SaVoA, the Society of Accredited Voice Over Artists has imploded.
Six members of the executive board resigned in April of 2012, citing irreconcilable differences between them and SaVoA’s founding father.
On hearing the news, I was stirred but certainly not shaken. To me, the real news was how the worldwide voice-over community responded. The overall reaction can be summarized in two words:
“So what?”
Of course a few inner circle members -sorry, make that “certificate holders”– reacted as expected by telling their version of the break-up. And yet again, thousands of voice actors answered silently in unison and said:
“Who cares?”
If a tree falls in a forest and no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?
You see, in the five years of its existence, SaVoA managed to attract and accredit a whopping 170 people, and it never became the organization it set out to be. Instead, it was regarded by some as an old-boys network.
The idea was to bring together a group of voice artists who had proven to their peers that they could provide “vocally and technically proficient, broadcast-quality voice over services” and who would “conduct business in such a way that it enhances the profession as a whole.”
Apart from a few discounts on trainings and gear, accredited members received a SaVoA certificate and a seal that could be displayed on websites and business cards. Like the Good Housekeeping seal, it was meant to reassure prospective clients that they were about to hire an established, highly qualified voice talent.
Upon seeing the seal, most clients said:
“What the heck is that? Just because some unknown body has accredited you, doesn’t mean you’re a good fit for the job. Let me hear your demo. You’re a voice-over. Words speak louder than actions.”
Many colleagues responded the same way. Why would an experienced talent even need to be accredited? Paul Payton:
“My accreditation is 24 years in the VO business, 22 without a back-up job, working with great clients including many who bring me repeat business. If a certificate works for someone, great; for me, every check I cash is an accreditation. Color me grateful.”
Others like Todd Schick questioned SaVoA’s technical standards:
“How good are standards that can be easily faked? What good is legal gobbledygook to a consumer who hired a SaVoA talent, only to find out that they didn’t have a phone patch, the editing was horrible, the sound sucked because they had a -40dB noise floor… and couldn’t work after 5 pm EST because they had a day job?”
The SaVoA certificate still hangs on Danish voice talent Jacob Ekström‘s wall. Even though SaVoA as we know it is no more, he believes it’s useful to set standards.
“Certification in general is not a new thing, and in an industry like ours where clueless noobs armed with a $20 RadioShack microphone can build a website and/or sign up to a p2p-site and think they can compete with VO-veterans with $10.000 studios, it certainly could be an asset to voice seekers with limited time to listen through 500+ auditions or demos. But alas, not if they don’t know what it means, and I guess this is where SaVoA failed.”
“As a well-established talent you can always argue “Sheesh, why would I need this, a $75 badge on my website isn’t going to get me more gigs anyway!” – and that’s true. But for the remaining 90% of us, just maybe it could. Mind you, the original idea was NOT to build a “boys club” – it was to make the industry better, not only for our clients, but more importantly for ourselves.
Having a SaVoA badge on your website should be something everyone should want to strive for, not because it looks good, but because it means you’re serious and you want your clients to know. And yes, we all know you don’t need a $75 badge to actually be serious, but all the $20 microphone guys who clutter the p2p-sites do not, and, apparently, neither does the industry. And that’s why I feel it’s a damn shame SaVoA never made an impact.”
Audio producer, script writer and voice actor Matt Forrest has a different take on the viability of a professional organization for voice actors:
“Unless the standards or code are adopted by an organized group (like a union or SaVoA) and used – and promoted – for the benefit of its members, I’m not sure what good any of it would do. Being individual contractors, we all know how we want to treat our customers and our craft, but getting everyone to abide by them would be like trying to herd cats.”
Dan Lenard is one of the former members of SaVoA’s executive board. He strongly believes the voice-over community has to have a SaVoA type of organization:
“We have common needs. We need to come together in an organized manner to harness this energy that has created this unique virtual community, and work together to deal with the unique marketing, legal and technical issues involved, along with the socially isolating nature of our trade.”
OUT OF THE ASHES
Together with other ex-SaVoA directors, Dan has been building a new and more transparent voice-over organization, modeled after a Trade Association. It was incorporated on April 25th 2012, and it was launched a day later. It’s called the World-Voices organization. Lenard explains:
“It’s an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry. An industry trade association participates in public relations activities such as advertising, education, and publishing, but its main focus is collaboration between businesses, or standardization. Many associations are non-profit organizations governed by bylaws and directed by officers who are also actual voting “members” of the association, not just certificate of Accreditation holders.
This is a model that makes sense for us, the independently based freelance voice artist, here and now. To have an individual competitive advantage we need to have agreed standards of business to strive for. Marketing wise, legally and because of the new territory of being able to produce quality audio at home, Accreditation of technical skills based on the reality of today’s digital marketplace, not outdated, obsolete broadcasting standards.”
Founding Executive Vice President, Dave Courvoisier says:
“Our founders are Dustin Ebaugh, Dan Lenard, Chris Mezzolesta, Robert Sciglimpaglia, Andy Bowyer, “Kat” Keesling, and myself. All are SaVoa ex-patriates. With certain obstacles out of our way, we’ve been able to organize, conceptualize, implement, and carry-out an amazing array of technical, foundational, and legal collaborations in just a matter of days.
The newly established World-Voices Organization will actively work to promote certified members to potential voice seekers through its website and in an aggressive marketing campaign. Materials explaining a proposed structure will be posted on our website.”
And what do I make of this?
If teachers, lawyers, roofers and even DJ’s see value in building a business organization with a code of conduct and professional standards, I see no reason why voice-overs should not follow in their footsteps.
I am in favor of defining criteria for excellence and ethical behavior. It’s important to create programs that will further our field and promote professionalism. Let’s show the outside world what being a voice-over pro entails!
We have a vibrant, supportive and growing community. It’s time to take ourselves and our line of work seriously. If we don’t, no one else will and we’ll forever be known as a bunch of bickering amateuristic blabbermouths.
We need and deserve this professional organization for ourselves, and to help the outside world separate the wheat from the chaff.
Now, to make sure that good people with good intentions will fail, you and I will only have to do one thing:
NOTHING
It’s very easy to stand on the sidelines and ridicule, criticize and discourage the efforts of a few. It takes no commitment whatsoever. It’s safe, it’s lame and it’s lazy.
I’d like you to consider this.
SaVoA did not fail to grow because the founder had no vision. The fact that SaVoA wasn’t thriving cannot be blamed on directors supposedly sitting on their behinds. Most of them worked their butts off!
The way I see it, SaVoA failed because part of the voice-over community paid lip service to the organization (VO’s are good at that), but never invested in it. The other part looked at it from a distance and said:
“Whatever”
Existing members did not succeed in making the organization relevant. Some of them adopted a wait-and-see attitude and vented their frustration that nothing was happening.
THE FUTURE
Many will look at World-Voices and ask themselves this question:
“What will I get out of it?”
