Earlier in the year were very excited to be asked to be a sponsor of the One Voice Conference in London again, and then later on we were both asked to do talks and lead workshops at the event.
A lot of our July and most of August was taken up with preparing the various things we’d be doing over the weekend. We arrived early so we had some time to relax before the event kicked off. From the moment we entered the hotel we felt very COVID safe.
Setting up
Thursday afternoon was expo stand set-up time. Then in traditional style, OVC kicked off on Thursday evening with a welcome gin & tonic reception followed by the opening ceremony. We were a little like rabbits in headlights realising we were in a room with actual people again.
Friday
Kicking off Friday before key note speaker Rory Bremner had even taken to the stage, Rob began running a 3-hour workshop all about showreels.
Over to Rob…
My 3 hour workshop was titled ‘How to produce a showreel like a pro’ and was a whistle-stop guide to the various stages of showreel production – right from the start when you’re considering what reel(s) you need to the mixing, building and finalising a reel. I had very keen attendees and the 3 hours seemed to disappear.
If you couldn’t come to OVC or my workshop, my blog ‘How to prepare for recording a showreel’ gives tips and advice. Or, have a look at my showreel production services here.
Shortly after I started my 1-hour branding workshop (I also failed to remember to take any photos). We looked at what branding is, why voice artists need a brand and where to start building one. For anyone wanting to read more on branding, head to the brand section of our blog.
After lunch, Rob led his talk ‘How to build and maintain a home studio strong enough to support a career’. This was a 2 point talk. The first point was ‘Why you can’t build and maintain a home studio strong enough to support a career’ and point 2 was ‘how to build and maintain a home studio strong enough to last as long as possible’. The talk was rounded off by saying that as you plan your studio one of the things you need to do is figure out what your priorities are – you can create a studio that stands the test of time and the technological/software changes better, or you can make a studio that’s simple to use, the 2 are often at odds with each other. If you’re after some help and advice about studio setup, then tap here.
While I ran a 3-hour workshop deep-diving into websites. It was similar to the website reviews I offer, so if anyone who wanted to come along but couldn’t, they might be a good option.
The boat party
Another tradition of OVC is the Friday night boat party. It didn’t disappoint. The weather was warm, the waters were calm and the noise on the boat… well, let’s just remember it was full of people who know how to project their voices… I’ve not laughed that much in a long time.
Satuday
Saturday morning started with the brilliant Jess Robinson being interviewed by (a slightly husky because of the boat party) Leah Marks. And we finally had the time to sit at our stand too!
Saturday afternoon was my talk ‘Boosting your online presence – how to do SEO without doing SEO’ – a potentially dull-as-dishwater topic. The need to be found online as a voice artist is more and more important and I’ll take Peter Dickson tweeting I’d made SEO sound sexy as a win!
#ovc21 The delightful Helen Bee at @OneVoiceConf making website SEO sound sexy. #noeasyfeat pic.twitter.com/zkYVn1FENY
— Peter Dickson (@peterdickson) August 21, 2021
If you’re interested in learning more about SEO, here’s a beginners guide. I’m also planning to run some online workshops in small groups too. Newsletter subscribers will be the first to hear when they launch.
OVC Awards 2021
Saturday night saw everyone get dressed up and the Awards night began. The atmosphere was vibrant as hopeful nominees waited to see if they’d won. The cheers and shouts of encouragement for every category was incredible. It made us realise what a supportive and friendly bunch we work with. Voiceovers really do build each other up and, although we didn’t win our category (Best Voiceover Service Provider) this year, celebrating those who did win made for a fun night.
The morning after the night before
With fuzzy heads, and gripping large coffees, Sunday late morning saw the slow gathering for the closing ceremony. It was also the time to announce the Voiceover Inspiration Award – and when it was announced there wasn’t a dry eye in the room. This year it was given to Leah Marks and Nic Redman for the Voiceover Social Podcast. It’s one of my favourite podcasts and I’m sure you’ll agree that the work they put into producing such a great and informative listen deserves recognition. It ended the weekend perfectly.
Happily, you can listen to the moment the award was announced and hear highlights from the full conference in the latest episode. Listen HERE.
For anyone with ReAttendance, you can watch our talks too!
- How to build and maintain a home studio – with Rob, 20 Aug, 1:50pm
- Boosting your online presence – SEO without the SEO – with Helen, 21 Aug, 1:50pm
And it’s goodbye OVC21
All the OneVoice team and hotel staff were fantastic. It was such a fabulous feeling meeting with people we’ve not seen in ages and finally meeting people in person that we’ve chatted to for months online. We both came away happy, exhausted almost voiceless and very, very excited for next time!