it because I’ve heard him say

it to me and uh he says it on his website edit this I don’t need to sound more like an ass now got this yeah why are we trying to bail

him no you’re absolutely right uh Peter K O’Connell is is accomplished and uh if

you don’t know who he is and you take your head out of here so Peter K O’Connell who um he’s uh the

code he’s also a coach uh doesn’t say he’s a coach he’s also written a free

ebook which uh a brilliant idea a brilliant concept because I’m sure you guys like myself have been asked by

countless people that know what we do for a living how do I get into voiceover and you know people have told me I have

a great voice so what do I need to do Peter actually went and wrote a book and uh gave it away for free on his

website it’s called the voice over entrance exam we’ll talk to him about that as well and the other reason why we

we wanted to have them on is because he is um so close to the Canadian border he’s also with a Canadian agency up here uh

just to get his perspective on sort of the you know Canada America and from his perspective uh if there’s uh any

difference in in how the sort of the voice over World Works uh on this side of the board and don’t forget about uh

fav con as well that’s right because we are planning the three amiibos are planning to go to fafcon in San Antonio

Texas we’re hoping where we got the wheels in motion yeah and that’s in October I have to find out the dates

room exactly but he’s been involved with fafcon from the early stages excuse me I’m a little foot clemt

um early stage so we’ll ask him about that as well but before we get to that let’s uh do some business of the amiibo

kind with an amiibo Iceberg tip and we’ll be back with Peter K O’Connell on

the program next amiibo we’ll be right back changing the voice

over industry one two got a Time

hey I’m evil Garnet here and I want to talk to you about demos if you don’t have one then why are you listening to

me right now go out and get a demo Hurry fast I’ll wait no I’m not gonna wait however as the

rest of you know a quality demo can make or break you getting the gig or even make or break your career now myself I

have several demos commercial animation e-learning narration Etc and unless you

specialize in only one thing say like audiobooks you probably have several demos too having specific demos like

that is great they showcase all of your abilities and the client doesn’t have to sift through what they don’t need just

to hear what they do but what if we narrow it down even more say you’re contacting a company that owns a bunch

of car dealerships to become the voice of all their commercials rather than just sending them your all-purpose commercial demo send one that only

features you voicing car dealership apps could be hard sell soft sell different makes different models but it’s all

about car dealerships following that train of thought you could also do industry specific demos for concerts and

live venues medical narrations political ads and while the only limits really your imagination it’ll showcase your

versatility and expand your client base just don’t get too hyper focused you probably don’t need a specific demo for

that Asian fusion Burrito Joint although it might get you some free burritos and now the amiibos and Friends super

fantastic happy podcast joining us on the line the one thing I

really love about the website first off is it’s so well written and so

informative so I feel like I already know our guest uh but he has dubbed

himself America’s what is America’s friendliest no friendly friendly neighborhood voiceover well and I just

want to know uh Peter K O’Connell joins us I want to know America is a friendliest neighbor what is it I can’t

even say it right neighborhood Spider-Man you’re a friendly neighborhood voice over talent friendly neighborhood voice over talent are you

close to a friendly neighborhood Tops Friendly Market who is this

Peter kale you kids get off my lawn I love it Peter K O’Connell voice Talent

extraordinaire from not too far away from where we are here in Hamilton from the birthplace of buffalo wings uh voice

over Legend Don Messick and the Goo Goo Dolls and might I add my favorite hockey team the Buffalo Sabers yeah that’s

right from Buffalo New York that’s right I know I know I know but

there’s still hope Peter there’s still hope in each and every year you know I light I light some candles

and I and I pray it never works but I pray you keep praying then you might

want to find a different Saint to pray to yeah I know no now Peter what’s what’s what’s really unique and what we

we really liked and wanted to have you on the show for is because of your close proximity to where we are and not to

mention you have you have a certain tie to Canada uh with one of your

representations uh you’re with Tada Voice works based out of Toronto and we kind of like the the idea or wanted to