Those who are primarily focused on themselves ask that question all the time. If that is going to be your approach, I predict that this new association of voice over professionals will die a quick death.
This is not going to be a ME-ME-ME organization. This is a WE-organization, working to benefit our entire community and beyond.
I challenge you to ask this question instead:
“What can I do to make World-Voices relevant, strong and successful?”
If you want to make it matter, you have to be involved.
Otherwise, another tree will soon fall in the forest without a sound.
Paul Strikwerda ©nethervoice
We have a new internet sensation: a 14 year-old kid who sounds like a movie trailer man. Could your ability to sound like someone else help or hurt your career? That’s the topic of my next blog post.
nail – hit – head – the – you – on
As a recent political campaign said here (I forget which party) “Bo? verme” – “Don’t do nothing”: make your voice heard.
Unfortunately, voter turnout in Tuesday’s primaries was at a historic low in my neck of the woods. Apathy kills democracy. I sincerely hope World-Voices will succeed where SaVoA failed to make a dent in the voice-over universe.
Well put, Paul, as per usual. I for one, intend to be a part of this new organization (if I make the standards cut, of course. 😉 ).
If World-Voices is going to mean anything at all, it will -by definition- be an exclusive organization. That alone is going to scare some folks, and piss other people off.
Paul,
Well said as always. As luck would have it, my impeccable timing had me signing up for (and submitting my tech demo to) SaVoa on April 2nd – wonder why I haven’t heard back from them yet… 🙂
I agree with you wholeheartedly – for this to work, ALL of us have to get behind W-V to make it what it should (and needs) to be. The challenge is getting the various masses of VO-talent out there to realize that this gig really is all about customer service at its core and not about their awesome voice (no matter what their mommy’s have told them)… While a lot of us already get that, there are a lot more that don’t.
I, like Jodi, plan to be part of the org. If I don’t make the cut the first time around – well, I know where I need to bring my game up to make it the next time around.
First we need to mobilize the VO-community. Unfortunately, the 80-20 rules appears to apply here too. 20% of the people usually do 80% of the work. That 20% often turns out to be made up of the same people. Without a broad base, World-Voices will not thrive and it’s no use to sell the new organization to the outside world.
Paul, you have a gift! Like Andy said, you hit the nail on the head. Apathy can kill everything.
Thanks for including my thoughts, Paul. I hope I wasn’t coming across as defeatist, because I do believe accreditation – or at least the recognition of standards – is useful and necessary. I agree with Jacob in that certification should, indeed, be something we strive for and are proud of…but again, if the organization that’s doing the certifying doesn’t have the respect of the voiceover community, we can’t expect it to be respected by those OUTSIDE the voiceover community.
I’ve debated for several years now whether or not I should apply for SaVoA membership, but I never felt it had that respect, or gravitas, that is necessary in promoting myself to potential clients. I hope the new WVO is able to succeed where SaVoA couldn’t, and I look forward to applying! It’s certainly being headed up by some fanatstic folks, and I wish them all the best in this new endeavour!
Well said, Paul. I’m really looking forward to seeing how this comes together. Great group pic from Faffcon of everyone singing to CourVO as well. 😀
That was one fun night at Faffcon, wasn’t it? If the same spirit we experienced at Faffcon can ignite a fire under World-Voices, I am very optimistic about its future!
Based on the reputation of the founders alone, I think World-Voices deserves to be well-respected from the get-go, but there are no guarantees.
Here are some challenges:
1. A logo, a leadership and a website does not make a successful organization. If the VO-commuity does not massively embrace this initiative, it’s dead upon arrival.
2. At least in The States there’s always been a strong undercurrent of people who are against any type of regulation. Count them out on priciple.
3. Another challenge will be to create an elite association of certified voice-over professionals that can represent the community as a whole. Those two objectives are hard to reconcile.
4. I don’t think the name is particularly well chosen. World Voices sounds more like a new online casting site than a trade association. It just doesn’t sound official enough and it says nothing about what the organization is about.
My vote would go to IAVA, the International Association of Voice Artists.
Today, I decided to take down my SaVoa badges on all my websites/materials. Much has been said about the way Ed Gambil and others handled things, but my decision has nothing to do with that. It has everything to do with the fact that, aside from a 10% discount at Sweetwater, SaVoa really didn’t do that much for me. Perhaps it’s self-centered of me to say that it “didn’t do that much for *me*,” but I only say that because the only thing I can speak definitively about are my own personal experiences.
What I find interesting, though, is that in light of the resignation of the board members, all of a sudden, LOTS of members are coming forward and saying that it didn’t mean much. So apparently I wasn’t alone in thinking this. So I’m going to go out on a limb and assume that it didn’t do that much for other members, as well.
I was advised by an industry expert (who I won’t name) to “get rid of that stupid SaVoa logo” almost a year ago. I was a bit taken aback at how blunt they were, but this person went on to say that the group was of no consequence, and that this person knew a few agents who cringed whenever they saw the logo. I explained to this person that while I felt SaVoa could be doing a bit more, I decided to join because…
1) It was setting some kind of standard, and I felt it was important to join any guild that was setting any kind of standard (much like Todd Schick).
2) The best way to solve a problem is to be a part of the solution, rather than sit on the sidelines and complain. Complaining changes nothing. Action is what changes things.
What I found after joining SaVoa, though, was that it was difficult to get my opinions heard. I stuck with it because I believed in the general concept and still wished to better it if I could, but ultimately all SaVoa served as was a badge that said, “We think there should be some standards.” Whoopdy-do. Furthermore, it also seemed that the only thing SaVoa did was try to recruit more people who said, “We think there should be some standards.”
Having said all that, it is for these reasons that I’m intrigued by World-Voices. It sounds like part of the reason it took so long for things to get done at SaVoa was because of the membership structure, and giving the members a more powerful voice is a HUGE step in the right direction. I agree that there is a need for a guild that sets standards and publicly tells clients that finding quality voice talent is not as easy as googling “voice actor” and then clicking on the first option they see. The key to making an organization worth being proud of is to–as I said earlier–take action, and an organization which empowers its members to take action will, I believe, form a group worth being proud of.
Bad experiences from the past are only useful to the extent that we learn from them. I’m confident that the founders of World-Voices have learned from the past and have used this experience to create a truly meaningful, relevant and open organization.
Realistically speaking, it might take years before this organization will mean something to the outside world. My priority would be to build a strong association first before promoting it to agents, producers and other clients. Without a strong backbone, it won’t be able to stand up for itself.
Dave, you’ve taken the words out of my mouth:
Good points, Paul, although I don’t think too many people would consider an undertaking like this as ‘regulation.’ I personally feel we’d all be better off if the government could get itself out of the way of progress, so more regulation is the last thing I’d want to see – but this is private industry standardizing and improving itself, not regulating anything. I definitely agree about the name, though – as you said, “WVO” sounds like a casting site or fraternal organization or something. IAVA is much more appropriate.
