Vox Daily

In no particular order, here are the top ten blog posts published at VOX Daily for the year 2006!

This past year has been phenomenal for the voice industry and 2007 promises to bring even more opportunities and highlights for us all.

Since we started blogging in December of 2005, VOX Daily has witnessed and documented dozens of amazing events, stories, interviews, and resources all centric to voiceovers and the entertainment industry.

The following blog posts were selected to represent the best of the best this year from the files at VOX Daily.

Sara Mendes da Costa, The Voice of Time

Recently, Sara Mendes da Costa of Brighton in the UK was chosen out of nearly 18,500 candidates to become the voice of time for British Telecom's Speaking Clock.

Pat Fraley's ADR Adventure at Disney

I'd like to share my day working at Disney on the upcoming film, Wild Hogs, starring Tim Allen, Martin Lawrence, John Travolta, and William H. Macy. I arrived at the huge, comfortable and famous Stage B at Disney Studios...

Kari Wahlgren Interview

An extraordinary voice actor and wonderful person to boot, this conversation with voice actress Kari Wahlgren is sure to win the hearts of all voice acting fans and talent alike.

David Houston's Getting Started in Voiceovers Part I and II

I’m increasingly presented with the question: “How can I get into doing voiceovers?” or “what’s your advice on getting started?” I’ll do my best to sum up my answers to these questions here...

The ABCs of Voiceover

Ever wondered how to interpret voiceover jargon? Get the lingo down with the help of this handy Glossary of voiceover terms provided by Voice Cat Marc Cashman.

LibriVox: An audio homage to the written word

Looking for a way to build your portfolio? Consider volunteering your talents and record audiobooks at LibriVox.org.

Voice Actor Blogs on the Rise

If one has been observing the trends in the blogosphere, its easy to recognize that voice actors have unique voices, both behind the microphone and in their daily observations.

The Psychology Behind Custom Demos

In audition situations, talent who submit custom demos are usually rewarded with extra attention from clients receiving the auditions. While this may seem obvious, the psychology behind the submission and reception of custom demos is highly overlooked...

How do you keep your voice healthy?

When it comes to treating physical ailments that affect your voice, what are your favorite remedies?

Susan Eichhorn, a widely respected Canadian singing teacher and musical theatre coach now based in midtown Manhattan in New York City, suggested...

From Singer to Voice Talent: Making the Transition

Same instrument, different way of using it! Learn how to go from singing to speaking. Many voice talent start their careers in music, particularly as classically trained singers.

Feel free to comment on these stories or reminisce about your favorite posts at VOX Daily for the year 2006.

Wishing you and yours a blessed, healthy and joyous 2007 :)

Stephanie

Did you know that the scripts are now available?

The Voices.com Radio and Television Commercial Scripts package provides you with a library of 50 original, professionally written scripts from a variety of industries including automotive, retail, home and garden, real estate, financial services, education, and more.

Each script in this package comes fully assembled with casting suggestions, direction, music, and sound effect ideas.

You can easily customize these royalty-free scripts for your clients by changing the name of a company or product. It's really that easy!

Best of all, you can download your Radio and Television Scripts (PDF) immediately after purchasing.

Does this sound like something that you could make use of at your studio?

Click here to learn more about the scripts and to view samples from the package.

Best,

Stephanie

The Voiceover Dynamic Duo, a real husband and wife voiceover team, bring authentic chemistry to voiceovers, winning “Best Production” and “Best in Show” at the 2006 Electronic Media Awards.

The Voiceover Dynamic Duo, otherwise known as Jessica Gee-George and Grant George, was formed over four years ago, bonded with an engagement and sealed with a marriage certificate.

Their nuptial vows declared their love for each other and also merged their voiceover businesses with pleasure, launching them on a lifelong journey of discovering their love and professional admiration of each other.

The couple has found that booking jobs as a husband and wife team brings out a chemistry and synergy that can only come from two people who are intimately connected, sharing the same vision, dreams, and at times, the same brain.

When interviewed, Jessica revealed that this special connection has enabled them to anticipate and play off of each others talents simply because they are both aware of certain quirks, patterns, humor, beats and the spontaneity of their spouse.

The bond of their relationship as a husband-wife voiceover team has propelled their business partnership and prospects as well. Jessica and Grant work together frequently on commercials, ADR, cartoons, walla sessions, narration, video games, anime projects, promos and trailers. Their voice over sessions together can go from interacting as two cute, lovable Care Bears to head-to-head voice acting combat as arch rivals in videogames.

Their website, DynamicDuoVO.com showcases Grant and Jessica’s voiceover work, ranging from the boyish husband and sarcastic wife, warriors for the most popular video games in the industry, touting top financial strategies, and even singing lullabies as adorable creatures that have won the hearts of children worldwide.

Literally voicing everything in between, the happily married ‘Dynamic Duo’ is a force to be reckoned with and a one-stop shop covering a wide spectrum of award-winning voiceovers. This year, Jessica and Grant voiced some spots for the Golden Eagle Casino that won two awards at the 2006 Electronic Media Awards.