get a feel for a us-based talent who who does work up in Canada and and sort of

the uh the similarities the differences what you find is maybe a good thing that might be different from what you do down

uh down your way but before we get to that a little bit of a back story you have quite the the resume as far as

voice talents go uh tell us a little bit about how you got into voice uh from

sort of the early days and and into what you’re doing now

in fact when I worked with Marconi you mean when he was developing right

you know one of the similar to Garnet and I uh were uh just a a good old radio

slug um and then made the transition to voiceover you started in radio did you not I did start a radio first of all

thank you for having me on the show and secondly uh I am uh in in part of a

fellow Canadian uh because I asked my grandmother was actually uh born epic

Canada get out I am I am a I am American Irish Canadian Peter’s a frostbac there

we go now I live summers for about 43 years up

in Fort Erie Ontario Canada wow and and oh yeah oh no I and I am probably one of

the biggest uh supporters of the country just generally speaking I think it’s one of the most beautiful places in the

world Peter you’re uh what you just come back I mean I hope he’s not pandering it he’s Panda that’s true I know I I don’t

have to suck up to you guys let me guess yes I did start in I did start in radio

so as you know I used to be paid in t-shirts and CDs or albums depending on what

decade back in the day when I started in radio uh I I had a a splicing block a

straight razor and some tape and that’s how we used to cut uh commercials uh back in the day started in in Dayton

Ohio it hit radio 100 um and uh they were a hot hot AC station

um and they did very well and then um one day I went on vacation and came back

and they somebody had the absolute come apart from the commercial production Department who was the production

director or something and something left terribly awry and they said uh we’re taking you off the six to nine shifter

and how our you’re now our production manager and there’s you know first thing and I’m all of like

20 years old 19 20 years old um and I’m like don’t take me off here

oh there you go if I had an Asian I’d call one um but um but I but then it turns out of

course just all those little things are in life that turns out to be this great gift and I always loved you know

commercial production I was like working in the Production Studio but I really found a niche uh doing you know just

writing spots creating uh spots and and developing a talent which you know which

was questionable at best at the age of 19 or 20 years old but you know again if you’re paying me in t-shirts you don’t

get them so so I want my flash dance t-shirt because yes we did do the

premiere in Dayton Ohio a flash day wow um oh yeah I’m telling you I want to

tell you and it was actually I was working the evening shift so I didn’t get to go to the movie I just got a t-shirt

I actually got a t-shirt I’m surprised didn’t have to suffer through the movie

I’m surprised they didn’t make you sit in the chair and pull the bucket of water down over top of you for a stun

well you know there’s you know there was that I did that at home I really didn’t need to do that in front of them

entirely so so voicing uh in the radio station as uh most production most

production people end up having to voice stuff if there’s not enough announcers around or you’re you just don’t you know have enough bodies in the radio station

it’s a Friday at five o’clock and you still got stuff to do and there’s nobody you end up voicing quite a bit and you realize that that was a natural Talent

yeah it was it came very well to me and this was back in the day when you were doing mostly announcing but I I did sort

of have um a a a friendly hinge to my voice and

I don’t mean that egotistically I’m just I’m just describing amongst tears how I how I thought I sound at the time and

and I was able to use that a little more than the you know radio announcing voice but everybody wants to listen nobody

wants to listen to that but it was the 80s you know and that was what was selling back then um you had you had the real conversational voice before anybody knew

that was a thing yeah I didn’t know it was marketable who knew I was you know 19 years old and stupid now I’m almost

50 years old I’m still stupid right now um so um you know it works for the time and

and the nice thing about it was the thing that the thing that sort of made it clear for me was that the advertisers

liked me they asked to work with me they wanted to they wanted Peter to do his

their spots and so I’m like okay and that’s you know that sounds so they come into the station and they’d make time to

work with me um so then I sort of felt like I was onto something like wow okay you know if

they like me that much that they request me and they were you know I’m not the morning guy you know and radio usually

the morning guy gets all the great gigs well not I don’t know these were clients seeking out the event evening guy and

later I hosted the oldie show on Saturday nights and had great rating success with that but I mean it it was

very nice to know that people liked my commercial voice and so I went on from there and uh and then just you know developed uh my uh my craft from there