In the past, critics of SaVoA complained: “Who are you to set standards for accreditation?”
In order to become a certified member of World-Voices, one has to be able to produce quality audio as defined by the standards of the organization.
Call it standardization or regulation, the end-result is the same. I am all for it. Others will loathe it.
Great article as always Paul. While the idea of an accreditation organization is great in theory, it will require the support of clients, agents and production houses in order to be viable and successful. It has always been my perception (though I could be wrong) that SAVOA never really had that kind of support and that is why not too many people are concerned about its demise.
My $.02 FWIW
Dan
Any successful trade organization serves their own community as well as the outside world. World-Voices won’t mean anything to the outside world, if it does not represent a significant number of members and if standards are low.
My feeling is that we’d at least need 500 highly qualified and certified people to make our mark. The founding members have lit the flame. Now it’s up to us to use that flame and ignite a fire.
Paul, as always, beautifully written and thought out. However, please don’t hate me for taking a wait-and-see position here. As you quoted me (and thank you for doing so), my certification comes from my years of successful work and my repeat customers. I am also a Fi-Core SAG-AFTRA member, which is an imprimatur of a certain level of quality and which allows me the choice to take or decline any work. (Hardcore union members, I’ve had the Fi-Core debate many times in the past and won’t engage in it again.)
Yet with all this I may flunk the qualifying round for WVO (which sounds like a pioneering three-call-letter radio station to me, by the way). Why? Because my home setup, while of broadcast quality, is rudimentary; for bigger or more complex jobs, i choose to hire outside engineering talent who are as good at what they do as I am at what I do. Also, while I respect and admire the talent and professionalism of all involved, my participation would be limited to being a “sideliner” by the amount of “stuff” already in my life.
With that said, if it works for you, go for it. I’m saying neither “no” nor “never,” but at this point, “wait and see” is a realistic and practical position for me. I wish everyone success and luck, whichever way things go. Thank you for keeping me in the loop, I look forward to seeing and hearing more.
The certification criteria have not been published yet, so there’s no way of telling how high the bar will be set.
You’re absolutely free to wait-and-see. At this point, that’s what all of us are doing!
OK, so “In order to become a certified member of World-Voices, one has to be able to produce quality audio as defined by the standards of the organization.”
Here we SaVOA again…
What if I’m doggedly determined to produce audio to a much higher standard than your criteria?
Why should I support or lend credibility to people whose standards are lower than mine?
All suppositions and suggestions in this entire project are based on the existence of a voice over “community” (which doesn’t exist) and an arbitrary setting of standards. For those two reasons, it deserves to fail.
There is so much more to running a business than a trade association can ever legislate for. Do you answer the phone promptly and courteously? Do you get your invoices out on time, and keep proper accounts? Do you edit properly? What are your archiving arrangements?
I hope this makes my point. The market will tell me if I’m any good, not my peers. My peers are, apart from anything else they may be, my competitors to a greater or lesser degree. I’ll help anyone who asks my advice, because I’m not paranoid about them “stealing work.” But that’s not the same as claiming membership of “a community.”
I know of many trade associations in service industries, and most of them pretend to be guarantors of quality, while in reality they are self-serving of their members. (Builders are particularly good at this sort of thing.) In other businesses, they are lobbying bodies, often pushing against legislation that might harm them. (The motor industry, for example.)
None that I know of try to set standards of quality in the core activity. The UK’s Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders discusses, with the government and its members, issues such as road pricing and emissions. It does not specify how comfortable a seat should be (too subjective) or the “correct” diameter of a steering wheel. But that is exactly what SaVOA tried to do, and I fear the same mistake will be repeated.
Finally, beware of riding into battle with flag flying, before you look over your shoulder and check how many in your “community” actually want you there… the absentees might have very valid reasons for not wanting you fighting battles on their behalf, particularly if they are excluded from the process that decides what battles will be fought.
Hi Phil, thank you so much for offering a different point of view!
Unlike you, I do experience a tremendous sense of community and I’m happy to be part of it. Have you ever been to an event such as Faffcon?
As far as standards are concerned, I’m pretty sure they’ll be anything but arbitrary and I don’t think anyone will have a problem with you exceeding them. Since this is going to be a democratic organization that is actively asking for member input, different opinions will be heard, evaluated and incorporated.
Although World-Voices was modeled after a trade organization, I believe it can become what members make of it. I wouldn’t write it off based on what other associations have done or are doing.
Our annual event in the UK is Vox – we’ll be there again this year, having skipped a couple of years. It’s alive with bonhomie and chatter, as people put a face to a voice they’ve worked with via ISDN, and we mass-grumble about recession, customers and taxes. But it doesn’t set a standard for anything other than one’s capacity to drink and stay upright… and afterwards, we all go homne and compete with each other, via various means, for work.
Standards? Sorry to disagree, but they WILL be arbitrary. How can it be otherwise? Even the RIAA standard is arbitrary – all that happened is that a bunch of ears agreed on what they thought sounded acceptable in the light of what was realistically achievable. In our industry, a £20 mike into a laptop actually is plenty good enough for CCITT A Law audio playing down a phone, but I doubt such a set up would be “acceptable.” (At that point, cf with my steering wheel example above.)
I honestly don’t believe you can, or should try to, legislate or set a standard on something with so many variables and subjectivities. If you were a painter, would you expect your World Art Society to set a standard pallette of colours, a National Canvas Thickness Standard, or a World Framing Specification?
So I would urge all involved to think carefully before laying down the law. Are you trying to regulate something that either can’t, or shouldn’t, be regulated?
With luck, World-Voices will interpret its geographical remit in the same way as the World Series does. Unless I move to the US, I’m OK… (or Toronto, perhaps.)
I enjoy reading your blogs, your LinkedIn contributions, Paul, but I think I’m too much of a “business loner” to ever see eye to eye with you on this. Happily, we’re both grown up enough to be able to differ without becoming abusive… long may that continue!
If you interpret arbitrary as “determined by chance, whim, or impulse, and not by necessity, reason, or principle,” I have to disagree, even though I have not seen the standards yet. I don’t think that World-Voices would pull some noise-floor numbers out of a hat.
Like my colleague from Denmark, I see the need for minimum standards, and like you, I will strive to exceed those standards. Somebody has yet to convince me why we shouldn’t or couldn’t have some type of yardstick for minimum home studio audio quality. Non-members are free to ignore it.
As for voice-over community events, I have only been to Faffcon 3 and I can assure you that we did more than moan, groan and raise our wrists .
I always enjoy a great debate because it tends to sharpen the mind. Thank you for jumping in!
All the discussion about what it will require from the “voiceover community” to make this new organization take off is interesting (well, sort of; to some of us) but even if it were to gain significant acceptance among the tens of thousands of us who do this for a living, that is still the less important constituency.
