For schools, especially colleges and universities, I can’t imagine anything much more annoying than alumni.
Whether the alumnus is a big donor (not me) or a little donor (sometimes me), donors always seem to want something.
I want some wins for the University of Dayton in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament (well, wins for ALL their men’s and women’s sports but focusing now on men’s basketball).
The great news today was that Coach Anthony Grant’s 2024 Flyer’s had a very strong season and became one of two Atlantic 10 teams to punch their ticket into the big dance.
All that means for me is that the Tournament Madness is a little more fun for me and my family.
No, we are not a big basketball family but UD helps make this time of year more fun when they get in the tournament. That’s all.
And the days before the tournament starts (like the days before the regular season schedule of my Buffalo Bills), we can each dream big and imagine all the possibilities of winning it all! š
That’s the way it is with most annoying alums like me. š
For the players, staff and families of the team within my Catholic university, I hope they all enjoy this time in their lives in the same way I enjoyed my time at UD in the 80’s (especially my time at WVUD-FM {where this broadcasting and voiceover journey all meshed together with me and UD} – that’s me on-the-air in the back of that graphic).
Win or lose, #GoFlyers // #LetsFly .
Tags: commentary, radio, university of dayton, WVUD by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent Comments Off on The Madness of March as Experienced Through an Alumni’s Eyes
RALEIGH NORTH CAROLINA āĀ January 1, 2024 – –Ā If you’re going to beĀ America’s Friendly, Neighborhood Voiceover Talent, you logo better look a lot more friendly and fun. At least that’s what Voice Talent Peter K. O’Connell decided, feeling his last logo design (yes,Ā hisĀ design soĀ he’sĀ to blame) didn’t have enough of either.
For 2024, O’Connellās voiceover logo maintains its iconic RCA-77 microphone (with the audio’connell Voiceover Talent icon), while adding fun new colors and fonts.
In the fine tradition of logo unveilings, this announcement has to include a pompous yet meaningless quote about the logo from the designer. āThe font choices are both more fun and much friendlier ā reflecting both my voiceover performance philosophy as well as my long standing tagline,ā O’Connell said. (Nailed my pomposity!)
Furthering the tradition of logo details that nobody but the designer (yes, him again), really cares about, there is this. The red and blue logo colors were inspired by the original school colors of OāConnell’s college, the University of Dayton (red and light blue); the colors of his favorite football team, the Buffalo Bills; as well as some of the school colors from the University of North Carolina (light blue) and North Carolina State University (red).
Plus the colors just look nice together.
About Peter K. O’Connell
Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Ā Voice actor Peter K. O’Connell has shared his voiceover and audio production skills with companies around the world.Ā Peter’s commercial and narration clients include brands like iHeart Media, Crest Toothpaste, IBM, SXM Media and AWS. O’Connellās audio’connell Voiceover Talent is a Source-Connect equipped voiceover studio and is a division of O’Connell Communications, LLC.
Use lower case letters- audio’connell or audio’connell Voiceover Talent
COMPANY NAME PRONUNCIATIONauĀ·di-o’Ā·conĀ·nell (awe-de-oh-kah-nel)
Tags: blogs, media releases, university of dayton by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent Comments Off on MEDIA RELEASE – More Fun for 2024 with O’Connellās New Voiceover Logo
When I was working at WVUD-FM in Dayton in the mid-80’s, one of the young account executives came into my production studio to tell me he was going to take a radio sales job at WLZR-FM (which I thought at the time was somewhere near Indianapolis although those calls belong to a station in Milwaukee now).
Geography and my memory notwithstanding, the station’s nickname was Lazer. And the AE gave me a reel-to-reel tape of their station’s imaging, voiced by a guy named Mark Driscoll.Ā The radio industry nicknamed him “Mr. Voice”.
The industry folks at the time were clearly well aware of someone I was not…but someone I knew I would immediately never forget after hearing his radio imaging for that station.
I remember the mixture of voice and sound that came from my production studio speakers right now just as if it was then. It helped usher in a new sound at the time for contemporary hit radio (CHR). I wish I still had that Lazer demo. The excitement and energy of that station came flying through those speakers.
Mark Driscoll’s radio imaging work was among the first of its kind. And the copy writing!! Others were similar but they were not him.
The only thing I knew Mark Driscoll for was his voice work. Never knew or met the man. I was Facebook friends with him…heard some unique stories about him…but that voice…his production…you KNEW Mark’s work from the opening syllable and effects.
