It was a bit of a jolt to be awakened this morning to hear on the radio (via CBS News) of the death of voice over legend Don LaFontaine. Over the past week the internet had been buzzing about his illness and hoping for Don’s full recovery.

It’s a discussion I pretty much stayed out of first off until I could ascertain the information about his illness was credible (not a awful internet hoax) and then because aside from a prayer I offered, there wasn’t much else for me to do.

Now the gift has ended for Don, as it will for all of us.

There was no bigger name in the modern day voice over world based not only on his talent but also his great income from his talent (he was the “stars” in many voice over newbies’ eyes). Don said many times he knew he was the luckiest man in the world which gave me a sense that he was probably a good fella, I never personally knew the man save for a few emails we traded. Participants in the VOICES 2007 conference enjoyed the opportunity to meet with Don during a panel discussion and it’s a memory I know they will cherish.

While this is a very sad loss for the voice over world, it’s a sadder loss for Don’s wife, his three children, family and close friends. For them and for whatever its worth, I offer my deepest condolences.

Requiescat In Pace.

Tags: CBS News, commentary, voice actors, voice talent, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
5 Comments »

OK, not to criticize the founders of Blog Day 2008 but I only found out about it today by reading another blog. And picking the Sunday of Labor Day weekend would not have been my first choice from a publicity perspective.

OK I guess I did criticize but I’m done now being Mr. Cranky Pants.

So the concept is thus:

BlogDay was created with the belief that bloggers should have one day dedicated to getting to know other bloggers from other countries and areas of interest. On that day Bloggers will recommend other blogs to their blog visitors.
With the goal in mind, on this day every blogger will post a recommendation of 5 new blogs. This way, all blog readers will find themselves leaping around and discovering new, previously unknown blogs.

So here are 5 blogs (in no special order) that I would recommend you check out from my personal RSS list of over 150 blogs on my Google Reader about voiceover, marketing, advertising, broadcasting and other crap (woe to you who should think all those categories fall under “crap”).

1. Trafcom News I can’t articulate to you how bright and talented I think Donna Pappacosta is personally but trust me when I say she is and when you want some generally interesting insight into print, new media (great podcasting stuff) and face-to-face communications, this blog from her business, Trafalgar Communications, is a worthy read.

2. The Daily Nightly this is the blog of NBC Nightly News anchor and managing editor Brian Williams who I first noticed as a top notch talk show host guest on late night talk shows. Bright, articulate and yet still knowledgeable about world and domestic issues. His writing style is something I appreciate and his content is insightful. Other NBC News folks contribute but Brian’s posts are the ones I most like to read.

3. NewscastStudio Blog Well, to enjoy this blog you have to be an admitted behind the scenes of broadcast news geek like me who loves reading about new news sets and graphics and promotion of news (local and national). You get to see the creation of sets (before and after) of stations and networks around the country. The only salvation in my public revelation of this (my) particular geeky trait is that if there is a blog about this, I can’t be the only geek around.

4. Copyblogger To quote its author Brian Clark: “What’s the missing ingredient that prevents most people from succeeding online? Copywriting skills. Content drives the Internet, and using the right words in the right way will determine not only how well your site converts visitors into sales, but also how well you rank in search engines and how many links you get.” Exactly. Every little thing he writes about will not directly pertain to your internet or marketing strategies but enough of it will to make it a read worth your time and subscription.

5. Brand New – It’s pretty evident to anyone who knows me I’m kind of a logo design slut. The creative, the methodology, the evolution and the final product is something I find very fun. And the fact that there is usually millions of someone else’s dollars riding on its success just adds to my fun. It’s logos before and after with some often funny critiques along the way.

A final note- you’ll notice not one voice over blog on my list. You’ll also notice a plethora of links in column on the right of this post to darn near every voice over blog that I am aware of…a list that’s posted 24/7/365; not just on August 31st.

Enjoy the reads.

Tags: blogs, commentary, logo design, marketing, marketing podcast, NBC News, podcasting, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
2 Comments »

As every business owner in voice over, marketing or advertising has either used public relations for their benefit or their clients’ benefit or has been on the receiving end of a PR campaign at some level, I thought you’d find the recent experience of Michael Arrington of Tech Crunch interesting.

