The elephant in the room just subtly kicked off their own social network.
If it smells like competition and looks like competition, Facebook this is your new competition.
Open your Google Reader, click manage my subscriptions and click the tab marked “Friends”.
Two things about voice over work:
1. It’s often anonymous…people hear our voices but other than a few family members, friends, clients or industry pros, no one knows its us. And that’s just fine by me.
2. Jobs often last from anywhere from 15 – 30 minutes and unless you’ve hooked a ad campaign, VO’s are off fishing for their next job and soon as they leave the studio
So it is with great awe that I announce to you the vocal retirement from NBC News of announcer Howard Reig. He has been introducing the NBC News’ evening broadcast going back to the days of The Huntley Brinkley Report and straight through to NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.
Howard really retired from the network a few years ago, but they liked his voice so much they kept using it. And his retirement kinda fell under the radar. So now, let’s take note.
December 14th was the last broadcast of his voice, with NBC’s blog post offering up a tease of a new “familiar” voice to be unveiled on December 17th’s broadcast (possibly ala Walter Cronkite’s announce for the CBS Evening News with Katie Couric.
But with an estimate of having introduced over 7,000 broadcasts, not including his career at WGY in Schenectady, NY, he’s held his voice over job for a truly impressive stretch. And the performance while anonymous was always spot on.
On the Nightly News blog post Friday, I left a comment for a man whom I have never met but who I know would have some wonderful stories to share about a great career:
Howard:
From one voice over professional to another, my sincerest congratulations on a terrific career. And kudos to NBC News for honoring you for your years of service. You give the rest of us an example of excellence to strive for.
Best always,
– Peter
I hope all my fellow voice over professionals with also sign the NBC News’ blog post’s “guest book” and let Howard know that we too respect all that he has been able to accomplish and wish him well. Wow, what an impressive ride!
Here’s the thing – I know some Adult Contemporary (AC) radio stations start their “All Christmas – All The Time” formats about a week before Thanksgiving in most US radio markets. They do this because their listenership increases and those listeners usually stay around after the holiday is over and into the next ratings book which boosts their ratings and allows the station to get a leg up on ad revs. A perfectly fine business practice.
Those stations are banished from my car radio pre-sets one only for the Christmas period and one entirely. Now I am a 43 male, not the demo these stations are looking for…certainly not the sex they are aiming their programming for (women do the buying) but I can’t stand this further yet commercialization of Christmas. So pulling them off my pre-sets is my silent protest and no one from either station has called me personally to ask me to come back to them (imagine that)!
But as we are ten days out from Christmas Eve, I will now allow you to begin playing Christmas music occasionally on your stations.
I know that this is the correct time because the local Album Oriented Rock (AOR) station in town has evidently been running a Bruce concert ticket giveaway in which if you hear one of his Christmas songs, you can win a pair of tickets to his concert (which I don’t think is here until Q3 ’08). I hadn’t heard about this promotion but because I ardently avoid Christmas music, I hadn’t heard Bruce’s “Santa Claus is Coming to Town” yet.
I did this morning on that station (which is always judicious in it’s playing of Christmas music) and as is my tradition, once I hear it, Christmas can begin. I know you were waiting for my signal so – there it is.
And so there’s no confusion, here’s my Christmas music contribution that features some great animation and cute voice talent performances.
There are more times than I care to count in recent years where I realize I have become my parents.
That’s not a bad thing as my parents were wonderful people to whom I owe everything. But “parents” often make references that to a younger generation seem “historical”. Like “oh Dad, that happened so long ago!” even though it was only 20 years ago.
For some of you, even in the voice over or on-camera talent business, the “so long ago” comment may apply to my observation here.
Recently, actor Dick Wilson died at the age of 91. Many people knew Dick Wilson (I did not) but many millions more (myself included) knew his character Mr. Whipple, the grocery store manager who implored the ladies in the toilet tissue aisle “Please don’t squeeze the Charmin.”
Mr. Whipple sold a lot of toilet tissue.
As many commercial performers know, a good run for a spot may last 6 months to a year. Dick performed as Mr. Whipple for Proctor and Gamble for decades.
