As Mrs. audio’connell and I had just celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary, we decided a trip to New York City was in order.

With grandparents over seeing the littlest audio’connells, off we went.

Using sister in law’s snazzy new apartment as our HQ,we had a swell time.

A couple of must dos for you (from our perspective):

* You have to have dinner at Rocco Restaurant on Thompson Street in the Village. This restaurant goes back to the 1920’s…they know real Italian cooking. Very friendly service, not a contrived, phony ambiance….great food. For me I will not go to NYC without visiting the REAL Rocco’s. You shouldn’t either.

* The NYC bus tours. Touristy? Yeah but also a great view of the city with tons of cool information You can pick the area you want to go. I enjoyed it a great deal.

* The Lion King – OK, it opened on Broadway in 1997 and won best musical….but I never saw it until this trip…5th row center. If you haven’t seen it…please do so. Not for the kids but for you.

Of course what would a trip be without a meetup of some new and old voice over buddies. As you might imagine we had fun, got in trouble and traded great stories.

This time our group included Liz de Nesnera, Melissa Exelberth, Patrick O’Connor and a special guest appearance by Mary McKitrick and her sons Peter and Edward.

I coordinated the meetup, picking the location and time. I picked a Starbucks in Times Square from my earlier travels and arrived at the appointed time only to realize that it was not a sit down Starbucks. I suppose it would have been smart of Mrs. audio’connell and me to actually cross the street and go in after we picked the place but we didn’t.

Luckily, voice actors are both vagabonds and a flexible bunch and as we all gathered at Starbucks in Times Square we quickly chose another locale to make our temporary camp.

Suffice it to say there was so many stories and laughs we got yelled at for being too loud (ok, well I did). But I need to point out that it was Liz, Melissa and Patrick who got thrown outta the joint after Mary and I had left.

My thanks to all of these talented folks for coming to meet with me. A great way to end a great treat.

Tags: commentary, voice actors, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover meet-ups by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
9 Comments »

One of my new agents emailed me to get my updated voice over demos (thank you Pastorini-Bosby). While I was attaching the cuts to an email, it occurred to me that I never properly finished my narration demo update that I had started in May (hey, don’t laugh, paying jobs come first!)

So I spent another two hours to fix some parts and voila (that’s a word my friend Mary McKitrick taught me) here is the finished product:

[audio:http://www.audioconnell.com/clientuploads/mp3/Peter_OConnell_Narration_Demo_081001.mp3]
Click here to download Peter O’Connell’s narration demo!

In it, you will hear that I am:
* tall
* short
* happy
* sad
* confident
* unsure
* serious
* jovial
* thoughtful
* scatter-brained
* newsy
* conversational
* and most of all available for hire as the perfect choice for your awesome narration voice.

Tags: announcers, audio production, commentary, narrations, voice talent, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
3 Comments »

There is occasionally downtime in the voice over world of audio’connell Voice Over Talent. While I should say that I am always marketing or developing new business when the mic isn’t on, well, that’s not always true.

Sometimes I surf. And not on water.

But a recent surfing expedition (which really was a key word search on Google) led me to a 1997 interview on a “Lost In Space” website with a fairly well known announcer by the name of Dick Tufeld. Dick was the voice of “The Robot” in the series “Lost In Space” and reprised his role when the movie came out. (And, if you like, there seems to be another interview with Dick here).

Dick’s career has spanned a great deal more than just “Lost In Space”. I remember him as a long time announcer of the Grammy’s among other shows (his signoff that I remember was “This is Dick Tufeld speaking”). I can’t find too much present day information on him to know if at 82 he’s still working, other than some somewhat suspect web sites that I cannot confirm as credible.

But what I loved though, from the 1997 interview, was this quote, telling a story that almost every professional voice talent can relate to and laaaughh!

Q: How did you get the voice job of the Robot?
Dick Tufeld: When I was 18 years old, I was working one summer at KLCA-LA radio, and I used to announce shows and do station breaks, etc. There was a literary agent named Irwin Allen, who must have been, I’m guessing, 35 years old at the time, who would walk in and nod to me, and I’d nod to him — I was just a kid at the time. He had a Hollywood gossip show, and I’d spin the theme music for it and announce him, for 15 minutes once a week. Then he’d leave and nod to me, and I’d nod to him. That was the extent of our conversation.