He was so talented.
Word came down from social media that Mark died this week at 72 years old. I hope he lived a happy life.
He left an indelible radio production mark on me. Wow.
Here’s some Mark Driscoll imaging work I found on the web and this probably isn’t even his very best stuff….but it’s still fantastic.
Aside from me having done a little math, few people will likely care that much that Iāve now been a professional voice talent for 40 years.
Iāve been in the voiceover business, getting paid, getting new and repeat clients for 4 decades.
And yes, for you trivia savvy, MTV and I launched in the same year. MTV has made much more money than I have.
But back to my 40th anniversary.
Sure, clients and prospects may like the idea that they are working with someone with 40 years of professional voiceover experience and coming with that, a plethora of voice acting skills. But as for the rest of the world, Peter K. OāConnellās 40 years as a professional voice actor doesnāt really mean that much.
The anniversary IS important to me but not because of longevity or being self- aggrandizing. The very slight marketing benefit I may enjoy really isnāt cause for celebration either.
What makes me proud to celebrate 40 years in the voiceover business is who got me here. Not me being in the business all this time.
Itās about the support of SO many people, not all of whom could be named here but none of whom are forgotten.
Their help is really the story I want to share here. My failures are mine (and plentiful) but my successes are because of their help.
Thank you God for all of them and all of this.
How did I get to 40rty years in voiceover?
My family first…my saintly wife and glorious kids today (and every day). Certainly my parents, who originally gave me the public speaking and broadcasting genes to start with and then the ability to attend Canisius High School (where I met my video production teacher, video company partner and groomsman at my wedding, Terry Fisher) and then the University of Dayton.
Knowing my interest in broadcasting, my brother Michael connected a junior-in-high-school-me with local radio broadcaster Susan Hunt, who was the morning news anchor at WFXZ-FM. I was able to become an intern with Susan and the program director, Jeff Appleton. What a coup for a sixteen year old broadcasting novice!
I was probably more of a burden to Susan and Jeff than a help – but I was/am grateful for the opportunity. I am still embarrassed to think about how green I was at the time. But by doing the internship at that time, I established what I was told was the first broadcast internship at my high school. I guess thatās something…not sure what.
Letās see where we go from here.
DAYTON, OH
No this is not the REAL cover of University of Dayton Magazine. The guy in the pink shirt just pasted himself on there. What a goof!
In 1982, when I started working at the University of Daytonās student-run, carrier-current radio station, WDCR-AM (now WUDR) and a little while later at their professionally operated 50,000 watt station reaching three states, WVUD-FM (now WYDB), I simply didnāt know how much I didnāt know.
All I knew was that I wanted to work in radio. I still would work in radio if today it was even Ā½ the business now that it was then, but itās not. I keep my hand in radio volunteering at an independent Catholic formatted radio station here in Raleigh (Divine Mercy Radio), which is just fine for me.
Before entering UD, I didnāt know John Luttrell who hired me at WDCR (who is now with Cumulus Media in Albany, GA) or Tracy Hurd who was my program director and who is not involved in broadcasting any more. I didnāt know the late Mike McMurray who was the PD at WVUD who hired me or Music Director Sandy Huff-White, who I have been friends with ever since we worked at Hitradio 100.
I had no idea there were other broadcast fanatic people my age until I move into a college apartment with Dan Suffoletto, Ron Alexander and Jeff Wagner. Oh what fun we had.
How about props for my Dad and especially my Mom, who was attending a charity dinner in Buffalo while I was at college, sat with weekend TV sports anchor Clip Smith and, by the end of the dinner, had secured for me an internship at WKBW-TV my first summer back from college.
Back at Dayton, I was working as the afternoon news anchor, then weekday evening DJ, 6-9pm as well as morning host fill-in when the morning man went on vacation.
Speaking of vacations, I went on vacation from the station for a week one summer (we worked year round). While I was gone, there was a sort of melt down in the commercial production department and I came back to be made Production Manager…this is where the voiceover bug really started to brew.
Commercial production clients liked how I sounded, they pay me a little extra sometimes to do their spots that aired on other stations…and for much of that help, I owe thanks to the radio station account executives Gary, Lenny and Ruth.
Saturday Night Solid Gold with Peter O’Connell on WVUD Dayton 1984-86
So there I am at school studying (sometimes) working (a lot of the other times) and having a swell time. Unbeknownst to me, the host of our live local weekend oldies show failed out of school (he was more into radio than studying) and I get put in that slot (while continuing in the production department. I finished at WVUD in ā86 with the #1 rated Saturday show in the entire market, 7p-12a, against some really great programming. Thereās luck, timing and a little talent included in all that craziness, as you might guess.