Peter amiibo Dave here um hi Dave how are you uh not bad not

bad um I’m curious to know I mean you have a uh you know a wealth of experience behind you dating back to the 1980s

um and I’m just curious between then and now in your view what is one of the

biggest changes that you’ve seen uh in voiceover over in terms of

perception oh

a question that it is such a commodity that anybody can do it

that it it really takes no skill and it only takes technology to make your voice

over talent right I I that that disappoints me in many ways not not directly for my business because

people who want to work with me they want to work with me and and that’s fine

but it’s it’s what it does to our industry what it does to the voice over industry

um you know everybody has the right to to make their living however they want to make their their living

um and pay to play sites which I think you guys are probably familiar with those sites that you pay you know an

annual fee of something like 300 a year and they and they send you and 25 000 of your closest friends a lead for a

voiceover commercial right or a narration and everybody just sort of jumps in and well maybe I’ll get it

that’ll be terrific I’ll do it for 25. and and and then the development not

specifically for voice over but you know one of the one of the categories that this website called fiverr.com you know

I’ll do any any job for five dollars including voice over right and I I was I

was on a website and and I forget what it was it just had an ad for Fiverr on there I think it was a marketing website

so it had a an ad for Fiverr uh for a logo a logo designed for five dollars oh

my gosh that’s such an insult to these people who have such amazing artistic

talent and for five dollars and and so for voice over the change that you’re asking me about is that what what what

I’ve seen change is is this the value of what we do has been lesson absolutely

Lesson by the pay to play it has been listening by technology everything that was good about technology can also you

know be considered in my opinion bad uh because and I’m I’m usually a very optimistic person but I think a lot of

what has happened here with technology has hurt our industry and and hurt and

hurt you know the art the Artistry of our industry right I would agree yep

absolutely now gonna switch gears here because I um Garnet uh here I’m evil Garnet uh I was looking forward how are

you

and Beyond no it’s true it’s a good it’s a good point you make because you know I I find

that a few people who I know who have listened to the Vodka slash podcast

slash vodcast whatever the heck it is now um have said that if they’re not used to

hearing all three of them geez how did you know Peter because that’s exactly exactly what’s going on

right now he sees right through us if if you’re in Canada and you’re in radio you’re drinking okay so amiibo Garnet

here to preface let me uh let me ask you a question about social media because uh looking

over your website you’re uh you’re all up in it and uh I I know that you have a

yo I’m all up in it yes you are 50 year old and I’m all up in it what part of

Buffalo are you from from reading your uh your blog and

reading your uh your website that you prefer LinkedIn over Facebook but uh I

do and I understand your reasons why you’re very clear on that but do you have a strategy that you use for combining all social media effectively

and I’m talking stuff like Google Plus as well your YouTube channel Pinterest like whatever to try and effectively use

them all together in your uh in your marketing strategy oh heck no I don’t I no I mean you know I I and I I get

called on a lot by by voice over folks to help them with a variety of things I have something called the voiceover workshop

and I and I I work with voice over talents as a consulary not a coach because I’m not qualified to be a coach

like a Fraley or a Maurice Tobias or somebody like that who really knows what they’re doing I’m just telling them what I know but they come to me about

marketing and they always say well I’m on social media and you know social media has its place in in the marketing

of any business including a voiceover business um social media is is but a Channel of

what you do and so but more directly to your question about how so you know how

does social media all come together in in one you know pot it it really that

doesn’t necessarily to the way I look at it is social media should be looked at based on the audience that you want to

address your marketing message to and for a voiceover Talent there are a

variety of different audiences that we’re usually going after and I’ll give you an example and it’s just one of them

a billion you can come up with different variations uh if you were um if you were

going after and advertising agency uh advertising agency has a category of

audience that you want me to talk to maybe specifically not just agencies um maybe creative directors or