Twenty years go by, and he was walking out of the commissary at 20th Century Fox and there was a guy named Emmett Labry, Jr. who was in the business affairs department. Irwin ran into Emmett and said that he had a new series going on air in a few weeks. “We need a narrator and is there anybody you can think of?’ Emmett was a friend of mine, and said “How about Dick Tufeld?”

In one of the most astonishing statements I’ve heard repeated to me, Irwin turned to Emmett and said “Dick Tufeld, my oldest and dearest friend — great idea!” Which I think is pretty funny. Irwin contacted my agent, and they got an audio tape of my voice doing some narration. Irwin liked it and I became the narrator of the show.

About two weeks later I got a call from Irwin’s office asking me to read for a robot character. So I go in there, and think this is good. He hands me some copy, and I say “Irwin, I presume what you are looking for a mechanical, robot-ian kind of robot sound.” He looks at me and says “My dear boy, that is precisely what I do not want. This is a very highly advanced culture in the year 1997.” Of course that seemed to be very far away to everybody [chuckle]. “I want a cultured low- key voice, (I would equate this with the voice of computer Hal in “2001”), an Alexander Scourby” — the wonderful NY actor and narrator voice who has passed on – and he said “that’s what I’m looking for.”

So I started reading for Irwin with my best Scourby imitation, and I’m not coloring the words and I’m doing an unemotional read and I’m saying “Warning that does not compute.” He says no, that’s not it, and I do it again, and then he says no, that’s not it, and I try something else and that’s not it. All this time I’m trying to do my best Alexander Scourby imitation. And he finally says to me, after about 10 minutes, “Well Dick, I appreciate you coming in. To be honest with you, you’re not getting this, so I have to look further for this. But you’re still the narrator on this show.” And I say to Irwin, “Thank you very much.”

I take my reading glasses off and start packing up my attaché case. And God knows why I even did this. I say to Irwin, “Let me try one more thing for you just before I go.” And now I read the line in my best mechanical, robot-ian kind of way and I say “Warning that does not compute.”

And he says “Jesus Christ, that’s the Alexander Scourby approach I was looking for, what the hell took you so long?” Honestly, I had to literally turn away from him, so as not to laugh in his face, because I was so convulsed.

It was the classic example of what people say they want, and what they are actually looking for. They are two different things. In a sense I was *very* fortunate to become the voice of the Robot, because if I had not said “let me try one more thing” as I was walking out obviously I would never have been the voice of the Robot. It was a kind of a fluke the way it happened.

That IS a classic and oddly timeless truth that makes me smile, knowing the challenges of today in voice over aren’t actually that different from those great talents who paved the way for us.

Thanks Dick. Love your voice, love your humor!

Tags: announcers, audio'connell voice over talent, character voices, commentary, marketing, tv, voice actors, voice casting, voice talent, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
6 Comments »

It is not new technology per se but because it’s being executed now in beta by Google Labs, Google’s introduction of a new service that will catalog all the words uttered from a posted an audio or video clip is news. It’s a game changer.

A company with billions of dollars and oodles of clout can do that.

This new audio indexing service directly impacts the businesses of voice over, marketing and advertising (and, well, actually every business that uses the web) in a monumental way.

Of course I’ll tell you why. 😉

A company’s success or failure on the web can be attributed, in my opinion, to one primary element: words. How a company manages and places its words on the web, whether it be in text, header bars, and ad words etc. creates results and rankings in search engines like Google that can mean success or failure.

Do you think companies interested in buying your product or service are going to sift through 10 pages on Google to find your 100th ranked search results after they have find what they need in the first two or three pages on Google? The odds are very low.

Using words correctly on a web site, key words particularly, is both an art and a science. But our audio and video clips haven’t had much of an impact on SEO save for maybe a tag here or there. But Google is ratcheting up the game of tag now.

If Gaudi (a bit like audi-o’connell don’t you think?) will catalog words on audio and video clips on your site…the SEO possibilities seem quite enormous. Posted commercials maybe written entirely for the web to enhance optimization. Audio demos that have brand names featured in copy might then have that brand more closely associated with a voice talent. The web becomes a more valuable tool with the automatic transcription of sound into words.

Possibilities = endless.

Want to know what else occurred to me, just for a nano second while ruminating around all these possible changes?

Because of all the words that will eventually be added to search as a result of Gaudi, what it becomes too much for the Google algorithms used as the basis of its current search platform? Or what if they determine that words are not the best element upon which to base their optimization tools? What if they are working on that completely new search engine model right now that will force all of us to totally revise our web strategies?

Wrap your head around that for a minute, won’t you? Don’t worry, the panicky feeling goes away eventually.