He received this email very recently:

From: Vanity Fair / Google
Date: August 27, 2008 9:06:32 PM PDT
To: Michael Arrington
Subject: IMPT: Google/Vanity Party Status
Reply-To: demconventionparty@google.com
Thank you for your interest in the Vanity Fair / Google Party.

We have reached full capacity for this event and are unable to accommodate additional guests.

If you have NOT received a Confirmation email–separate from the automated RSVP response– and a Party admission card with your name on it, you will not be admitted to the party. No exceptions.

If you HAVE received a confirmation email but have NOT picked up your admission card, you must reference your confirmation instructions and pick up your card by 4:00pm on Thursday. Admission cards will not be distributed at the door.

If you use the shuttle service you must have your party admission card to board. No exceptions.

Thank you in advance for your understanding,

Vanity Fair & Google Events team

Sad news for Michael, had he been wrangling an invitation or had he even been aware of the event. He had neither nor was he the lone perplexed recipient of that email.

But he did write about it….and so am I.

I’ll let you draw your own correlations between a publication the likes of Vanity Fair, celebrities and politicians (and please post them here as I know they’d make great reading).

My questions (which I also hope you’ll daine to answer) are the following: is any publicity really good publicity as the old axiom goes? As long as they spell my name right?

Maybe the publicity trick fits Vanity Fair’s branding but does it fit Google’s? Obviously the message is exclusivity but is it also awareness? Would you be willing to pull such a stunt (and make no mistake, this is a stunt) with your brand? Why?

Please open your blue book and use only your No. 2 pencil to write your essay answer. You have one hour.

Begin 😉

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

Want to know the name of the female voice over talent whose voice has been used to attack Obama in McCain commercials?

Her name is Joan. The rest is on a need to know basis.

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

If you had asked me three years ago who the h-e-double hockey sticks Dora the Explorer was I might have guess a nickname for a medical device that was part of an unpleasant medical experience – the older I get the more I start to think that way.

But most everyone with kids knows its an ungodly popular TV animated show and billion dollar enterprise for Nick Jr. I have about a dozen Dora related products in my home (more to come I’m sure) including pull up diapers because as the Muppets will tell you you’re not really a hit in TV animation until your animated likeness is plastered all over a…diaper. Please insert your own joke here.

But for fans of the show and for voice over, this upcoming season will unveil a new voice talent for Dora. Caitlin Sanchez, a 12 year old from New Jersey and new to VO, is set to fill the role of Dora. While I offer my congratulations to her as I’m sure she’ll do a fine job, I wonder if the current audience will notice the change as the producers hope they won’t.

For example, even as a child I noticed voice acting changes on the Flintstones during the series and its various incarnations and the later voices made me tune out. Now maybe I was a VO producer even as a child but I think kids are more discerning that adults give them credit for or even hope they’ll be.

I’ll be interested to observe if a certain young lady around our house notices any difference in her must-see-TV.

Thanks for reading.

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

Quite frankly if I were a program director at a radio station, I wouldn’t have hired me in 1982.

I came across some old reel to reels of air checks and production demos from WVUD. The one I have has some technical problems that maybe I can fix but the rest of the world can probably only handle a minute of my God awful jock talk.

I apologize in advance for stealing the next 90 irretrievable seconds from your life to hear a 1985 air check of a 23 year old disc jockey in Dayton, Ohio.

LISTEN:

You have free reign to take me out to the barn in the comment section below, once you stop the bleeding from your ears.

Thanks for reading.

If you haven’t already, we’d be honored if you subscribe to voxmarketising – the audio’connell blog and podcast by clicking the “subscribe” button on this blog.

If you have previously subscribed, as of August 1, 2008 we’ve implemented a new RSS feed. Please update your subscription now in your reader because as of September 1, 2008, the old subscription feed will go away and we want you to stay!

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Tags: announcers, commentary, radio, university of dayton, voice talent, voiceover, WVUD by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
10 Comments »