copywriters for example right because those are the folks that are more likely to hire a voice over talent you you want

to think about what social media their they’re most attracted to and what

social media channels excuse me they are most attracted to and that could be any number of ways but but what’s important

is what is the message you want to get out to them and then by when you figure out what that message is look at the

different media the social media channels that you have and and then pick your channel that way I mean can you in

essence go to uh a a a a a a web integrator like uh uh hoop Street and

send one one message we have a link to a blog post to Facebook and Twitter and

Linkedin and darn near everything else at once and get it all out there sure you can and will it will it get some

views absolutely I mean you know you got things like Twitter to give you the hashtag and people are more akin to

hashtag so they look under things they’re interested to them so they see something in there they’re more likely to fall off but when you’re using social

media as immediate as a marketing channel it’s

so important to figure out what message you want to get across and it can’t be

um something along the lines of uh call me for you know for a 25 voice

it’s getting there um but but if you if you look at the marketing message you want to get across

for example maybe you want to tell somebody about some new cool thing that you a new cool attitude a new persona

that you came up with so maybe you want to put something like that in one of the LinkedIn groups just the LinkedIn group

just that one group to get that message out that to me is a good use of social media if you want to put out something

silly like a like a viral video that has something to do with creativity you know

maybe a link on on Facebook works for you but again then again all of that

depends on who you’re connected with on those social media channels if you’re connected with you know all your cousins

from around the world they’re not gonna give her a rest attitude about that they don’t care you know but you’ve got to

make sure that you’re somehow hooked up with those with those people in in the industry that you want to the creative

directors the copywriters in this example and make sure that they are um that’s that’s my uh GPS if you’re

hearing that um turn left here exactly I’m lost turn

left here oh my God it’s a lake I’m sort of a long-winded point to say

think about your message and and use social media to its best Advantage find

those people you really need to connect with and follow them and communicate with them don’t communicate with the

world you know find a way to use social media to get your message across to the right people even if it’s a few people

I’d rather communicate with a few of the right people than a hundred thousand of the wrong people because what’s the

point well that’s an interesting uh sort of to to dovetail on that is do you find

now that with social media especially in the voiceover community that voice talent that are either new to the

business or relatively new uh tend to either a spend more time uh selling to

the to their peers as opposed to selling to potential clients and engagers and

and sort of do yeah and do they also do you find that now with social media that

Talent are I don’t want to they’re they’re building they’re I’m fighting with the GPS I’m sorry I

think I turned the damn thing off I thought I turned it off before but I guess I didn’t I thought there was a woman in the car that’s okay

my wife might be listening uh the uh but what I was sort of getting

at with social media it seems now because it’s so easy to use and because it seems to be the uh the platform of

choice for voice Talent now especially new ones that there’s this uh this need

or desire to present yourself or or give yourself a Persona without necessarily

having the goods to back it up per se you’re laughing because you you know

what I’m getting at here create the illusion it’s it’s yeah like like Dave said it’s it creating an illusion of a

talent that’s either better or further along than actually is or that they’re actually busy hey guys I

just I just finished a recording session for a car dealership in Rangoon

do you find that though Peter I mean you know in my observations Mike is right and and and it’s something that we sort

of talked about on the inaugural vodcast uh was this exact topic but it’s interesting to get your point of view as

well because you know we find that there are a lot and not everybody of course but there are a lot of people who who

are very good at marketing very good at creating the illusion that they are better and further along and more

knowledgeable than they really are well first off I think if you’re if you’re

further along and and doing more voice over work you don’t have the time for social media how’s that work correct

right there um I mean if you know and I’ve pretty much given up on Facebook I

mean like literally in the in the in the past month I’ve I’ve dwindled it down to almost nothing except for my my voice

over page like my first I’m like I’m just I’m just done with it um and uh because I just it’s nice and

people are nice it’s nice to hook up with your with your friends and family but much for business it seems to be fairly useless now there are other