Tags: advertising, commentary, google, marketing, search engine marketing, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
2 Comments »

As this blog is “where the worlds of voice over, marketing and advertising collide” I try and make sure individual posts cover one or more of those areas each week. This post covers all three.

If you earn your living as a voice talent, a marketer (for your own company or on behalf of someone else) or in advertising (either for yourself or someone else) there is a trend developing that you need to think about. Why?

Because it affects how much money you’re going to make in the future. Think mortgage payments, new cars and education.

With me now?

Double click on the chart below and then click back for some thoughts.

That chart is part of a much more in-depth study produced in August, 2008 by the Pew Research Center for People and The Press. Maybe its stuff you thought was happening and maybe it even reflects your personal changes. But this is now quantifiable. And that means a lot to how we all make our livings. Pay attention:

You have just read a 15 year trend in media usage, specifically how people get their news.
* 24% fewer people in that time period get their news from newspapers
* 12% fewer people get their news from the radio
* 31% fewer people watch the nightly network news
* On line and cable news consumption is through the roof

This is about more than just news, I think. This is a game changer for people who work in media (including voice over), marketing and advertising. Most are dealing with this and thousands of pages of similar data already but I’m guessing you may not be, so let us ruminate for a moment, shall we?

Let’s just for the sake of this post take out concerns of the bias of cable news outlets as it affects their presentation of the news to the growing majority of American cable news consumers and how that impacts how people think, act and vote about issues of the day. Great topic and just considering it gets your head to throbbing but back away from it just for this discussion.

Let’s do say you’re a voice talent and you’ve been charging $200 for a :30 second commercial on local broadcast television and $150 or even $100 for cable TV spots because there are fewer viewers. Survey says that number is changing a bit (though broadcast ratings are still higher). Should you consider changing your cable fees? Is that change justified? Survey says maybe.

Let’s say you’re in advertising and you’ve been specializing in print ads which mostly go in newspapers or you’ve been doing lots of radio spots on news talk stations. Shouldn’t you at least reconsider either your primary business services or your media recommendation to clients? Survey says it’s probably worth some brainstorming.

Let’s say you’re in marketing for a grocery store and you do weekly inserts with specials and temporary price reductions and the like. Has coupon redemption gone up or down on those inserts? Any reasons you know of for a change? Survey says maybe.

Let’s say you are a consumer that can be influenced by commercials you see on cable TV, print ads or weekly grocery store inserts (we’d all like to say “not me” but we’d be lying). Could your buying habits be impacted by this change in media usage? After all, you’re the one changing the usage. What if you’re not finding out about all these new special offers because the media vendors haven’t changed their marketing plans for their clients? Clients whose products you normally buy or would consider buying.

The point is not that any of these industries need to play catch up because that’s what we’re all doing everyday anyway. A trend arises and we react. Tuesday go left. Wednesday go right. Thursday is too far away to consider.

The point is to be aware that there are very specific changes in media usage. This information is but one small part.

But do you comprehend the change? Do you even feel it, maybe? Is the change impacting the way you do business? Should it change the way you do business?

Is it impacting the way you buy things? Does it alter your opinion of brands? Could it alter the opinions of consumers of your brand?

That box below here is where the discussion begins…be a part of it, now. Thanks.

Tags: advertising, commentary, commercials, internet, marketing, media, radio, technology, tv, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
9 Comments »

Writing good classified ads is tough for most people and its really hard for radio station managers.

Why?

Well unless junior has fallen directly off the turnip truck into the radio station’s lobby, anyone with any experience knows radio is a low pay, sometimes tense work environment where more often than not creativity is stifled (unless you work mornings and sometimes even then) and weekend and holiday hours are demanded.

If you have a passion for radio (and most voice talents do) you understand why people stay in the business. But it does make it challenging for managers to make their available positions sound

a) Enticing
b) Legitimate
c) Profitable

Like the odd classified ads we sometimes see in newspapers “Call Mr. C at 555-5555 for an appointment about this amazing opportunity” trade ads for radio jobs are also kind of unique in their “points of difference” shall we say?

Now I’m not looking for radio work but sometimes stations put out a call for imaging help so very occasionally I troll through on-line radio trade listings. Today all I came up with was a topic for a blog post. Sometimes that’s just how the fishing goes.

Some examples (find the red flag words or statements in these well meaning ads):

We’re getting ready to sign on a new AAA in a smaller mid-western market. Our city is one of the most livable in the country and the radio station fits right in. Since this is a start-up, it will be a labor of love.