SaVoa or WVO or any organization that purports to represent a certain quality standard in voiceovers needs to achieve widespread awareness among the users of voiceover services, not just the suppliers. And in today’s changing business landscape, those users are no longer just the savvy ad agencies and production houses; they’re also the mom & pop retailers who, often with little or no understanding of how the process is supposed to work, stumble into the P2P world looking for someone to voice their commercials.
Educating all those people adds up to a huge undertaking. I wonder if the cost-benefit numbers can ever be favorable.
As I said in one of my earlier comments, World-Voices should first focus on building a solid membership base. Only then can it expect to be taken seriously by those who hire us.
Any trade group has a dual mission: to serve both those who supply and demand services. It will take time to introduce this new association to clients, producers and agents. And only over time will it prove its value.
As far as eduction is concerned, that’s one of the purposes of this blog. I only need two things to make it happen every week: time and energy. Otherwise, there’s no cost involved.
I strongly believe in volunteerism and in what a committed, pro-active group can accomplish.
PS my apologies if I sound too much like a spokesperson for World-Voices. I am not.
HI Everyone,
Everyone’s points here are being listened to. That is what the founders of WVO are concentrating on right now. We have a plan. Part of our plan is member input. Nobodies perfect. The name? how many acronyms are there that readily have a URL not already registered? Honestly, we needed a temporary logo, so I played with some concepts and sent them to the others. They agreed and we’re now waiting for some other design concepts. I suggested a contest! This is an ongoing process and those that aren’t satisfied with instant perfection need something sorely lacking in our society. Patience. We’ve accomplished more in the last week than you can possibly believe. There is a great TEAM behind this effort.
The discussion of standards is premature. Nobody learned how to do all we do as voice artists with home studios, overnight. You can’t create a whole new entity from scratch overnight. The need is there, the energy to do it is there. Much planning still needs to be done. If you want to take a wait and see attitude, thats great. Seeing as you may have interest, wouldn’t being helpful and lending your ideas to make it what you’d like be a wise thing to do? If you feel you want something like this, (And we’re overwhelmed with the amazing response we’ve gotten so far) I would like to invite you to lend your opinions of what you think WILL make this successful, not why it won’t work for you.
An important point here is that this is not an attempt to replace something else. Making a comparison to something else is not looking at the big picture. This is a professional concept based on a model used throughout almost all trade industries.
Paul, thanks for being a guiding beacon of reality!
You’re very welcome, Dan.
I see that IAVA is already taken by the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America and the India Association of Virginia. Bummer! If there’s going to be a naming contest, you will certainly hear from me.
I appreciate all the time and energy all the WVO founders have already put into the organization. To stay within my metaphor: the strongest trees do not grow overnight.
Indeed, no one should be happy simply ‘meeting’ the standards. As sales guru Jeffrey Gitomer preaches, “satisfactory” customer service is the lowest level one can provide, before it starts getting into negative territory! If any of us wants to stay in this business, we need to go above and beyond; the standards being set simply allow us – and our potential clients – to know where the starting point is.
Thanks, Paul, and others for your opinions, input, and in most cases: support.
Our tough little group of WOVO founders has already climbed 2 or 4 mountains and a number of foothills in one week.
All the basics had to be covered: incorporating, trademarking, choosing names, logos, securing a domain and much more. All the while we dealt with a firestorm of PR…emails, phone calls, questions, attacks, and defense of actions, There were very few answers, only intentions.
I’m honestly not hugely enamored of the name we chose either. Together, we probably had about 50 or more acronymic possibilities, but in some instances the name was already copyrighted, or the domain name was already taken. World-Voice (without the “s” at the end) was already trademarked, for instance.
In the end, that won’t matter as much as how we structure this new organization. Things will start moving more slowly, now, as we tackle the deeper issues of how we plan to tier the accreditation, apprenticeship, membership levels…and what the dues will be, etc. We want to carefully craft the by-laws.
Phil’s points are well-taken. Voice artists are not a monolithic community. We don’t all think and act alike, but enough of us care about contributing to the greater good that we hope to raise the bar and the level of support for everyone. Our intention is not to lower your level of expertise, but to set a MINIMUM STANDARD…and yes to some it may be below what you’ve already achieved. It also does not pretend to be the standard for all else that Phil mentions: the marketing, the follow-up, client relations and so forth.
Small steps. We’re taking small careful steps, now…to specifically avoid the mistakes of a certain former accrediting entity. All of us were part of that, and believe me, we definitely don’t want to go there again!!!
Thanks for your even-handed analysis, Paul. I’m too close to it to have written this article myself.
Dave Courvoisier
My pleasure, Dave. Thank you for addressing some of the issues that have been raised today in the spirit in which WOVO was founded.
The foundation has been laid. There’s excitement in the air. There’ll be plenty of colleagues to help you build the rest of the house.
Paul, excellent article, and thanks for quoting me.
I’d like to address, and focus on, one particular detail for a second, and that is the issue of a certification fee. Obviously I don’t know yet whether WV… WVO… WOVO… whatever, will have a fee for certification at all, but SaVoa did, and as we all know by now, most people felt they didn’t get their money’s worth. Now, $75 isn’t a lot, but nonetheless, they could be spend on many other things.
Paul, to quote you: ““What can I do to make World-Voices relevant, strong and successful?” If you want to make it matter, you have to be involved.”
Interesting… because, a really narrow-minded person could think: “ok, so what exactly am I paying for THIS time??!” or
“what do you expect of ME, exactly – I paid YOU, remember??!”
I don’t know precisely how/why/where SaVoa failed in getting the respect of the industry. But as an accredited member, I feel I did what I could in spreading the word, by marketing myself as being one. The badge was there, a link to savoa.org was there. I must admit I did not have a line explaining exactly what SaVoa was and what it meant.
And no one asked me. Ever.
I guess what I’m trying to say is, if there’s going to be a certification fee, maybe it’s not so wrong after all allowing people to ask the question: “what will I get out of it – this time?”.
That said, I’m very curious about World-Voices, and thrilled to see the concept live on, 2.0-style
Good questions for which I have no answer. Some people would like to know how much money is still in SaVoa’s coffers and will they get some of that back if the organization becomes defunct?
Hello again from the other side of the Pond – although I have been around for a long time, most of that has been spent working out of pro studios. I am comparatively new to the home studio, self-producing, self-editing world of voice overing (is there such a word)?
Over the last couple of years I have dipped my toe into the water and have got to know a huge number of new colleagues – most of whom live and work in the USA. For the most part, the welcome, support, sharing of knowledge, generosity, and friendship has been touching and heartwarming and I am very grateful and thankful to have met people like you Paul – and many other colleagues in this virtual VO studio.