people who will tell you that they make lots of money working off of social media and I respect their opinions and I

resp I respect that they make money off it I guess I don’t have that magic magic button and and I find that there are

other um uh there are other tools in my marketing quiver uh that I can call on

and and they work a lot better for me to develop my business versus social media social media has value but again it

depends on what your audience who your audience is for that message and social media as far as voice over challenge I

mean I I I know that this sort of tweet or Facebook post uh that you that you’re

alluding to and these are people who are you know basically saying hey yeah I’m

I’m I’m doing great work on this or I I just finished this project here or

um hey call me if you need a voiceover uh for a project I’m available uh I’m I

I’m between sessions right now

like no you’re between sessions because your last session was 2012 and now

2013. you know so it doesn’t it doesn’t behoove you to get that

message across you have to make social media worthwhile and many people who are much more talented in social media than

I am uh have made this point you have to offer content you have to offer value

for the for the reader you have to offer something of interest it’s the same thing if you were you know for

television and for radio you know if you’re producing something it’s got to be of interest to the to the uh to The

Listener to the viewer and so where’s the interest in somebody’s saying uh hey

call me for a voiceover I mean the symptoms of somebody first of all hiring

you based on that kind of post and second of all actually being on Facebook

at that exact moment thinking themselves damn where am I going to find a voice it’s so rare and and improbable that you

kind of go well let’s not let’s not go there so I I just think that that’s that’s kind of silly I think voice over

challenge would be better suited and and and be better off just generally if they

considered why they’re on social media what the purpose is and it is to Market

their business well their business isn’t necessarily that hey I’m a voice over Camp hire me it is that my brand is you

know Peter K O’Connell uh America’s friendly voice neighborhood voice over talent and you know you know and here I

am being friendly and neighborly and by telling you this kind of cool thing that I think will be of interest to you and

oh by the way you know I am a voice talented you know and and by by clicking on my profile you’ll find out about me

not because I’m saying I’m a voiceover challenge but because when you’re when it’s time for you to you know want to

know more about me you’ll find out that I’m a voiceover Channel But first you thought I said something interesting or

posted something that was of interest to you or it’s humorous or you know something that they garnered your attention and and and then you find out

as a voice over talent and then maybe a connection can be made that way I think that’s the best way social media works

but you know I could be all wrong that’s brilliant now uh sort of in a in

a different direction here one of the things that uh you’ve been involved with I I want to say from the start yes uh

yeah from from the very beginning you’re mentioning like I’m connecting with fellow uh voice over artists uh you know

through social media and stuff like that I’ve done that um and you know sometimes made uh

connections that have led to work um but also just networking with them and just sharing ideas and stuff like

that which um is done uh at events as well such as fafcon and fafcamp which I

understand you’re heavily involved with um how did you hook up with Amy snively and and how did uh fafcon all get

started up and actually can you tell me please why fafcon I don’t know what the faff part of fafcon stands for

the reason I got involved in fastcon um and and I didn’t actually to your

question I didn’t actually hook up with it well I didn’t mean she’s definitely married and I’m happily married to two

different people I did not mean hook up in the biblical sense Peter oh

it’s what you were no I I didn’t unders I didn’t understand is that on the leviticism no that was in

the book of Eminem I believe oh my God that’s a great book it melts

me off your mouth um so fast fast time I came to fastcon

um it was around to a a conference out in Los Angeles a

voiceover conference that I was asked to speak on a panel app uh it was called uh voice uh and it was put on by uh the the

very the very lovely and talented uh Penny and James Auburn uh Penny Abshire and James Auburn uh very nice people and