Oh, speaking of luck, I graduated college.
BUFFALO, NY
Buffalo, New York waterfront
I mentioned earlier about the video production company I started with Terry after I graduated from the University of Dayton. Also at that time, I became the voice of Burnhamās Appliances in Buffalo, NY with the help of Kevin Brayer, who was a family friend and working in management at the local chain of stores. That was a nice break for me.
Talking Proud: Buffalo headquartered companies who have secured Peter K. O’Connell’s voiceover talents
When I recorded those spots, usually over at local radio stations, I met terrific local radio folks in Buffalo (and some others of whom did NOT hire me to work on the air as I wished they had šĀ One jock/production manager who was especially nice to me recording the Burnhamās spots was Keith Luke at WBUF, who had one of the deepest voices youāve ever heard. I also met Chris Nichter when recording a few of those spots at WJYE.
Interestingly and again unbeknownst to me (cause I love saying unbeknownst) starting his radio career around that time and going on to be a long time production voice in Buffalo with Entercom radio (now Audacy) and local TV was my high school buddy Matt Young.
Actually, I came across many nice folks while I was recording voiceover and working other jobs over those years (āother jobsā because Buffalo has never been as busy as LA, the internet VO biz wasnāt yet a thing and recording studio technology was not yet as portable…but it WAS stupid expensive).
Voice Talent Peter K O’Connell with Voice Actor and Voice Acting Coach Pat Fraley
Those who I met who stand out the most in my Buffalo voiceover memories include Alan Baumgardner and Kim Ferullo over at Chameleon Communications, Shaun Mullins at Propellerhead Media,Ā John Ciglia and Dan Innes at Crosswater Digital Media, and maybe most importantly Toni Silveri, who just started All Coast Talent when I met her and she quickly signed me. Weāve been long time pals ever since…Toni also introduced me to the great character voice actor and teacher, Pat Fraley.
VOICEOVER AGENTS
Iāve had many voiceover agents over 4 decades, which reminded me of the old phrase āyou have to kiss a lot of frogs to find your princeā.
Peter K. O’Connell has been on the voiceover roster of Sheppard Agency (formerly Voice Talent Productions) since it’s inception
While there are many frogs, who I decided to no longer work with, there are far more princes (and princesses) including Toni (who I mentioned) Erik Shepard of the Sheppard Agency, Kelly Wilkening at Big Mouth Talent, Laura Von Holle and the team at Heyman Talent, Cindi Davis-Andress and the team at Pastorini Bosby Talent, Stacey Siegert from Moxie Talent, Tanya Buchanan of Ta-Da Voiceworks in Toronto and Jeffrey Umberger (formerly of Umberger Agency) in Atlanta.
These folks do the work for their clients and I appreciate each of them even more because of business relationships with those former VO agents who did NOT do the work.
Live and learn.
Muhammad Aliās said: āThe man who views the world at 50 the same as he did at 20 has wasted 30 years of his life.ā
VO-BB.COM
What I know now as a voice talent that I didnāt know then is that while this is among the most sole of sole proprietor businesses, I am happy to report that I found I was not in it alone.
The āthere are others like meā moment became most apparent to me in 2005 right after the on-line voiceover world really kicked off around 2003-04. I was on an unmemorable VO bulletin board web site (mostly conversations in text) where a VO talent I knew from that board, the great Connie Terwilliger, posted about a different voiceover bulletin board website, VO-BB.com.
Itās hard to effectually put into words the world that opened up to me on February 2, 2005 when I joined VO-BB.com. Insightful information, humor, arguments and just friendships among people who knew my business, knew my challenges, shared my fears…just everything.
Phone calls, in person meet-ups and people who I can call on and who can call on me when they need my help…all sprang from this simple website. Itās like if one were alone on a journey, seemingly forever, to finally came upon a camp of delightful and insightful fellow travelers. DB Cooper (and now Bruce Miles) cannot be thanked enough for keeping this enterprise going.
Without this internet bulletin board, there could have never been a FaffCon or FaffCamp.
