Every so often when I can’t think of anything else to write about I’ve written a Month In The Life blog. This isn’t one of those. Well, it is. But this time we actually have things to tell you about that you might be interested in rather than just having to fill up column inches. This way to the news ⬇️
Normal work
Amongst all the thrills and spills below there was still normal work to do! I’ve been involved in creating a suite of reels for a client. This involved taking a travel kit to a studio to record the reads as the voice actor’s own studio currently has scaffolding and builders working on the exterior of the building. A suite of 6 different reels are under construction which cover a number of different genres and some specific sub-genres. I’ve also had a good number of Zoom sessions with various people to discuss an equal number of different issues.
Helen has also been working on a few different branding and website projects for different clients.
The Great Big Voiceover Social
We took a day out of our schedule to go and look at a few different possible venues for The Great Big Voiceover Social. And the good news is that we found one! We haven’t quite signed on the dotted line yet, but we’ve found a lovely little place in the centre of Manchester that’s based in 2 old railway arches. It’s an independent theatre and the bar offers beers from a local brewer that are mostly vegan (some beers contain lactose or honey) and all gluten free.
So with that news in place we can tell you a little more about our plans for the event.
Stick 25th January 2025 in your diary because that’s when you’ll need to be in Manchester. The event will likely be from 2pm until they kick us out (the license is until 1am, but we’re seeing if we can squeeze that a bit later) and it’s open to all people working in the VO industry – whether as a voice, producer, agent or something else.
Unlike the other socials this one will be a paid event, but we’re doing our best to make the ticket as low-cost as possible. We’re doing this by making the ticket price only cover entrance to the event itself – there is no hotel associated with the social, and so – being in the city centre – you can choose your accommodation based on what you want to pay for it. There are 5-star hotels and backpacker hostels all within easy reach. We may be supplying a small meal, but there are also myriad takeaways and restaurants near the venue.
We’re also putting on a few extra ‘things to do’ as well. Some will be fun activities and some will be business related. Some will be paid extras and some free (put on by event sponsors), the paid bits should only be a small charge but they are yet to be arranged, so I won’t say anything else about those now, except ‘Watch this space!’.
This won’t be a conference. There won’t be any talks, but there will be lots of socialising. If you’re worried about coming alone we’ll be setting up an ‘emergency friend’ scheme where we can put you in touch with someone else who’s coming by themselves ahead of the day and you can introduce yourselves to each other and make whatever extra arrangements you want to for the weekend. We will also be starting the day with a quiet arrival hour for anyone who wants to arrive before bigger, noisier crowds.
Remember that date – January 25th 2025.
The Podcast
We’ve now released 3 editions of the VO Social Podcast and are beginning to get into the swing of things. I’m gradually putting together a template to make the recording and editing a bit quicker, and we’re quietly encouraged by the analytics. We both have experience with presenting things (online and in person) but interviewing is a new thing to us both. So I’m fully expecting to listen back to these early podcasts in a couple of years’ time and be horrified about how wooden our interview technique was (is).
I hope you’ve found them interesting so far. We have some good guests in mind for future episodes. The next episode has been recorded and is out on 2nd July.
Invisible to Invincible
Helen has been planning – and is currently running – this 8 week marketing course with Karen Webber of Goodness Marketing (podcast listeners will know that name). She’s been looking forward to doing this course again as they both enjoyed it when they ran it last year. Presenting and coordinating something of this size does also make Helen a bit nervous as it is quite a commitment of time in planning and presentation. The benefit they both saw to the attendees of last year’s course made it worth doing again though. Expect to hear more about that from her.
One Voice
May also saw the One Voice Conference in London. This year we’re attending the Dallas conference in August as well, but grey drizzly London was May’s destination. As usual day 1 of the conference was all online, and once again, all day, I offered 20 minute studio surgeries for attendees. I spoke to a number of voiceovers from my studio and was able to assist them in overcoming whatever issue or question it was they asked me. Helen also offered website and branding surgeries and chaired the self-promotion panel. Again we were sponsors of the conference so when we were there we could be found sitting at our expo stand where we both spoke to a lot of people over the course of the weekend.
It was, as it always is, a fantastic weekend so a big thank you to the Gravy For The Brain and Re:Attendance teams for putting it all together.
Award
So to the final bit of news. The bit a lot of you will have been waiting for.
Associated with the One Voice Conference are the One Voice Awards. These are probably the most prestigious voiceover awards in the UK and seem to gather more and more momentum every year, making the judging process more and more arduous, I’m sure. We attended the awards again this year, There were some very heartfelt speeches and it was amazing seeing how much the wins meant to some people. We offer our congratulations to all the winners and nominees. And that last sentence has to include us because we won our category – Voiceover Service Provider of the Year. There were a lot of great companies in the category, although we didn’t entirely know that before the ceremony as the organisers had forgotten to put the shortlist on the website. So we were very shocked and pleased to win. I think that fact is reflected in our acceptance speeches which were both short and somewhat bewildered.
What we should have said is something along the lines of how much we both enjoy what we do, and how much we enjoy seeing the differences we both make to people’s businesses. How – although the award is ace – what’s more important to both of us is the appreciation of our skills and services amongst the voiceover community and the trust we are given. Something like that, but it wouldn’t have been funny.
So that was May. It was a busy month, but it was a fun one. If you’re interested at all in any of the services we’ve mentioned in this then please don’t hesitate to get in touch. Maybe we can help you be seen and heard.