I’ve known them for years and they did a very nice uh conference and um and I

spoke on a conference uh panel with uh John Florian from voiceover extra my friend Dr Kell Trish basani uh Bob and

bean was there I mean just a ton of people and of course a lot of my voice over friends uh that I’ve known for a long time we all got to know each other

going back to social media and I’m trying to keep this all on one path going on social media um through a voice over bulletin board

called the vo-bb.com now that is a a voiceover

bulletin board that was started uh in the early 1800s um by the great D.B Cooper a wonderful

female voice over talent well if you guys ever want to start talking about uh video games and there and voicing video

games you guys should absolutely talk to her she’s just an amazing talent on the number of levels but she really she

really has a a great a great ability there um but so we all were on this board for

years and we so when we when we went to Los Angeles a bunch of us went to Los Angeles it worked out really well we all

got to see each other we had a lovely time but what we when we went to the conference uh and Amy was there as well

Amy Schneider was there as well so one of the things we noted when we went to the conference was at this particular conference

um there were a lot of people um selling their Wares so when when a

presenter came up and was talking to you it was they were talking to you

um with the purpose of hopefully selling something either that day or later on

when you’d buy something that they had but it was all sales there’s there’s nothing wrong with that

and there was still some content that was worthwhile there but it got Amy

thinking original idea and everybody immediately glommed onto it because it was such a brilliant idea that there’s

got to be a way to have a voiceover conference uh of some sort

where you can actually just um work together uh in in a conference

setting and learn without having to be necessarily sold to and so this is the idea that was

germinating with Amy and and she gave she gave it life um and it and she came up with the name

fastcon now fast goes back to I believe the British version of just sort of chatting around facting about it’s just

you know speaking with friends you know fabulous did I lose exactly did I lose

you no that was it no there was a giant light bulb that uniformly went uh went off above everybody’s head in the room I

should know this yes a blanket Moment of clarity just hit us

on your money we do and we do she’s gorgeous she’s she’s Loveless

Kate Middleton money though uh if only

yeah no it’ll happen eventually they’ll give her her own coin um but um so Amy came up with this great

idea and um and and so she wanted help from people in the voice over

communities very much a um a Community Driven event you know Amy’s not making a

a boatload of money let alone any money off of this event uh it isn’t it is not it should be a business venture but it’s

more of a venture of love and trying to break even on it it’s just there’s nothing wrong with that either and so um at the particular time she started

the event she and I had known each other for a while and certainly uh she’s one of the female voiceover talents on my

website um and I am uh she said she said you know can you

help me and and of course you know sure I can help you um so unfortunately the good news was I

could help her the bad news was I couldn’t attend the first fast film uh because uh my lovely bride was giving uh

gonna give birth around that time to our our third child and my wife kept saying something silly like you have to be here

I I said dear you’ve done this twice before you really don’t I was not critical to the process you know with

with masks on and lights and they think like doctors or nurses and stuff like that I’m really you know I’m not really

necessary you have to be here so I I paid um and and there’s all the better for it had and had a lovely time with uh with

our third with our third child the young boy who’s now two and a half uh coming up on three but um so what I did at the

time as I recall was um I crafted a uh I crafted a video and and engaged all of

uh all of my voice over friends uh to participate in it and uh you know it was

we tried to make it look good but it was ranked amateurish at best and mostly

because of my script and my creativity um you know I I was a video producer once

in my life but I seem to have lost my uh my debris but it but it worked out well to get the get the word out uh on on the

event and everybody was very um very excited about it and it and it had a it’s wrong since its first event uh

those years ago in Portland and uh now it it it sells out within hours like

within an hour uh because uh fastcon is uh is limited to just 100 voice over

talents each of the voiceover talents have to be vetted uh to be proven to be you know full-time voiceover Talent uh

making their living at it doing it doing it professionally Etc um and and the value of the event itself

um and the reason it’s it’s it’s it’s it’s so prized and cherished by the people who have attended fast time is

because it is voice over talents um the voiceover talents who are in

attendance create the event right they create what what’s going to be on the agenda for the event they put

it all together um and and so you’ve got quality voice over talents people who run their own

business who can talk to you about the business that you’re in and understand your challenges understand your

opportunities understand what what um Stepping Stones you need to make in your business and can help you through all

the things because there hasn’t there isn’t a person in there who probably has not experienced one of the challenges