FAFFCON
Peter K. O’Connell speaking on a voiceover panel at VOICE 2010 in Hollywood, CA
Some years before the first FaffCon, a bunch of VO-BBāers were at the VOICE conference in Hollywood. It was a nice conference, I was invited to speak on one of the panels, and everyone had a nice time, especially seeing VO people in person. But following the event, those of us in attendance chatted on the VO-BB about the event. VOICE felt very corporate.
It seemed like the people presenting were, for the most part, trying to sell their services by giving you a little taste of their knowledge with a 45 minute presentation. Also, people with greater voiceover experience gained less there than those who were just starting out in the VO business.
Nothing wrong with all that but it was just like every other conference.
In any industry.
Ever.
FaffCon 8: The Happiest Voiceover Place On Earth
Amy Snively posed a question on the board about an idea she had for a different kind of voiceover conference strictly for experienced voiceover talents, based on a conference design that was developing at the time…something called an unconference.
Presenters at this unconference would be made up of attendees (versus pre-arranged, more well-known speakers), who presented their ideas for voiceover topics. The organizers would review the topics, chose the ones that made the most sense for the audience, merge the similar topic ideas and presenters together, create a daily schedule right there at the event and, alakazam, the conference content and schedule would be set.
Attendance at the conference would be limited in capacity and to those who were professional voice talents versus those who might have a lesser experience level. Later an event called FaffCamp would be created for voice talent at any level of the VO journey.
Bottom line and the point of difference: at this voiceover unconference, nobody would be trying to sell you a product or series of lessons. The 3-4 day event would just be about education and networking based on voiceover performance, voiceover business needs and voiceover technology…with everyone sharing as much as they were willing to share. It was a safe place to meet, share and learn.
Needless to say, the voiceover talent on the board thought it was a great idea…Amy created a team to help her and ā in short order ā she created and produced 9 FaffCons and I think 2 FaffCamps. Amy Snively did that and turned voiceover education on its ear in the best possible way.
FaffCon 8 Emcee and Voice Talent Peter K. O’Connell
My participation was small compared to Amy and her co-producers (first Pam Tierney and later Lauren McCullough). Because of the birth of my son, I could not attend the first FaffCon; at the end, I attended all but two. I produced a promo video for the first unconference and got asked to help out selling sponsorships. I think it was at FaffCon 2 in Hershey that I was handed a microphone during the giveaways and asked last minute to MC it. It went well and I helped with the MC duties after that. Minor support that I was glad to offer in support of those doing the real work.
But the biggest impact on the attendees and the industry (including me) was the content offered, the people networks built, the enormous knowledge shared and fantastic individual revelations uncovered. You really had to be there to understand the intense impact FaffCon and FaffCamp had on many lives but it was unlike ANY other voiceover conference I have attended before or since. I remain grateful for FaffCon to this day…and there are hundreds more like me.
VOICEOVER MEET-UPS
Even before FaffCon, voiceover meet-ups are something that have sustained me professionally and personally for many years. These are simply a gathering of two or more voice talents ā sometimes in in your area or when youāre traveling, in a fellow voice talents town. Nothing fancy, usually breakfast, lunch or dinner at a spot…the important thing was and is the conversation and fellowship.
Voice Talents Peter K. O’Connell and Bob Souer at a Pittsburgh Pirates game in Pittsburgh, PA
In June of 2007 (according to my voxmarketising blog post) – before FaffCon or other conferences that I ever attended – it was everyoneās voiceover friend Bob Souer who called me up from his then home in Charlotte to say he would soon be in Western New York. Would I want to meet with him? At the time he was working in the Media Department of the Billy Graham Association in North Carolina and a Crusade was going to be in our region of the country.
Where had I originally met Bob? On the VO-BB.com of course (told you that was an impactful place).
This would not be the last meal, event, baseball game etc., that I would share with Bob or his wonderful family. But it would be the spring board for me to initiate many more meet ups when I would travel for my marketing business or when people would come to my town.
If youāve ever had the unfortunate lot to travel a lot for business, having the option to call on friends (especially voiceover friends) in other cities makes such business travel more enjoyable and gives you something extra to look forward to than just the monotonous itinerary airport-hotel-quick dinner alone-hotel-meeting-airport-home. Plus information shared with smart voiceover people is great for my business too.
For me, it is truly humbling to realize how many great folks in voiceover blessed me with their time in these small meet-ups since 2007. Time is a great gift to share and for the scores of voice actors who have allowed me to spend time with them, I am really grateful. Thank you.