We’re looking for a PD that can come in and DO EVERYTHING to help us get our “new baby” off the ground. We have the format and the component pieces put together. We don’t need a strategist as much as we need a hard worker and executor.

You must be okay with doing an air-shift (probably mornings) and then get off the air and work like a maniac the rest of the day.

You must be able to coach our air staff to present the station in synch with the mission of the radio station (understated, conversational adult presentation).

You will be working long hours and pouring everything you’ve got into your job so you’ve got to be highly organized and follow through.

With me, as soon as they try and sell the city as small yet livable, I roll the eyes. If you mention a labor of love, it means your holiday bonus will likely come in the form of movie promo t-shirts and baseball caps. Oh and if Miss October 1995 comes into town for the car show, we’ll let you expense the $10 fee for having your picture taken with her.

WE HAVE A GROUP OF 3 VERY PROMOTIONALLY ACTIVE RADIO STATIONS. I NEED SOMEONE THAT IS TIRELESS, IS READY TO JUMP IN AND HELP TAKE US TO THE NEXT LEVEL. I NEED A GO GETTER THAT IS READY TO GET OUT IN THE COMMUNITY AND BECOME AN AMBASSADOR OF OUR COMPANY.

BRING YOUR IDEAS. WE MAKE OUR OWN DECISIONS, NOT SOME CORPORATION. WE HAVE A SMALL STAFF, BUT WE HAVE A LOT OF FUN. IF YOU LIKE TO WAIT FOR SOMEONE ELSE TO DO IT, OR LIKE TO COMPLAIN, THAN SAVE YOUR TIME AND DON’T EMAIL ME. THERE IS A STRONG POSSIBILITY THAT THIS POSITION WOULD INCLUDE SOME ON AIR DUTIES AS WELL.

SO IF YOU ARE READY TO WORK HARD, HAVE FUN, AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE, THAN EMAIL ME. ALL RESPONSES WILL BE KEPT CONFIDENTIAL.

Promotional ads are even tougher to write than jock ads. This person’s using all caps. That makes me think it will be a low paying job working with a boss who yells a lot but who still might let you use the station van when you move from your apartment to the homeless shelter (so you got that going for you, which is nice).

Let’s try this again…

-You’re a GREAT, PERSONABLE, ON AIR PERSONALITY
-You LOVE getting involved with your COMMUNITY
-You have experience and vast knowledge of radio broadcast software systems.
-You deal well with the Sales personalities.
-Your production skills are incredible.
-You’re a little bit engineer.
-You’re a computer wiz.
-You can build and maintain the station’s web site.
-You insist on giving all of the above 100%
-You have a great desire to make ALASKA your home.
-You have a great desire to be a part of a radio company that is growing quickly in a market that is growing quickly.
-You have a strong desire to succeed and to work to help the company succeed.

The above position is extremely intense at times. You must have an incredible amount of knowledge, patience, and energy. The job is fast-paced in a market with LOADS of competition. In the end…the rewards are great! The pay is not what you’d expect from on owner-operated radio station and is more than any big radio corporation would ever THINK of paying you.

They lost me at “let’s try this again.” Was it that they didn’t find the right person in the first round of interviews or didn’t they find someone who was willing to work for food stamps and live in an Alaskan igloo?

Here we grow again! We’re expanding our flight crew and adding another daily flight on Dayton’s New FLY 92.9. We’re looking for another true communicator who can serve as host in a natural, unaffected manner. Please …”DJ’s”, “announcers”, “jocks” or “personalities” need not apply. Your conversational skills take priority over your format experience, but a broad knowledge covering several decades of contemporary music is desirable.

Additionally, candidates should thrive out in front of the public, be immersed in pop culture, possess strong production skills, and be tech savvy enough to maintain their own strong web presence.

Takeoff time’s quickly approaching, so rush your package now, and be sure to include a photo.

OK, this is too cutesy for me and I’ll give lots of leeway for someone to be creative. The aviation references are um, what’s the French word….silly! And now it looks like you need a photo to work in radio so if, like me, you have the perfect face for radio you needn’t apply.

Y94 is Fargo-Moorhead’s Number One Hit Music Station and is seeking part-time personalities for nights, holidays and weekends. You’ve heard of paying your dues? This is it.

Ah, honesty. Always the best policy. I think I’ll apply.

Your observations herein (even in defense) or experiences elsewhere are genuinely welcomed.

Tags: advertising, announcers, commentary, internet, radio, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
2 Comments »