Voice Talents George Washington, III and Peter K. O'Connell in Charlotte, NC

Voiceover meet-ups really reaffirm my faith in this industry.

The opportunity to discuss topics like performance, marketing, instruction, agents, fellow voice talents you know or want to know…and tons of other stuff is something that even the best voice over bulletin boards cannot replicate.

We VO’s don’t have a communal office or lunch room…so we’ve got a lot of pent up conversations we gotta have!

So Charlotte, North Carolina-based male voice over talent George Washington, III and I met for dinner at 6:30 p.m. tonight and closed Panera Bread at 9:00 p.m., carrying our conversation into the parking lot.

And no, I did NOT do most of the talking…I think. Hey, we’re SO entertaining that a guy came up to us from a nearby table and wanted to tip us for making him laugh with the voices we were performing. True story!

We may have been a bit too loud, but its a Monday night in Charlotte, what else is there to do?

Anyway, George is a wonderfully talented fellow and an engaging artist who also sings – many great voice projects are in George’s future and I am so glad we got to visit.

I also spoke on the phone with Donovan Corneetz and Jon Carter too while I was here and Brian Haymond, we will grab a bite together one of these days!

Tags: community, voice talent, voiceover, voiceover meet-ups // 1 Comment »

Two frame styles for Peter's new glasses - which one do you prefer?

I lost my glasses.

They’re gone and it’s sad but life goes on.

But I need a new pair.

These are two popular choices (no I don’t have the pictures of me wearing them even though they took pictures…dunno where they out them, probably deleted it.

Any way, you vote:

A) The BLACK pair

B) The SILVER pair

C) What ARE you thinking, you’d look awful in both

Voting is now open, comment below please.

UPDATE: Due to popular demand: here are the pictures of me wearing the glasses (the pictures are a bit odd and someday I’ll tell the story of why but for now – here we go.

Tags: commentary, peter o'connell, silliness // 42 Comments »

Sometimes a branding guy just can’t get enough of the different tools he can use to market his business. Some of it is critical and some of it is window dressing.

This is clearly and example of window dressing.

Even though most people seem to use tools like Tweet Deck to read their Twitter messages, some folks actually do look at a persons Twitter page. Some folks throw up nothing on that page for design, some use the way ugly generic art Twitter provides and some folks like me create custom stuff.

There are actually companies who design the custom pages for Twitter…its part of their business although I am guessing not a HUGE part of their business.

Well, I decided today it was time to update mine. I had made the page all O’Connell Communications like with the companies etc., but I decided that was a bit silly since everybody knew me on Twitter as audio’connell.

Twitter page design this morning

So I took the new business card design (one side of it anyway) and put it up on Twitter.

Twitter page design this afternoon

Obviously I like it but I’d be interested in your feedback.

What do you think? Do subtle, too garish? Just right?

Tags: advertising, o'connell communications, social media, twitter // Comments Off on tweaking twitter

I got the ping tonight that Podcamp Boston (the one that started them all) is now written in ink (as opposed to penciled in) for September 25 & 26th at the Microsoft New England Research and Development in Cambridge, MA.

In case you were wondering about what to expect, here is their missive:

Are you ready for the future?

Are you new to new media like blogging, podcasting, Twitter, Facebook, and wondering where to get started?

Are you a veteran of all things 2.0 and wondering what to learn next to propel you into future success?

PodCamp Boston, now in its 5th year, aims to help you answer these questions and many more. On September 25-26, 2010 at the facility of Microsoft New England Research and Development Center, PodCamp Boston will bring together the best and the brightest – including you – for two days of learning, sharing, and growing your social media skills.

It goes on from there but you get the picture. If you are in the area, I’d consider checking it out.

Tags: commentary, podcamp, podcampboston // 1 Comment »

Claire Dodin is a classy lady and a talent actress (for screen and voice).

But many of us were so pleased for her that others could see her creativity in a Facebook post Wednesday (shown above).

Her post read as follows:

Pay what you can for voice-overs until this Friday!
All money will go to a breast cancer prevention charity paying for mammograms for women who haven’t got insurance. Get your order in now. I’m only asking that you pay straight away as I’m sending the check next Friday, and that you try to pay for at least one women ($90)

To contact Claire and secure her for your voice over job (English or French), visit her web site.

Tags: commentary, voice actors, voice talent, voiceover // 2 Comments »

OK, so sometimes I forget to hit the edit switch when I come up with an idea that’s going to take a lot of time and effort to put together (effort I got, time not so much). Such was the case when Amy Snively of voice over fame and Faffcon lead sled dog said she needed help and ideas to promote Faffcon.

Well though it took longer than it should have the promo video for the event is done and it is great fun as well as informative only because of the following very talented reasons:

Philip Banks
Mandy Nelson
Todd Ellis
Bruce Miles
Pam Tierney
Dave Courvoisier
Roger Tremaine
Bob Souer

They are my peers and my friends and this video (and this conference) would be a whole lot of nothing with out them.

I am grateful for each of you.

Tags: peter o'connell, video production, voice actors, voice casting, voice over training, voice talent, voiceover // 9 Comments »