Voice Actor and Live Announcer Doug Turkel at a voiceover meetup in Miami, FL
One of the meet-ups that made quite an impact on me (which will surprise no one who has met the man I am about to mention) was when I was in Miami in 2009. Doug Turkel had assembled a group of local voiceover talents to create a kind of Mastermind group ā voice talents meeting together at a scheduled time with the expressed purpose of mentoring each other, helping to solve VO business problem and share ideas. All through my future travels and my FaffCon experience, I kept thinking we needed to do this kind of meeting in Buffalo.
HEARD AROUND BUFFALO
Heard About Buffalo is a monthly meetup group of Western New York-based professional voice-over talents
With the success of the FaffCon, I was busier than ever because ā for a while ā the events were running on top of each other…plus VO business, marketing business, travel and a growing family….it was a lot.
But this local meet-up thing was gnawing at me…this would be good for me and for the local folks I knew OR didnāt know yet but would get a chance to meet. But time…and pressure and…and…I needed help.
I did something that ā due to my awful pride or ego or both ā I tried not to do too often. I asked for help to put together the local Buffalo meet-up group. It couldnāt just be on me to set up the group or it wouldnāt get done at that time.
Voice Talents Dan Lenard, Jodi Krangle & Leslie Diamond at VOICE 2010
So in the spring of 2013, I made two phone calls to (at the time) Buffalo-based voiceover friends I knew I could count on: Dan Lenard and Leslie Diamond. Loosely based on my experience with Dougās group and FaffCon, we together created our Buffalo voiceover meet up group: Heard Around Buffalo (Leslie provided the creative name).
All volunteer, no profit just everyone who wants to be there and who should be there was there, with a focus on pro VOs. We tried for monthly meetings and we got pretty good at it. Very voiceover focused, lots of conversations about performance, marketing, technology…and life. Exactly what it needed to be. We were even blessed to have voiceover friends from the central part of New York state and Southern Ontario. These were special evenings indeed.
The Buffalo Voice-Over Meet-up Group “Heard Around Buffalo” at FaffCon 8. Front Row: Natalie Stanfield, Fran McClellan, Maria Pendolino; Middle Row: Fred Filbrich, Dan Lenard, Peter K. O’Connell, Bev Standing; Back Row: Patrick Sweeney
Even though Dan, Leslie and I moved out of Western New York, the group still gets together and I am very happy about that (though, selfishly, I miss our time together). Voiceover superstar Maria Pendolino oversees the group now. Local voiceover meet-ups are a very worthwhile use of time and it recharges oneās spirit to be around people who understand oneās profession. Again…very grateful to all who have joined me here.
RALEIGH DURHAM VOICEOVER MEET-UP
Had you asked me at any time in my 50+ year life in Buffalo, NY, āwould you leave Buffalo?ā, my answer would have been no. I couldnāt think of a reason to leave. Snow? Itās all I ever knew.
Well, a reason involving the health of a family member progressed to the point that my wife and I had to make a decision and not an easy one. But it was the RIGHT one.
We had to move south in 2016 due to this situation, but I got to pick the city because of travel schedule. I needed to be in a city that had a good airport. We wanted good schools for our kids. We wanted a good quality of life. My choice. No pressure.
Because I had been in the area many times before on business and it seemed very nice, I told my wife we should explore Raleigh, North Carolina first. What made Raleigh most immediately memorable for me was their beautiful airport that could get me anywhere. I said if they spend that kind of money on the design of their airport and expansion of its airline schedule, this is a town that cares about quality of life.
Well fast forward to today and we are very happy here and grateful for the friends weāve made. We will always miss our home in Buffalo.
Voice Actors and members of the Raleigh Durham Voiceover Meetup Peter K. O’Connell, Bonnie Marie Williams and Asif Samad recording together at Soundtrax Recording Studio In Raleigh NC
From a voiceover business perspective, I was fortunate to know a few voiceover friends in Raleigh-Durham already including Rowell Gormon, Deb Stamp and Wendy Zier. They, of course were, very welcoming and provided local insights that helped in our familyās move to Raleigh and my business transition to a new market.
But because of my experience with Heard About Buffalo, I knew I wanted…no, needed to start a voiceover meet up group here. I needed to grow my network, learn about the market and make new friends.
Voice Actor Rowell Gormon celebrating his casting at the voice of Colonel Sanders for the KFC app during a meeting of the RDUVO voiceover meet up at Soundtrax in Raleigh, NC
So was born the Raleigh Durham Voiceover Meet-up (RDUVO). With the help of Rowell, Deb and Wendy we had our first meeting in June of 2017, less than a year after moving here. Even through COVID, when we met virtually (like pretty much everyone else) we got together for organized meetings and sometimes just for coffee. Glad our group is going strong.