that you you’ve experienced and think are insurmountable and yet they’ve they’ve overcome it correct and but by

and large you may have something for somebody there in the same vein you know you’ve overcome something but for them

it’s insurmountable and you can help them with it it’s a great it’s a it’s a great opportunity and you’ll learn a ton

oh the the learning is and it’s so specific to the voiceover community and

running a voiceover business that’s the beauty of it so I would gather Peter that that uh

um fafcon probably because of the things that you just said and because of the

environment that that the voice over talent who attend create there is much

more of a sense of community and family than there would be at something like voice

um I I I yes and no because I don’t I don’t want to diminish the worth of the

folks that voice are doing sure um there is absolutely a community for the people at any conference including voice and

and James and Penny have worked very hard on it over the years uh and I’ve attended it and it and it is a nice

community and and Lord knows I’ve made uh lovely friends uh by attending those those events and they’re very nice

people sure so I I think there is I I think there’s a community at any event

like that anywhere you go with voice over talent you’re going to have a community it’s just you you spend most

of your life in a dark room with a single light bulb you know you get out and you talk to people anyway it’s like

everybody yeah it’s like everybody who’s coming out of uh you know solitary confinement like oh you know I know

exactly what you’re talking about exactly you know but but then you know narrowing it down

to fastcon the there is a there is a community certainly uh there and and uh

you know people continue to communicate with each other long after fafcon has gone is over

um it continues to continue to share the commitment to help each other’s business

and we develop a um a Brotherhood a Sisterhood I don’t want to make it too

familiar right right and just disrespect actual families which are more important than this but um but it is really

something that it it is very important to the people who have attended fafscotch to keep post-relationships

going and and usually uh by and large most most uh staffers are very welcoming

to uh fellow fascots well I I would hope I would hope that that’s the case

because it looks like that the three amiibos are planning to make their way to San Antonio for the the next which is

coming up in October correct yes it is I think it’s the third through the fifth and San Antonio I hear I hear I I hear

the Alamo is there um

I was trying to make a peewee’s big adventure joke here oh yeah is there a basement in the Alamo I thought the

Alamo was in Arizona is it in Arizona we’re Canadians we don’t know we don’t we don’t know American history very well

apparently that’s our that’s our Regina without giggling

Peter K O’Connell the the website is audioconnell twins2ls.com correct yeah

sure it is our peterkel.com or you know uh Stupid voiceover idiot.com and also

and and if you do go to the website uh we didn’t touch on it but uh the voice over entrance exam which was the e-book

that you wrote that you put on your website for free what for free

yeah right that was done for a very very selfish reason

everybody would call me and say I have a right to be in voice over can you help

me that’s exactly what it’s like dude and I talked to them for 20 minutes and I’m like uh okay well here’s what you

need to do and after a while I just went you know I’m an idiot I’m giving this away for free I should I should get paid

for it so the first thing I did was write a book and say look you probably don’t have the talent it’s it’s there’s

a very good possibility that you suck don’t do this and then and then if you can get past that

because this is a business of rejection then let’s go on to the next level and let’s and let’s try and um uh let’s try

and you know put something together and and just so you you won’t think that I am actually

um uh kidding I have a an email from 2 45 today from a woman I will not name who

says hello I was wondering if I can get more information on how to be a voice over talent I’m planning on taking a

voiceover class at my college this summer but I’m curious to know if traditional experience is needed

from today I can’t make that up now Peter thank you so much for uh for for

taking the time and chatting with us look forward to meeting you at one of uh Pat Sweeney’s vo and Toes coming up

hopefully this Summer that would be great I would love to do that and then buy you guys a beer uh and and visit

with you awfully kind to include me in this I I I was told it was going to be 15 minutes and I I I I see the poor fool

it has to edit this mother down that would be me Peter it’s all gold

what a nice job you guys do with it too you’re very good interviewers no kidding well thank you appreciate it and uh and

again we we really appreciate Peter the website again audioconnell.com and he is your friendly

neighborhood voice over talent for commercials narrations whatever you need Peter drive safe and uh and we’ll talk

soon thanks guys have a great night take care Peter bye and now it’s time for another three

amiibos fun fact hey it’s amiibo Mike you know all three amiibos have some really neat talents outside of BL amiibo

