Truth is this was a simple idea that I should have caught on to long ago but last week is when inspiration hit. My hope now is to give you an idea that you can customize to hopefully benefit your business.

I graduated from the University of Dayton in 1986 which didn’t seem like a long time ago at the time.

Looking at LinkedIn recently I was checking on UD groups and such and saw some called “Business Connects”; these were city specific networking groups made up of UD Alumni in that city.

Ooof! Simple. On-line. Free. Double ooof!

Now I had tried creating an in-person UD alumni group in Buffalo and long story short, it no longer exists but not for lack of alumni interest.

So I created University of Dayton Business Connect Western New York. This group would include any UD alumni who have or currently do live anywhere roughly between Buffalo, New York and Rochester, New York. But those are the only requirements (so if you don’t meet the requirements, don’t ask to join cause I’ll say no – but I’ll say it politely and with a smile).

I gotta think that if you graduated from a College or High School, something like this exists BUT if it doesn’t, I can tell you it is not that tough to slap one of these groups together. If you are willing to spend a couple of hours prospecting, ‘er, researching your school name and your city name on LinkedIn, I bet you can find folks who you can invite to join.

Over about 2-3 days, there are 11 members in our group. A ton? No, but a start. I’m not sure if I can give you a better example of social media at work.

To be fair, I have no idea how successful this could be but I have nothing to risk and individually and as a group we have everything to gain.

Do you think this would be worth doing in your area for your school?

Tags: commentary, community, linkedin, networking, social media, social networking, university of dayton by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
Comments Off on …because i don’t have enough to do already

Because of my proximity to Toronto, I know of the Toronto-based social media author, broadcaster and blogger Amber MacArthur or Amber Mac as she’s known, maybe more than most folks in the states – although the web knows no borders.

I really enjoy one of her shows, CommandN and saw on her blog that she was recently featured in a video on a blog (also featured below). Amber has a new book out so she’s out hawking it like any capitalist author should do.

So I checked out the video and was blown away…not so much but the content which was fine but by the presentation of video which was unlike anything I’d seen on the web not produced by a network news department and re-purposed for the web.

Jimm Foxx and Rob Woodbridge have created an amazingly professional, interesting show that looks like it could be on a broadcast television network (any network) right now. It’s brilliant.

Why is this a big deal? Folks, I owned a video production company for many years and produced, directed and wrote more than my share of videos…it is a TON of work to get all the elements created and produced in such a way that it comes together looking so sharp.

Walking interviews, cut away, sit down interview with multiple cameras, motion graphics…it takes time and resources. Freshly produced video on the web is not new. For example, Amber’s CommandN show is nice Rebel Voice’s production takes the production quality standard to a new level.

So to see Rebel Voice on a web based platform should make you applaud AND wonder…what does this mean for TV, for broadcasting, for the tools we use to absorb media.

If a two man web operation can do this and make it look this good, this viewer friendly….obliterating the line (certainly in the consumer’s mind just by watching it) of broadcast media and web media…can they both coexist or does one have to die off? How quick a death?

We are the people for whom this information is being created and these web channels are the tubes through which they are sent – does it make you think about the media’s future or is it just another day in webville?

Rebel Voice Episode #3 Amber MacArthur from Rob Woodbridge on Vimeo.

Tags: broadcasting, commentary, community, social media, video by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
5 Comments »

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.

Tags: blogs, commentary, community, facebook, google, internet, linkedin, marketing, podcamp, podcampphilly, podcast, podcasting, social media, social networking, technology, yahoo, youtube by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
Comments Off on podcamp philly october 2-3 2010

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.

Tags: blogs, branding, community, facebook, google, internet, linkedin, marketing, podcampboston, podcasting, social media, social networking, technology, twitter, yahoo, youtube by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
Comments Off on podcamp boston september 25-26, 2010

Father and son voice actors Donald and Kiefer Sutherland

People ask me alot about how I succeed in my search engine optimization, why I seem to be alot of places on the web and “how do you do that?”

It involves pixie dust and eye of newt, to be sure 😉 but I think a better example would be a recent experience I had that describes it pretty well.

I subscribe to Google Alerts with a bunch of key words – I want to know what those words uncover on the web for me.

One of those terms is voice over talent (because I is one, ya know).

Reading a day’s post headlines in the Google Alerts, I was directed to the blog for the very popular advertising agency, Wieden+Kennedy New York who evidently have the Delta Airlines account. Following its merger with Northwest Airlines, Delta is now the nation’s (or world’s or galaxy’s) biggest airline.

Anyway, the agency has a blog (oooo, is that social media at work? hint) and they did a post about their recent TV spots for Delta. These spots feature the voice over genius of Donald Sutherland.

Damn those Sutherland boys (Donald and Kiefer), I just KNOW that every spot they were picked for, I was the client’s SECOND choice for voice talent. I just know it! You’d think those boys could say no once and a while! 😉

Anyway so I watch the spots and they are magnificent. They are well shot (in black and white no less), well edited, superbly written and the voiceover is as I said genius. You can see them at the end here. I say that not only as a marketing, advertising and voice over professional but also as a frequently flyer and not always on Delta.

So bringing this back to the lesson:

* With a free subscription to Google Alerts to find information that is customized for my likes

* I found a blog post to a major advertising agency’s blog (maybe they could be my client some day – why not?)

* Who produced some amazing TV spots that fill my creative mind with more ideas

* Which also included a wonderful voice over performance that I can also learn from

* And without even any of the parties knowing it (Delta Airlines, Wieden+Kennedy, Donald Sutherland and Kiefer Sutherland) I am telling you (and showing you) about their work which now makes it viral.

* If you share this story with even one more person it makes it more viral

And all of it is social.

Any questions?

Tags: advertising, blogs, branding, commentary, commercials, google, marketing, social media, travel, video, voice actors, voice casting, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
5 Comments »

As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly!

No…wait.

As God as my witness, I had no idea that starting a blog all those years ago would result in 700 posts.

I like to write but that’s not the challenge; the challenge is if people will like to read.

Many of you do, catching this blog via subscribing to Voxmarketising through RSS or reading links on Facebook, Twitter or LinkedIn. The comments, retweets and repostings really make me happy. Not egotistically happy but really because someone took the time to read about my thoughts on voice over, marketing or advertising and thought they were worthwhile enough to share with others.

That kind of endorsement and support cannot be quantified.

So whether you like the logo posts, or the Fauxditions, or the videos or the Faffcon stuff or more recently the National Voice Over Month stuff, I keep writing about those type of things and more going forward. None of that stuff existed when I started.

God only knows what lies ahead for this blog in the future. Boy, I hope its all good stuff!

Thank you.

Tags: advertising, blogs, branding, commentary, faffcon, fauxdition, logo design, marketing, National Voice Over Month, social media, voice actors, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice, voiceover blog by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
6 Comments »