CATHOLIC RADIO VOLUNTEER
Catholic 540-AM Divine Mercy Radio Raleigh, NC, broadcasting live from St. Ann Catholic Church in Clayton October 2019 (l-r) Pastor of St. Ann’s Fr. Peter Grace; Catholic 540-AM Director of Programming & Production Peter K. O’Connell and Divine Mercy Radio Chief Engineer Keith Flanary
All my professional life, Iāve been involved in a variety of community activities ā to better myself and to better the community I live in. I think this is true for just about everyone…we donate our time, talent and treasure to those organizations we feel drawn to help.
In Buffalo, my biggest commitment was to the Buffalo Niagara Sales and Marketing Executives, which was formed in 1942. I joined because I felt I needed to learn more about sales and marketing, which I did. I was a member there for about 25 years, leaving BNSME a year or so before we moved to Raleigh.
I was also involved in supporting Catholic education, which helped me a lot in my life. I served on the alumni board of my high school, the board of trustees of my grammar school and finally on the Diocese of Buffaloās Board of Catholic Education. There are other groups I served but this isnāt my resume and thatās not my point here.
My point is that when I moved to Raleigh, I told my wife that I was really done with trying to serve on multiple committees with multiple groups all while taking time away from my wife and children. Plus I also kind of felt like Iād been there, done that.
So what I said to her was I was going to pick one charity and that was going to be my sole community focus in Raleigh. And the charity I picked was actually selected before we had officially decided to move to Raleigh.
In Buffalo, I had done some volunteer announcing for the Station of The Cross Catholic Media Network, headquartered in Buffalo. To my knowledge almost all Catholic radio stations are non-profit 501 (c) (3) groups and many are run by volunteers. This particular group of stations in Buffalo didnāt have a roster of announcers so they would get volunteers to read the community announcements for their radio stations in the Northeast.
So when we were looking at Raleigh, while in my hotel room here one morning I looked to see if there was a Catholic radio station here.
There was, sort of.
Divine Mercy Radio was operating two low-power radio stations (where you could hear the signal within about 3 miles of the transmitter site) in both Cary, North Carolina and Wake Forest, North Carolina. They also broadcast on their web site. Their broadcast schedule was basically a retransmission of the EWTN radio network and a few local programs. So they were barely on the air but they had big plans.
Anyway, back in Raleigh at the hotel…while we still hadnāt decided where we would move to, I called the phone number on the Divine Mercy Radio web site and ended up speaking to the wife of the couple running the radio stations. I introduced myself, said my family was thinking of moving to Raleigh, had experience working in Catholic radio and I would be glad to volunteer my announcing services if they might need them.
Cecelia Flanary and her husband Keith could not have been more excited to receive my unexpected call. Cecelia had just been to Church that day — praying for help to get an announcer for a script that had to be recorded — because none of their volunteers were announcers.
Volunteer Director of Programming & Production Peter K. O’Connell accepts the EWTN Global Catholic Radio Award for Best Affiliate Top of the Hour ID for Catholic 540-AM Divine Mercy Radio, WETC-AM Raleigh, NC
Then she gets my call out of the blue. And why did I pick that moment to call? I just thought I should do it while I was thinking about it. Mysterious ways indeed.
So I have been volunteering my radio programming, production skills and live announcing abilities with them ever since I moved here. On February 4, 2019, the station powered up itās 10,000 watt AM station (bye-bye low power) and about a year later we got our own app. Today, we have a pretty great assortment of local programming. In our first year as an AM station, our production work received one of only a few national awards from EWTN for excellence. Very blessed.
ITāS NOT ABOUT ME
The smartest and most effective voiceover talents in the business have all learned one important lesson about their performance in voiceover.
Itās not about me.
That means that, as a voice actor, you completely serve at the vocal pleasure of your director. Whether you think a script should be performed a certain way matters not a wit. Your acting skills need to serve the objectives of the director…not your performance preferences. Donāt like the professional direction you are given for the voiceover job you accepted to do? Tough, do what you are told…you were not hired for your opinion (in most cases).
Leave your ego and opinions at the recording studioās door.
Itās the same for me as I reflect on my 40 years in voiceover. I was the vessel but any success I have enjoyed came on the shoulders of the family, friends, clients and contacts with whom I have interacted with.