P&G created a product, Dick Wilson created an icon.
P&G gets my vote for getting it “right” with the commercial now running for Charmin.
May we all perform so well that our employers recognize us thusly:
As happens on Sunday nights when the airlines delay your departure for 2 ½ hours (its weather and I can’t fault them for that) I was able to catch up on a few things. Reading the blogs on my Google Reader was one thing I was able to catch up on….and man can those posts add up. Whew!
Once I was on the plane, I got started on writing my thank you notes for a fund raising event I am chairing with my wife for the Buffalo Niagara Sales and Marketing Executives. The event is actually Monday night but I know how hard everyone on my committee has worked thus far and I know the event will be a success so I can write the notes now and they’ll get them Tuesday…with a Chicago postmark!
This wasn’t a long-planned event, however, because a friend of ours who is the association’s Executive Director (and who like me is a BNSME past president) experienced sudden and significant problems with her husband’s health. His long recovery will likely lead to a fairly expensive recovery. The BNSME board of directors decided to convert the December 10th Holiday Party into a fund raiser and I dove in feet first as is my sometimes annoying way.
While none of us ever hoped to be involved in such an event, I think for each of us on the committee the fund raiser is helpful for us. Why? Because when any hits a friend or family member, most of us either want to or actually go into “action” mode. Something bad has happened, we’re powerless to change it or fix it and yet we are desperate to try…anything!
Make a dinner? Bake some cookies? Sure. But if we’re honest, it doesn’t feel like we’re doing enough.
But with this fund raiser, we know the outcome is going to bring the family some relief and it lets us take action…we ARE doing something for the family. So I guess it’s a kind of therapy for the rest of us.
Having not chaired an event for the association since maybe the mid nineties, the only thing I remembered most was that Andrea and I needed to call on people we could count on to get this job done right and done fast (we did this in about a month, maybe less). Some members in the association we knew and some were referred to us but man, were they all awesome. Not like “good job”, more like “great job”. It was a thrill to help orchestrate such talent.
So, to the board and to the BNSME members…thanks for the opportunity. And Tom, get well soon.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada, December 9, 2007 – – The 2007 Video Game Awards (VGA’s), to be shown on Spike TV December 9th, honored BioShock as “Game of the Year” at this year’s ceremony. audio’connell Voice-Over Talent president and voice talent Peter K. O’Connell was a voice actor featured in the highly acclaimed game.
Voice actor Peter K. O’Connell played the character of 1940’s Boston newsman Henry Egers in BioShock.
Produced by 2K Games, a publishing label of Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc., BioShock is described as a “genetically enhanced” first-person shooter allowing players do things never before possible in the genre. BioShock is available for play in North America for Xbox 360TM video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Games for Windows®, and in Europe.
As described by 2K Games in a release for BioShock: “Gamers enter the game as a castaway in Rapture, an underwater utopia torn apart by civil war. Caught between powerful forces and hunted down by genetically modified “splicers” and deadly security systems, players have to come to grips with a deadly, mysterious world filled with powerful technology and fascinating characters. No encounter ever plays out the same and no two gamers will play BioShock the same way.”
audio’connell Voice Over Talent is a worldwide voice over talent service featuring professional male and female voice talents specializing in commercials, corporate narrations, voice imaging, podcasts and messaging on-hold (MOH) created for advertising agencies, media and broadcast production companies as well as both large and small businesses around the world.
The company also operates Voice Over Workshop to provide professional voice over training to novice and experienced voice talent around the world.
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NOTES TO EDITORS
Company Media Releases ON LINE:
http://www.audioconnell.com/media
Company Name Pronunciation:
au·dio·o’·con·nell (awe-de-oh-oh-kah-nel) or au·di-o’·con·nell (awe-de-oh-kah-nel)
Company Name Spelling:
Use lower case letters- audio’connell or audio’connell Voice Over Talent
Company Web:
http://www.audioconnell.com
Company Blog:
http://www.voxmarketising.com
O’Connell Voice-Over Resume:
See resume here