In complete contrast, I have found that some of the voice seekers (is that the right word?) to be totally ignorant of what is involved and more frighteningly, totally disinterested. ‘You just stand in front of a microphone and read out loud right?’, ‘I can get someone to do that for $$$££££ less than the amount you are quoting!’, ‘I don’t care about the quality I just want the job done for the cheapest price!’! This attitude combined with first past the post cattle market auditions, demos that are never opened let alone listened to, appallingly badly written scripts, character breakdowns such as the infamous, ‘gender – male, style of delivery – girl next door, accent – any’; lowballing; the constant misuse of the term ‘professional’ and the proliferation of bottom end online casting sites, all surely mean that some form of universally recognised accreditation is something that every professonal should welcome and subscribe to – but it will only work if it is recognised as valuable by the voice seekers as well as by the VO community itself.
It would be wonderful to be part of an organisation that offered access to good and accurate training built on experience and knowledge, which aimed at raising standards rather than on making profit; editing workshops; that had a published minimum rate card that ALL members adhered to; an entry level membership where people (like me) who have not yet achieved a perfect noise floor can find out how to get somewhere close; a community that recognises technical aspiration and high production values, that welcomes people who are trying to get there, rather than frightening them off (which I have to say was my experience when previously investigating accreditation), and a group where membership is less about the cost of your microphone and more about your ability to produce extraordinary work with whatever microphone you can afford.
I am sure that I am speaking to the already converted – you guys know all of this already, but I just wanted to add my two penn’orth and to wish you good luck with World Voices. I would so much like to be a member and contributor to such a community – so keep me posted!
I believe the idea is to build a global community, hence the name World-Voices. Because we’re all running virtual businesses working for clients on all continents, Ponds and borders no longer matter. What matters are the things that unite us and you’ve described some of the international trends very well.
The best thing is to give the founders some time to get the house ready before all of us move in. Then we can start decorating it together!
Good one Paul!
This is becoming the metaphor exchange!
:-3)
What else is a meta-phor, but to exchange it with good friends?
Hi Paul,
Thank you for your great blog post, and I thank everyone else for their cogent and thoughtful comments. This is a very interesting exchange.
I was not a member of Savoa, nor did I aspire to become one. My comment here has to do with the name and the logo of the new organization, and, as a working voice actor, what my initial reactions to them were.
My knee jerk feeling when I see the name, World Voices, is that it represents an online casting site. I agree with those who propose that an acronym would be a better idea. (I do understand that this is all still in the formative stages!)
I think the current logo (& Dan, I do understand that it’s also in the formative stages) is “busy” & contains disparate branding images: Letters (text). A world map image. A microphone graphic. I think a logo is best portrayed as a simple, immediately-easy-to-grasp-and-identify image. Although Savoa did not survive, I liked the “shield” & appreciate the quickly-identifiable brand. I’m guessing the new executive staff will employ a professional branding/logo company to create the new logo.
Again, I know that things are being worked out but wanted to give my two cents with regards to the name/imagery. Looking forward to seeing how this transpires!
Maxine
No disagreement Ms. Dunn. Its in development. We’d love submissions.
As for the name? like Marc Cashman says, The script isn’t in stone.
The official name at this time is World Voices Organization. If that helps the feel at all.
Theres no question that our branding will be key. Right now we want potential members input. (Like yours)
:-3)
It’s a very good sign that at this early stage the new organization is already seeking input from the community. Perhaps we have talented graphic designers in our midst who’d be willing to lend a helping hand.
As for the name: how about International Association of Voice Over Professionals?
“I a vop”? Don’t think so. “WoVO,” perhaps, with a lower-case O. “WVO” sounds like an old-time 3-call-letter radiostation.
Watching with interest, not yet with commitment.
I’m all for setting standards, a published list of what those are help others improve their sound and business. When I created a THX certified studio for PowederKeg films, there was a distinct set of guidelines and equipment to get the certification.
You can’t just say, “you don’t meet our standards” and not help them fix issues they may or may not be aware of. Someone listening to the same hard drive fan for years, doesn’t hear it anymore. But listening to their audio sample, you hear it clear as day. An organization that helps people by offering them a hand, sounds wonderful. I imagine that Dan Lenard would help out in any way he could. It’s what he does.
Would the world outside of V.O. artists every care about an organization? Probably not, but if more and more people heard the phrase,”That sounds great” after fixing issues, then the organization would grow.
I have a superhero complex, if someone asks for help, I lend a hand. It’s a good feeling.
Is it a plane? Is it a bird? No, it’s SuperMonk!
It took a while before the Good Housekeeping sign became well-known and respected. It will take a while before the WVO-seal of approval will be recognized and sought-after.
The way I see it, future members of the WVO have to become ambassadors of the organization and do their part to spread the news to clients and colleagues alike.
Once this Guild is up and running, let’s all make a big splash and make sure all our contacts will be touched by the ripple effect!
Interesting to see how many people are so vocal about putting down an organization that they obviously have no interest in joining. So vocal in trying to put an end to an organization before it even gets off the ground. So vocal about denigrating the actions of people who actually care about this industry and its future direction and not so much about THEIR little piece of the pie.
If you have no intention of joining, then don’t. But why in God’s name do you waste so much of your precious time and energy putting down the actions of those who actually care about not wasting a producer’s time by having them wade through 75 substandard auditions for a job.
If your standards are higher and your client base is well established, then bully for you! This organization may not be for you. No one is forcing anyone to join. But what about the up and comers who might like to have something that says, “Hey, I’m not doing this in my kitchen. You can count on me.” Or those already established who want a new producer to know they’re ok from the start.
If you like the “Wild West” of voiceover as it is now, then, hey that’s great! But sooner or later everybody is going to have to check their guns at the edge of town. It’s called growth. Look around you. There is more than just the present. There is a road to the future. See if you can find it.
Bob, I for one am “actively watching.” I think several of us are. Maybe more.
Part of the problem, for me, is that voice-overs – verily, any artistic endeavors – are subjective, unlike technical standards. So: is my studio up to par? There are standards against which I measure that. How’s my reading? It either works or it doesn’t for the client. The client is the “standard.” Every client is different.
I’m happy that others who are motivated are investigating accreditaion, but I have neither the time nore desire to spearhead this. I do offer leadership in another organization in this, my chosen profession, and in other fields of interest at the moment. And, if the time does come, our “generals” will need “troops.”
So, I continue to actively watch.
Hi Bob,
I’ll hold my hand up and agree that I am one of those who are “putting down an organization that they obviously have no interest in joining”
I find it hard to convince people who see it as their mission to represent others “for their own good” that I really don’t want them to do it. I find it irritating, patronising and potentially damaging to my business that anyone sets themselves or their organisation up as spokesman, as arbiter of what’s good and bad, or in any way representative of “the industry.”
As has been noted elsewhere, by me and by others, there are many who believe the market we work in is perfectly able to tell us what future direction to take, whether our standards (in every area) are acceptable, and if what we do is marketable.
Please try to understand that I am not selfish – I will, have and regularly do help other people who have technical problems, I share contacts, I recommend people for gigs I can’t do or think I’m unsuited for. Not wanting to join an organisation, or indeed being opposed to its formation, does not necessarily make one a selfish, mean-minded anti-social animal.