As I hope these stories have proven, itās not about me.
Itās about those who have taken the time to befriend me, mentor me, berate me, ask me, listen to me, accept my apology, tolerate me, love me, hate me, respect me, help me, disregard me, pray for me, marry me and certainly give birth to me. And importantly, vice versa.
40 years as a professional voiceover talent is NOT a reflection on me but a testament to those people, helpful and awful, who showed me direction, red flags or even disrespect in my life.
What I did with the sum total of all those interactions is how I ended up here today.
If I stumbled (which I did, many times), thatās on me. But if I succeeded, it was because of all the people (named and unnamed) who did what they could with the developing lump of clay that is me.
Voiceover Talent Peter K. O’Connell, a 1986 graduate of the University of Dayton (OH), is featured in the University’s Class Notes article and social media post in January 2020. O’Connell is pictured in his voiceover booth at his audio’connell Voiceover Talent Studio in Raleigh, NC.
One of the more pathetic attributes of any professional voiceover talent is our strange pride in our voiceover booths.
There may or may not have been 1 or 2 pieces leftover when the Studiobricks was “allegedly” all assembled
Whether we have had one custom designed (I’m thinking of your former, magnificent Pool House VO booth, Joe Cipriano) or purchased a pre-made booth like my StudioBricks One Plus VO Edition, we voice talent boast and preen about our booths and recording studios.
Some of that boasting is probably to justify the expense…even when these booths quickly pay for themselves (thank goodness)…it’s still one of the biggest one-time business investments a voiceover talent will make. The VO business, as a rule, does not have the kind of large capital expenditures than many other types of business owners experience. That’s one reason many folks want to become VO’s…and it’s a poor reason.
Another more business-based, marketing reason is that our professional voiceover booths are a point of difference versus many voiceover talents who rent someone else’s studio to record or just record voiceover in the their closets. Our voiceover booths are more professional looking, almost always more professional sounding and present to producers the expected aural and physical representation of where a voiceover talent should be working.
If image isn’t everything, in this case, it IS something.
So we feature our professional voiceover booths in blog posts (like this), social media posts (which this blog will soon become part of) and our marketing materials for web sites, direct mail and networking. If you don’t tell advertising agencies, recording studios and video producers that you have a booth…they won’t know about your professional voiceover booth.
No this is not the REAL cover of University of Dayton Magazine. The guy in the pink shirt just pasted himself on there. What a goof!
It was last summer that I got my latest copy of University of Dayton Magazine, the alumni magazine of the 2020 Men’s Basketball Atlantic 10 Champion University of Dayton Flyers (yes, that was a blatant plug for WINNING Dayton Flyers’ basketball, so what?). Oh, you’re right, that IS the same University of Dayton Magazine that in 2017 wrote an article about one of their famous voiceover alumni.
Like I said, last summer in my office reading the new University of Dayton Magazine and I notice a section I had seen before, UD Notes. It features updates from alumni and sometimes pictures of University of Dayton alumni holding an issue of University of Dayton Magazine in a unique place…like a foreign country or inside the cockpit of a fighter jet.
For no other reason than the idea just popped into my head, I thought to myself ‘I’ve never seen anyone take a picture of a University of Dayton Magazine issue inside a voiceover booth.’
So I grabbed one of my kids and we took a picture. I filled out the University of Dayton Magazine alumni notes form with an update, attached the picture, then promptly forgot about the whole thing.
UD Notes from University of Dayton Magazine January 2020, featuring Male Voiceover Talent Peter K. O’Connell
However, there it was in the latest issue, a picture and class note. And I got some calls from it. Free publicity.
What I did NOT count on was that they also post these Class Notes on line! That was a surprise I came across this morning, more than two months after the issue came out.
I don’t know everyone who has seen it or will still see it and what kind of business opportunity this represents. From a business perspective, I know it represents very clearly that doing something is better than doing nothing.
It was quite an honor to be the first guest in the new studio of the “Guys Who Do Stuff” Podcast, which we recorded a few weeks ago. Yes…I got to go to a REAL podcast studio, none of this phone stuff (which, of course is fine).
The podcast is produced by co-hosted and produced by Joe Woolworth and Josh Manning, both who live in the Cary, Raleigh, Durham North Carolina area where I am. Joe owns a web, media and business strategy company called Relevant Media Solutions. Josh is a media producer (web, photography and film) at his company called Jerico 7.