Dave is the stellar and accomplished filmmaker kind of the Spielberg of our Trio amiibo Garnet is a top shelf Top

Chef in his own right kind of our Gordon Ramsay Jamie Oliver as for me well I can’t cut that well in my high school

film attempts were less than Stellar but I’ve always had the Knack and passion for acting so I’ve done some stage work

in my time things like On Golden Pond you can’t take it with you but I thoroughly enjoyed my time playing

Picasso in the wonderful Steve Martin play Picasso with the Le panagil now the director was a dear friend of mine and a

talented actor in his own right Jason cat now if you’ve ever seen the play you’ll know that Picasso gets to kiss

two women during the play you think that would be a breeze not so much considering one of those women was

actually Jay the director’s wife not really sure who was more Awkward for though me Jay his wife or my fiance now

a wife who was sitting in the audience so as far as the amiibos go I guess that makes me the Gerard Butler of the group

actually more like Alan Thicke I suppose

you now amiibos and Friends super fantastic Happy Hour podcast

welcome back to the amiibos and Friends super fantastic Happy Hour podcast again our thanks to Peter K O’Connell our

second guest yes um he’s a great guy yeah he’s a funny guy too really funny even though we

thought you know the first show we had a Canadian guest this one we were gonna have an American guest we didn’t we had a Canadian guest again because right

part Canadians and spent most of his time when he was uh younger as a kid in

the Fort Erie area which is which is really cool that’s not too far away here from amiibo Mountain

yeah don’t say too loud just don’t give out the longitude and latitude we’ll be fine and and he’s an and he’s Elegance

back in the old time it is uh but he’s also an admitted Sabers fan so amiibo

Dave and him that he did something we bonded we bonded that’s very sweet it was it was was it it was quite romantic

I’m looking forward to fafcon now I mean yeah I I was looking forward to before but uh in engineering and now that we

know what a faffer is yes that’s right part of fafcon stands for yes it does not stand for fabulous conference which

is what I hear which is what I thought it might be a fabulous unconference how do you get fat from that I I don’t know

so but that is October 3rd to 5th in San Antonio Texas now I believe if you go to the website uh early June is when

they’re going to open it up to the 100 submissions yeah so I don’t know if we’re gonna get let in though because he

said they vet the people that apply there’s all kinds of criteria they have one spayed and neutered yet so neither

have I and what happens Mikey honey no not that kind of that what happened Patrick Sweeney he could have he could

have warned me with his medical stuff sorry dude what happens if if you get in

she could drive a wedge between the three amiibos she could there there could be a wedge the amiibo why did you

look at Dave when you said the two amiibos

no because because in in February I missed out on meeting Rob Paulson that’s

right and then reading Pat Fraley yeah and then and then I missed the voice conference it’s

your turn it’s going to be Mike and I don’t miss anything I obviously have no life outside the group I’m the Ringo

oh I can’t top that I can’t top that uh if you want more information on the three

amiibos you can visit our website three amiibos.com individually though uh Dave McRae you can get him at thevoiceman.com

also davemcrae.ca there you go the voice

manager two ends why did you give me the finger when he says

Garnet Williams at williamsvoiceovers.com myself at all things Mike dot CA which is changing

I’m saying that that’s my catch I don’t know

psychologically he feels better if he keeps saying that it’s changing because it’s like it’s actually changing that

you can also email us at three amiibos gmail.com for the man to my left the

funny guy amiibo Dave McRae amiibo Garnet Williams in front of me

has been brought to you by the three amiibos the show’s over it was written

kinda recorded edited and produced from deep within the great white North by

Dave McRae Garnet Williams and Mike Pond Gratz for more amiibo fun questions or

comments check us out online at three amiibos.com on Twitter at the three

amiibos until next time happy birthday