Your post, suggesting that those opposed are “denigrating” those in favour is grossly unfair. The superficially democratic process of asking people what they want, or how to establish a standard this or a baseline that, fails to address the issue of whether or not such an organisation, setting itself up as representative of the VO “community” (how I love that meaningless weasel-word) should be set up at all.
Don’t bother asking me whether I think electrocution, lethal injection or hanging is the best way to kill a convicted prisoner if I’m against capital punishment. Does it make more sense in those terms?
By all means go ahead and set it up, but as I’ve said elsewhere, please don’t alienate people like me who have, and are entitled to have, a different position, by claiming to represent “the industry.”
And above all, recognise that most people booking voices really won’t care anyway, any more than they cared about the irrelevant and meaningless SaVoa and its pitiably small number of members. It just is not how business is done. To pretend otherwise is fallacious.
Phil, I did not mean to imply that not wanting to join an organization, or indeed being opposed to its formation, makes one a selfish, mean-minded anti-social animal. Nor do I mean to imply that World Voices would represent “The Industry”. It will simply represent those who wish to be a part of it. You don’t. So what?
There are a whole lot of “voice seekers” out there who have to wade through some awful technical quality auditions. Maybe what the organization might accomplish is letting them know that membership guarantees a certain technical level and they can then concentrate on performance. You must be aware of what the market is like these days. Yes, the market will decide whether a talent is usable. This is just another tool for it to use.
As for the talent involved, there are thousands of VO people out there. Many have no idea what a noise floor is or why their auditions won’t pass muster. I guess they are just out of luck.
“By all means go ahead and set it up, but as I’ve said elsewhere, please don’t alienate people like me who have, and are entitled to have, a different position, by claiming to represent “the industry.””
I never said it claims to represent the industry, Phil, and from what would you be alienated?
You’re right, though. It’s just not how business is done. Standards have no place in the market, the Better Business Bureau is a waste of time, food standards are an absolute waste and the EPA is an abomination. The market will decide what food is good by the number of people sick and dead. The market will decide what MPG is acceptable in the auto industry and whether or not headrests should be mandatory. What’s a broken neck between friends, anyway?
Why are you so vehemently against it? What effect will its birth have on your business? Why on earth do you even give a crap about its formation?
Inflammatory enough?
Many professionals have guilds. That’s what WoVO will be. A professional guild for voiceover talent. We will work to mentor those who need it and support those who don’t need mentoring, like Bob here. If you won’t want to be a part of the community, no worries. If you do, great. Live and let live. I’ve had enough vitriol in my life in the past, so I’m not going to get into a debate with anyone who has no interest in supporting WoVO. No policies have even been set yet, so I find it interesting that some folks have such a big interesting in criticizing something that isn’t even defined. I don’t have that much time. I’m trying to help build something that will serve our community and be a resource for voice actors and consumers of voice actors alike. If you’d like to spend your time trying to tear it down, that’s up to you.
Let’s not “big up our part” here. As a voice, you’re not writing health and safety legislation, you’re just reading words. You are the messenger, not the originator.
You won’t become successful by having an acceptable noise floor, any more than GM succeeded (where other manufacturers failed) because they had well-designed head rests. Part of the requirements for a motor manufacturer concerns safety, and some may seek to make a virtue out of it, but actual success comes from knowing what the customer wants and then delivering. It’s about a flair for business, and a talent for knowing and/or predicting what’s needed or wanted.
In the case of Wovo, there is an attempt to legislate what just doesn’t need legislation. No-one will die if my ambient noise level is above -40dB. (In a very few cases, people might die if the Health & Safety SME who wrote the script gets it wrong – but no amount of well-intended legislation from Son of SaVoa will capture that.)
If the aim is to spare these poor voice seekers the trauma of having to wade through 750 auditions of poor quality, then how exactly will that be achieved? As things stand, WoVO will not attempt to stop non-members submitting material to a pay to play site – so the substandard material from which you wish to “save” people (give me strength) will still be there. So here’s the worrying bit – presumably, the aim MUST be to recruit so many members that accreditation becomes a must-have, rather than an option. If the organisation doesn’t achieve critical mass, it is doomed to be every bit as pointless as its predecessor.
To answer Dustin’s point, I am criticising something that isn’t defined, because I don’t believe that the something should exist. I’m really not interested in the definition, because I’m profoundly opposed to its being established in the first place. Is this really such a hard notion to grasp? Once again, I don’t want someone else imposing their concept of good and bad, right and wrong, onto the business across the board.
Getting on in this business and finding success is not about “community,” it’s about intelligence, determination, hard work, learning from your mistakes, cultivating contacts, getting your pricing right, pleasing the customer, winning repeat business, sometimes working around the shortcomings of the script, marketing and promotion, treating people fairly, and many, many other facets. And it takes years in most cases. You cannot gain ANY of that by membership of Rotary, the Freemasons, the Church, a trade union, or the new SaVoa.
You will not succeed in this business because your tech standards pass muster (although they should, of course.) Nor will you succeed because a few people (who may or may not actually be any good themselves) are prepared to share some of their wisdom with you. You will succeed because you have the right combination of talent and determination. It really is that simple, and to some, that unpalatable. So here’s a word from someone who is successful in the business – demonstrably so. (That’s me. Please forgive the immodesty, but clearly, bona fides is important around here.)
Don’t talk “community.”
Think “business.”
Good luck. If you succeed, it’s because you’re good, perhaps even very good, at a whole range of skills.
Phil, I am happy that you, like many of us, are successful in your work through your personal investment in cultivating your voiceover business.
I know what it is like to work in a market without connection to a community, as that is how I started here in Istanbul, Turkey. For the first couple of years apart from my then agent, and a few connections, I got going on my own. Most of the time I was recording in the early days no one could support me as my ability to communicate in Turkish with the people producing my work was severely limited.
Still, I made it.
Then I started to make international connections, and am pleased to be part of the international voiceover community which from your perspective doesn’t exist. I’m sorry you persist in denying this, as it prevents you from seeing the wider picture, and makes it impossible for you to conceptualise what WoVo might achieve. The simple fact is there is a community, and this excellent blog on which we are discussing the issue is one aspect of it.
It’s also time to separate WoVo entirely in our minds from SaVoa. WoVo is a new beginning and will develop with the collective wisdom of today’s community, which inevitably is going to shape a unique organisation.
I understand people’s wariness about technical standards – whether they’ll set the bar high enough / what do they really mean / what if I can do better… etc
However there are a few important points here:
– first, this is not about legislation – it’s a base mark, a reference point, for some a goal
– second, it’s under discussion… want to see different categories / level which might better reflect your capabilities: suggest them! Give your positve input about what such an organisation (which is going to exist whether you like it or not) should be.