Joe Woolworth, Co-host of Guys Who Do Stuff Podcast
So as media producers, Joe and Josh are story tellers and through their podcast, they tell stories of unique small businesses and the people that run them. I believe the idea is that no matter how unique the business featured in the podcast, there are universal threads that run through each story and those threads are applicable to any business. By guests talking about the successes and challenges of their businesses, listeners can applyĀ the business and life lessons shared to their own lives.
How I got involved was just me networking, completely unaware of this podcast.
Josh Manning, Co-host of Guys Who Do Stuff Podcast
Because I’m still meeting new people (having only been in Raleigh Durham for coming up on 3 years) I was reaching out to local marketing and media people on Alignable, a locally focused business networking site. Through that site, I’ve been setting up some Starbucks marketing meetings with folks (similar to my Bagel Marketing back in Buffalo, NY but Starbucks is closer to my house, hence the name I just coined sitting here writing this blog post). I’m focused on folks in my Town of Cary, North Carolina (CARY = Containment Area for Relocated Yankees or Can’t Afford Raleigh Yet).
So I see Joe’s business on Alignable and I either emailed or called him and invited him to Starbuckies for a coffee and a chat (well, I do hot chocolate, not coffee, but it’s in the same cup as the coffee so people think I cool…fooled ’em again!) As we talked, Joe decided I would be a good guest for the podcast…or the guest he had scheduled had died…one of those two things. Anyway we talked.
What did we talk about? Easier probably to identify what we didn’t talk about but to try and summarize it we spoke about my start in voiceover, the University of Dayton, working with kids at home, Tony Stark, Spiderman, the Marvel Universe, co-working spaces (BTW in that part of the podcast, the co-working place I used was called HQ Raleigh…so embarrassed I blank on that name, sorry HQ Raleigh), then Wegman’s, the Gig Economy, Canada, getting the business, working in your underwear, greenways and parks, In-And-Out Burgers, Shake Shack, residuals, picking RDU, restaurants, Ernie Anderson, Mary Tyler Moore, The Partridge Family, Bruce Miles, D.B. Cooper, Mel Blanc, Looney Tunes, acting, Grover, Kraft Macaroni & Cheese and after that, I forget.
The podcast has a fun, informative, light-hearted feel to it that makes the listen seem shorter than it is.
Now this co-working space where Joe and Josh have built their podcast studio is pretty awesome. It’s called Vibe and it’s a co-working community inside the Cary Towne Center Mall in Cary, NC. I’m not sure how many co-working spaces you’ve been in…I’ve been in more than a few.Many co-working spaces are very corporate…kinda steel and cold in tall office buildings…or they try and be too UNcorporate…and it’s too country, college-dormy. Vibe Cary is right in between for small business people, micropenuers who want professional and comfortable where you don’t feel like you should wear a tie but you probably don’t want to wear your ripped t-shirt and look like a slob either. Professionally casual. That’s my take anyway. You can get a membership or use it by the hour; you can get a private office or use a meeting space or, yes, record a podcast!
A great experience at a great place with great hosts. Thanks for including me.
I want some wins for the University of Dayton in the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament (well, wins for ALL their men’s and women’s sports but focusing now on men’s basketball).
RALEIGH NORTH CAROLINA āĀ January 1, 2024 – –Ā If you’re going to beĀ America’s Friendly, Neighborhood Voiceover Talent, you logo better look a lot more friendly and fun. At least that’s what Voice Talent Peter K. O’Connell decided, feeling his last logo design (yes,Ā hisĀ design soĀ he’sĀ to blame) didn’t have enough of either.
When I was working at WVUD-FM in Dayton in the mid-80’s, one of the young account executives came into my production studio to tell me he was going to take a radio sales job at WLZR-FM (which I thought at the time was somewhere near Indianapolis although those calls belong to a station in Milwaukee now).
Knowing my interest in broadcasting, my brother Michael connected a junior-in-high-school-me with local radio broadcaster Susan Hunt, who was the morning news anchor at WFXZ-FM. I was able to become an intern with Susan and the program director, Jeff Appleton. What a coup for a sixteen year old broadcasting novice!
What I know now as a voice talent that I didnāt know then is that while this is among the most sole of sole proprietor businesses, I am happy to report that I found I was not in it alone.
Had you asked me at any time in my 50+ year life in Buffalo, NY, āwould you leave Buffalo?ā, my answer would have been no. I couldnāt think of a reason to leave. Snow? Itās all I ever knew.
