I have been asked to quote on a character narration voice over project for a documentary that involves the voices of some of America’s founding fathers. As an expert in this topic I am an abysmal failure but I have, none the less, always been drawn to the writings and lives of some of these extraordinary men.

There are far more erudite students of American history who can share better insight than I can on the lives of John Adams or Thomas Jefferson but because this voice over job got me to thinking about my peculiar fascination with some of these historical figures, I’ll share with you how I have come to enjoy American history, my way.

If you’ve never been to Washington, DC, shame on your sorry ass. If you’re an American citizen, double shame! Yes, it’s a town with a grossly high concentration of liars and thieves but it is also the place where most of the important people and important decisions that have impacted America’s existence have taken place. The monuments, the documents, the very seed of your inalienable rights are in Washington, DC and you must go.

When you do, speaking of inalienable rights, you must go to my favorite monument, The Thomas Jefferson Memorial. It is magnificent by day and it is magical at night. It is said that when it was built on the Potomac River Tidal Basin during Franklin Roosevelt’s presidency, he wanted the statue of Jefferson to face towards the Oval Office and the residence balcony in the White House so that FDR might be inspired and draw strength. It worked, I think. And oh, could Mr. Jefferson write! Some of his marvelous writings adorn his monument and they are thrilling. Rush to get there, stay as long as you can.

One of the finest audio book voice talents I know of is Edward Herrman. I know this because I didn’t particularly care about John Adams until Herrman’s voice talent and David McCullough’s writing talent combined into the great audio book John Adams. Take a ride, get caught in traffic and enjoy.

David McCullough’s talents as a writer about things American need no endorsement from me. He’s already got a Pulitzer Prize for his book Truman, on the life of President Harry Truman. For the audio book, he did the narration and did a fine job. Everyone under estimated Harry Truman, don’t underestimate this book.

Tags: audio books, character voices, commentary, narrations, voice actors, voice talent, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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The internet is a great resource for information that really doesn’t exist anywhere else. This is especially helpful when someone like me comes across an idea that needs to be quickly researched. 9 times out of 10, I find what I’m looking for on the web, because the internet has proven to me that the things that I’ve found interesting in my life that I thought only interested me actually were and are of interest to a great many people. I think that kind of personal epiphany has occurred across the globe, which gave rise to the social media phenomenon that has grown so rapidly.

Today I was thinking about Johnny Olsen. Anyone born after the early 80’s will probably have no idea of whom I am speaking. Johnny Olsen was a professional announcer on many game shows but is most famously associated with The Price Is Right hosted by Bob Barker. For me Johnny Olsen has some of the greatest voices for his genre: game shows. The announcer is sooo critical to the pace, excitement level and overall success of that show. He sets the stage for the mood of that show and boy did Johnny do that.

Johnny Olsen took simple phrases and made them television tipping points:

“Come on down!”

“A new car!”

Sadly, Johnny Olsen died in 1985 and I believe The Price Is Right employed 3-4 other announcers before Bob Barker retired (including Buffalo radio legend Rod Roddy ). Enjoy these clips from one of Johnny’s last shows and listen to one of the greats at work.

Thanks Johnny, someday I hope to be as good as you.

Tags: announcers, commentary, commercials, media, radio, tv, voice talent, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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The annual final summer blasts that take place on beaches and in backyards all across America this Labor Day weekend usually include some kind of countdown on local radio stations. My friends at the Armed Forces Network are trying to provide a little bit of that hometown feel for our troops via AFN’s ten stations across in the Middle East. They’re presenting the 72 Mega Mix Music A-Z Countdown.

As with Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, a number of my professional voice over collegues were tapped for service and honored to answer the call. I did voice imaging for the station disc jockeys as well as radio station imaging for voice talents DB Cooper and Frank Frederick. I called on character voice actress Kara Edwards to help me with a little girl voice singing her ABC’s in DB and Frank’s ID’s.

Voice talent and product Todd Ellis also assisted in the project, producing for voice talent Diane Maggipinto and Bill Elder. As always, a great job by all.

The heat and the danger seem endless for our men and women in the Middle East (and for that matter all around the globe). We all hope we were able to bring a bit of home town fun to their current journey. Stay safe. And thank you!

Tags: character voices, commentary, radio, voice actors, voice casting, voice talent, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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Some of the more market savvy of readers of this blog (you know that’s you, not those “other” readers ((sarcasm dripping))) have likely come across Seth Godin’s blog which is creatively entitled “Seth Godin’s Blog.”

Seth has written a number of fairly successful marketing books and I enjoy his daily insights into our world and how we all market within it.

As a published author, Seth has a unique perspective allowing him to wax philosophically (and with a degree of “been there done that” credibility) about audio books and their value in the marketplace. As a voice talent / voice actor who narrates audio books on occasion (when I’m not waxing floors), I’d really like to see the audio book industry shaken up a bit too (only for the good).

Some of the most recent books I’ve enjoyed have been audio books, experienced primarily on long car rides. For those folks with interminable commutes, audio books can be a great educational tool or getaway…all the while not ruining your eyes or wrecking your car.