– third, as I see it, standardisation is only one small part of what WoVo will be. Granted SaVoa only had this to offer… but as we have seen those behind WoVo wanted, but were prevented, from doing more. In fact other things, such as “VoiceOver Month” – a PR drive – were initiated outside of that organisation.
I’m not familiar with your local situation, but I guess you have a local Chamber of Commerce (or whatever the similar organisation is in the US). It represents and supports independent businesses through many different types of activity, maybe assisting some members to get appropriate standards accrediation, training, networking opportunities, help with Public Relations, advice, business mentoring etc etc. In fact it develops a type of community.
Probably you don’t belong to the Chamber – it’s not your thing – but as a business entrepreneur if you wish you can join them and get some benefits. Sticking my neck out, I’m going to wager that you haven’t ever suggested that the Chamber of Commerce in your locality, or in any of the cities around the world where it exists should give up and leave the business world alone. And yet they are affecting your business directly through lobbying politicians, connecting other business people…
This is “thinking business”. This is what WoVo can do for voiceover.
If you don’t support the idea of such a business related organisation as WoVo, that’s entirely up to you. We’ve heard you. Please don’t take the moment away from those of us who believe that it can make a positive difference to perception of the industry… it’s not going to hurt you, afterall. Back to the Chamber example, many businesses continue to thrive without a connection to that organisation.
Continue to trust in yourself, as will each of us in our individual voiceover businesses. The community does exist – I am not a figment of your imagination – and a growing part of that community wants too connect through the development of WoVo.
I won’t be saying “I am the greatest because I’m a member of WoVo”… I’ll be saying, “I am the greatest, and I’m proud to have had the support of WoVo, and the community, to help me realise my potential and become that”.
Actually, I probably won’t claim to be “the greatest” because modesty and humility are my greatest strengths.
Andy,
Thank you, sincerely, for your comments – clearly, you’ve thought through the issues and have experiences that, although different from my own, have encouraged me to stop and think about my position.
Chambers of Commerce and the like are not relevant in my business, since virtually none of our work is generated from small businesses who happen to be local to us. It comes primarily from radio stations across the UK and in the Middle East, and from corporate and e-learning producers in the UK whose customers tend to be large organisations.
For the record, I am a Rotarian, but that’s for the fellowship and the chance to do some charitable work, not because it’ll generate business. I’m a deputy warden and lay assistant at my Church (I’m in the UK, by the way, not the US) and as Dad to two small boys, that takes care of my free time!
In our case, advertising, promotion, word of mouth and repeat business have got us where we are, not “belonging.”
I am not against formation of a kind of guild. I’m dead set against the formation of an organisation which has, at its very heart, the determination to impose a standard set of requirements, when clearly such a task is meaningless, can be faked by anyone with a mind to do so, and seems not to be wanted by anyone who actually commissions work.
Additionally, I still say we are not a community. We are a group of individuals (or in some cases, including mine, partnerships) who compete within a market for work. Often, the work is handed to us without any kind of contest taking place, because we’ve won the loyalty of that customer and/or proved our worth. But, by the nature of business, we are in competition with each other.
If governments around the world were holding us to ransom, applying unfair regulation to what we do, if we were repressed or exploited, then it would be appropriate to show strength through unity. We are not in that position.
Community can be found in many places and many styles. Church, clubs, societies… but between business competitors? Well, maybe, and I know I feel a sense of collective interest each year when we attend the UK voiceovers’ annual get-together – but that isn’t a community in the sense that means anything here.
Whatever way you express it, no matter how you sell the benefits to me, I’m still discomforted that a self-appointed, unelected committee will take upon itself the right to speak on behalf of “the industry” or “the community” (same thing in this context) worldwide. Sorry, but no unelected body has the right to speak on my behalf, on any issue.
“World Voices” will, perhaps, mean “World” in the same sense as the “World Series.” As far as I know, no-one outside the US has yet been invited to the executive party – not even if they are from Toronto. So even the name is an irritant, although I’ve no doubt the Rebuttal Unit will shortly advise me that membership is open to all…
So shrugging and walking away isn’t an option. I do actually believe that, although minimal, the potential is there to do some harm to my business. How? Simply by assuming the mantle of representing a “community” that is, at best, just a bunch of people all swimming in the same pond. The concept of “all helping each other” is a wonderful, romantic concept, but in the cut and thrust of business, it’s a myth.
I appreciate that I’m in danger of annoying people if I bang on about this much more, so I think I’d better leave it there. I suspect I’ve nothing new to add. But I want you to know, Andy, that you have made me think very carefully about my position. My view has probably softened just a little, but fundamentally I’m in the same place.
We all have different experiences and perspectives, and that’s one of the things which I love about all this. I’m very aware that although I’m a British ex-pat, I have no experience of being immersed in the British market, since I started my voicing here in Turkey – I have UK clients, but that’s different.
It is certainly true that there are huge cultural differences in approach to work around the world, and hopefully we’ll be learning about some of these in my “International VoiceOvers” panel at VOICE 2012.
I’d suggest that the practicality of forming the World Voice Organisation in the way that it has happened naturally caused the existing group to support each other as the initial board. The fact that they clearly (and I believe honestly) have stated in many places that they are open to contributions suggests that when appropriate there is every probability that will develop into a more international group. Indeed the home page states:
“Yes, the founding members took it upon themselves to elect
each other as the first officers.
We had to start somewhere.
(You can vote us out later. 🙂 ”
There is open documentation about every aspect of the organisation on the WoVo website, with the equally open invitation to constructively criticise this.
I 100% agree with your statement:
“In our case, advertising, promotion, word of mouth and repeat business have got us where we are, not ‘belonging.'”
Unless I’ve missed out on the conspiracy theory this will continue to be true. We as individuals will continue to be the individuals selected (or not) for particular jobs.
I’m pleased that you state:
“I am not against formation of a kind of guild.”
That’s the conversation this blog article asking you to join.
As for:
“I’m dead set against the formation of an organisation which has, at its very heart, the determination to impose a standard set of requirements”
So in the conversation what should a guild be about. WoVo NEEDS YOUR experience and perspective. Your input from a UK based perspective. How else will it be truly relevant to the UK – here’s my challenge to you: If you don’t contribute now, how can you later claim the right to criticise the organisation for being to America-centric?
Final word: check out http://world-voices.org/structure.html which is openly asking for your response to the question (Quote)
“In the meantime, we struggle with
whether WOVO should even consider a subjective,
qualitative assessment of someone’s
TALENT.”
Please take the risk, and suggest what your dream guild would be like … just imagine 🙂
all the best
andy
My take on the debate from the UK POV. I am UK based and almost all of my work comes from UK based clients.
The whole VO industry here is so vastly different from that in the US – Almost all of the top notch work is cast via agents and the celebrity culture is alive and thriving. As I see it, there is a small clique of voice artists getting almost all of the work (aside from that cast via the P2P sites) but things are changing! (Though not always for the better I fear). The proliferation of cheap rate jobs on the P2P sites and the apparent ease with which anyone can sign up for a ten bob training course, buy a microphone and call themselves a ‘professional VO’ is disheartening and depresssing. But that is what is happening – and increasingly here in the UK as well, and at the moment, I feel very little sense that the ‘VO community’ is in charge of its own destiny. You can market all you like, and continue to offer the best quality work and all of that but it is, and will continue to be, tough to make a living in this industry.
As someone who has been around for many years, and who has spent more than 30 years as a full time freelance I believe that I have a lot to bring to WOVO as a business woman, as an actor and narrator, as a sometime voice teacher and as a person with life experience and knowledge. However, I am the first to admit that I am a comparative beginner at this ‘home studio’ lark – and although my editing skills are good, thanks to my TV production background – my audio engineering knowledge and basic knowledge of audio and how it works in the home studio setting, could certainly do with some improvement.
I therefore welcome the opportunity to share my knowledge and glean knowledge from others. I think that only by being involved in something do you have the opportunity to influence it and the choices that are made.
I think that often we Brits are very good at sitting on the fence and then moaning when we don’t like what is happening all around us. Count me in – and I hope that I can help bring a UK perspective to what is, hopefully, going to be an inclusive organisation.
Helen, welcome. It will be a pleasure to know you.
Phil, your last comments to Andy were enlightening. There can’t be a community because we all compete against one another? Phil, you gotta get out more. In a discussion with a rather well known pitcher for the Baltimore Orioles I was told that everyone in the majors knows each other and is friends with each other because they have played together since high school. Yet, they still compete against each other every day, and for stakes that are much higher. There is a sense of community in the major leagues. You obviously don’t feel a part of anything when it comes to other VOs. Sorry to hear that.
I have several friends who are voice overs. (And many who are not.) I have helped many people over the years, with a number of different issues. I don’t have to be “accredited” or join any organisation, or call myself part of a “community” to do those things.
I can see why you relish the prospect of WoVO, and joining it.
The sadness is that you can’t see why I don’t.
So which of us has the narrower view?
I get out quite a lot… and here in Merrie England, footballers from opposing teams are often friends, and they are usually members of the PFA (Professional Footballers’ Association.) This exists to promote their interests, to mediate in disputes, and to offer protection against unfair treatment by club owners.
The PFA doesn’t stipulate how far they need to be able to kick a ball, what height they have to be, or what boots they should wear.
I am enjoying this lively debate!
It actually takes me back to one of the articles I wrote at the end of last year: Finding your value in voice-overs.
In it, I talk about the meaning of the word competition:
Thank god you showed up, Paul. I thought we were going to have to shoot it out at high noon on a dusty street. The voice of reason has arrived.
Fascinating,
As anyone who knows me will attest, I’m about as Conservative and rugged individualist as it comes. And, as my hero, Groucho Marx would say, “I’d never join a club that would have me as a member.” Why then would I believe so strongly in this concept of industry association, a “community,” a group of like minded individuals who think there should be some order to this chaos? Because, as I’ve stated before, this isn’t just “any” community. The obvious enthusiastic response we’ve gotten shows us we have struck a cord with a large majority of like minded people. And people not just from the US, but Australia, Japan, Turkey, Israel, Egypt, The Philippines and The Canary Islands, to name a few. Its been overwhelming. Are there detractors? Of course.
Phil, your points are well taken. No one has appointed themselves anything except enthusiastic supporters of a movement. A movement to, as I said, bring some order to the chaos. If people didn’t step up and do what they believe is right, this world would indeed be more unlivable than it is.
We could state over and over again what our motivations were to risk our reputations on this venture, and the tiny minority will continue to misunderstand, criticize, badger and put down this movement that, from the critiques I’ve read, show a total misreading of what we are proposing. Not a central authority, not the high and mighty, not a governing body, but a community that believes in central ideas that are the core of our business, has a common interest and can benefit from cooperative activity to advance these core ideas.
If you think of our business as a competitive one, you lose. I don’t look at my fellow voice artists as competitors. We are all snowflakes, individuals and unique. We all bring something to the table, a choice for a talent seeker. Most of the time its a matter of simply sounding like what they heard in their head when they created whatever it is they want us to vocalize. If it were a competition, we would know what our competitors sounded like. How many times to we hear the auditions of others? There’s no face to face. What makes us different is our uniqueness. Do I like that anyone can do this? Its irrelevant. The staggering amount of good WORK available makes it so.
I know my competitive advantage is my ability to provide more services to my clients. I audition, I get work, I create a relationship with a client who comes back to the well. If you’re having trouble getting work, its not because there’s too many people doing this. In fact the sheer number of incompetents makes long time professionals sound even better. Is it driving down rates? I see cheap stuff, but I don’t audition for cheap stuff. And if anything, I’m seeing rates going up for what was lower paying work a few years ago. Why? because there are competent people who showed the value of professionalism. Thats what we’re trying to achieve and promote with the formation of World Voices Organization. To show what those professional standards are, who’s achieving them, and creating the institutions to allow newcomers the chance to learn and achieve them.
I understand long time professionals lamenting over what used to be. That was before the Internet. It changed the paradigm. You can’t go back. So you might as well go forward. The new times call for new ideas and new institutions to benefit those sailing the boisterous seas of this new reality.
Yeah, what he said. ; )
One of my favorite quotes is:
“The world we see is a mirror of who we are.”
If a sense of community and comradery is important to us, that’s what we will see, experience and strive for. If it doesn’t mean much to us, we won’t recognize it or seek it out.
Are we colleagues or competitors? Are we isolated or connected? Will a select few impose regulations upon a group, or does the group determine what those guidelines are going to be? Is a voice-over guild relevant or ridiculous?
This Sunday I took part in the annual Walk MS Event. Prior to that, I had raised money for my team, and in the beginning I did it in relative isolation. But as my campaign warmed up, more and more people connected with me on a different level.
This time we were not talking about microphones and voice-over jobs. We were talking about family members and dear friends that had passed away as the result of Multiple Sclerosis. What had started as a one-man fundraiser, became a group of caring individuals with a common cause.
As I was mobilizing my readers to donate, thousands of others in the country were doing the same thing. From time to time, all of us felt like we were on a small island, reaching out to the rest of the world.
On Sunday, everything and everyone came together to walk side by side. All of a sudden we noticed that we were not alone. The sea between the islands turned out to be a sea of people. Young and old, Republican or Democrat, Able bodied or not as able bodied.
What does it take for people to come together like that? They have to care. They have to give a damn. They have to believe in something.
Together we raised millions of dollars to fight a mysterious disease and to create a better life for those suffering from that disease.
And all of that because people who cared, connected.
I apologize for the lateness of this post.
SaVoa is not DEAD NOR GONE
A new valued added service has been launched for SaVoa Artist.
Check it out http://SaVoaVoices.com
Read the FAQ section.
SaVoa “the original and first name in accreditation” pulling ahead.
Thank you for the update, Ed.