But the expense and the dearth of titles have not allowed the genre to flourish. Seth’s idea may help that situation. At the very least, let’s hope it starts a discussion.

Tags: audio books, blogs, commentary, marketing, media, narrations, technology, voice actors, voice talent, voiceover by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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I was checking my emails on the plane coming back from Charlotte, NC (before take off, of course, lest my little Treo discombobulate the plane’s 25 cent navigation system and we end up landing in the wrong place) and was pinged by Kara Edwards with whom I had dinner last night (our pal Bob Souer blew us off for a “holy” different reason 😉 ).

She advised me that after a bit of a voice job drought (which we all go through at various times) she today booked two jobs for Thursday and her business line was ringing off the hook. She has christened me her good luck charm. With Caryn Clark having booked a session during our meeting a few weeks ago, this is turning into a bit of a trend.

My challenge now is to figure how to touch myself to enjoy some of this good voice over luck I seem to vibe towards others without getting strange stares or possibly being arrested. I think I’ll just stick to my original marketing plan.

The truth is with both of these VO pros, it’s not at all a matter of luck. Their clients (and ours, hopefully) just needed to come to the realization that they needed their voice services.

Kara is a hoot. A real character who’s a well respected character voice actress. She had been working in radio since she graduated high school and subsequently has a boatload of great radio stories which are always appreciated by those of us who have “lived the life”. Ask her to tell you the story of the final meeting at the last radio station she worked at before going full time into voice over.

It was great to meet her and if you need a great character voice, Kara’s a good place to start.

Tags: character voices, commentary, radio, voice actors, voice casting, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover advice by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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There are savvier people than I (amazing, huh?! 🙂 ) who spend megabytes and hours defining and debating social media and web 2.0 while the rest of the world yawns and says “I need to make business contacts to make money to pay my mortgage and maybe go out to dinner.”

I’m professionally drawn to those select few in these web communities who both talk AND walk the walk of social media and online communities. These people help other professionals (like me) build my business financially with their insight and experience, they help me learn about fast changing trends within what I believe will prove to be a major shift in the way business is conducted locally, nationally and internationally, as well as provide introductions to people who can help me and (equally as important) who I can help as well.

But to benefit from what is certainly for me an imperfect learning experience (which may be a polysyllabic synonym for “life”) I know that I have to actively participate and do so with an open mind. These communities are filled with folks mostly younger and waaay smarter than me and we meet having vastly different life experiences…finding common ground is part of the fun. For the old schoolers out there, the process I’m speaking about is nothing more than a virtual networking system or event that, if one is fortunate, morphs into a real life networking event.

All this pre-ambling is a way of giving you insight into why I write a great deal in this blog about social media and applicable internet trends/tools and why I attended the Toronto Geek Dinner on Wednesday evening. I’ll start by answering your top three questions (see, I’m getting so much smarter that I know you’re questions before you’ve asked them!)

What is a Geek Dinner?These dinners area random get-together of professionals from the worlds of Marketing, Communications, Advertising, Public Relations, Blogging and Podcasting. The Geek Dinner is where their worlds collide…in a very professional way, of course.

How does one get invited to a Geek Dinner? Basically, someone takes the lead and puts it together then puts out the word. Mitch Joel, he of the Twist Image blog out of beautiful Montreal, posted a notice on his blog and within days it was sold out. So if you keep the lines of communications open with influence-ers like Mitch, you hear about good stuff.

What is the value of a Geek Dinner? It’s like any good networking event, especially if you come to the event not trying to sell yourself like maybe a used car salesman would. Everyone at the event shares common interests while also bringing a diversity accumulation of practical, useful knowledge from their work. My voice over, marketing, advertising, broadcasting, blogging and podcasting experience allowed me to serve as a resource in some cases. Its not pushy, it’s welcoming. People getting to know people.

And of course, as I’ve noted previously, you do not need to bend my arm to go to Toronto…I always feel jazzed going up there and even coming back. I love that city.

Who did I get to know at the Toronto Geek Dinner? Some great people!

I caught up with Bill Sweetman of Sweetmantra.com, an internet marketing blog. He and I first met at Podcamp Toronto.

Dining with me were Eli Singer of Cundari SFP, he runs a social media site; Eden Spodek sat next to me, she of Bargainista fame, a web site for people who love to shop (there’s a huge audience). I also met the self-proclaimed “Smartest Man in the World” (says so right on his business card); his name is Saul Colt and he was a very cool guy.

Next to our table was a bunch of people from webfeat, a very cool online marketing company with a very impression Fortune 500 client list; the people I spoke to the most from there were Stephen Giles and Ellie Rosen. Both very interesting folks and fun to have dinner with. The “podcastic” Donna Pappacosta was there and if you’re thinking of putting a podcast together and you need to know EVERYTHING you need to know, visit Trafcom News…Donna’s a great lady. I also finally got to meet Bill Nygren of Boom Sonic Branding. They do some amazing production there.

My thanks to Mitch and everybody who had a hand in putting together the Geek Dinner. It was terrific!

Tags: blogs, commentary, internet, marketing, media, peter o'connell, podcasting, radio, technology, tv, voiceover, voiceover advice by peter k. o'connell, your friendly, neighborhood voice-over talent
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