Jessica and Grant have phenomenal talent as individuals. When they work together, their chemistry is sublime. Jessica and Grant’s dedication to each other as both husband and wife and as business partners is something to celebrate.

Coming soon, the voices of the Dynamic Duo will be heard in ‘Fly Me To The Moon’, a 3-D animated feature film and also ‘The Land Before Time’, both slated for release in 2007.

When you have a quick question or are researching something, what do you do and where do you do it?

Search engines play a vital role in how we as a people find answers to our questions.

If you need to know the score for a sports game, it's online.

If you are digging up a recipe that turns all of your leftover turkey into a gourmet delight, you'll find it online.

When you are planning a trip and need to sort out flights, accommodations, restaurants, and rental cars, the information that you need is only a search query away.

Locating people with shared interests has also been simplified, eliminating traditional barriers such as location, language, and in some cases, time.

Searching for what you are looking for is as easy as visiting a search engine website, typing in your question or keywords into the search bar and clicking on the search button.

Social networking sites such as LinkedIn, MySpace, and Second Life have found their own niches, connecting people with similar interests and creating meeting spaces for people around the world who use the web as their primary location for gathering and collaborating as a community.

If you are a knitter, there are groups of knitters just waiting for new members.

If you are a farmer and feel isolated out on the prairies, farmers in your region or across the nation are chomping at the bit to start chatting about the weather, crops, and livestock.

If you're a parent with young kids, there are literally tens of thousands of support groups, health advice columns (for Dr. Mom or Dr. Dad), and websites with creative ideas to keep little hands busy and your sanity intact.

While most of us have discovered the immense wealth and accessibility that search engines bring to our everyday lives, many of us have yet to explore how search can improve our careers, training opportunities, and locating those with similar skills.

Think back to the first time you visited Voices.com (or, if you've known us longer, InteractiveVoices).

How did you find us?

The majority of our members and customers have found us through search engine results.

At some point, a question had formed, percolated, and was typed into a search engine, presenting Voices.com as the search result that best met the needs and answered the question presented initially to the search engine.

Search engines that bring the most traffic to Voices.com include:

• Google
• Yahoo!
• MSN
• Ask

To illustrate, some of the questions that lead people to Voices.com are:

1. How do I get started in voice overs?
2. What are standard rates for the voice industry?
3. Where do I find voices?
4. How do I find voice over work?
5. How do I get an agent?

Sometimes you'll have questions that are more specific to your location, in which case, it's best that you perform a search via a search engine.

Here are some examples of questions that can be answered by a search engine:

1. Are there voice coaches in New York?
2. Does such and such agency have a rep in Springfield?
3. I need to record my demo. Where is the nearest recording studio to my home (for our purposes, Vancouver)?

Search engines are truly marvelous tools that help bring information to your fingertips.

Check out this search query I just performed on Google for Voice acting techniques:

On any given day, we provide answers to hundreds of questions about the voice industry which we are able to answer via our FAQs, tutorials, blogs, LiveChat, email, Customer Care, or by telephone.

So, now that we've chatted a bit about search engines and how they can be used, we want to know which search engine you like best!

Leave a comment citing your favorite search engine and why you prefer to use it.

Happy holidays gang,

Stephanie

It's 2006. The iPhone is out is so is the latest from Buckingham Palace... Queen Elizabeth's Christmas Podcast!

What's the latest report from the House of Windsor?

A Merry Christmas to all delivered through a podcast!

Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom is podcasting her Christmas message to the world at 1500 GMT (Greenwich Mean Time) on Christmas Day, coinciding with her live Christmas address on television and radio.

Queen Elizabeth recorded her official Christmas message earlier this month for the podcast, ensuring that you will be able to subscribe ahead of time and receive the MP3 message as it happens in tandem with the live broadcast scheduled for Christmas Day.

To learn more about Queen Elizabeth's Christmas podcast and subscribe via iTunes, click here.

Merry Christmas :)

Stephanie

P.S. To learn more about the monarchy, visit the official website of the British royal family.

A Christmas Card from the team :) If you've ever wondered what we look like, find out here.

We just got back from a fabulous lunch at the Windermere Manor. I personally think I had too much chocolate, but at Christmas, is there such a thing as that?

The new year promises to bring lots of exciting adventures for the voice industry, Voices.com and for you.

Oh yes... the recipes are now available!

Thank you to everyone who submitted their desserts, including Andrew Gilmore, Adam Fox, Bobbin Beam, Kara Edwards, Amy Snively, Liz de Nesnera, Dave Temple, Bettye Zoller, Donna Papacosta, and Linda Rogas.

From our families to yours, Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy 2007!

Best wishes,

David, Stephanie, Carol, Laurynda, and Jay

Audio entertainer and game developer, Philip Bennefall of Sweden, packs a powerful punch with a combination of development, production, and voiceover services.

Philip Bennefall’s voice over career began with the voicing of four roles in the CD-ROM “Dinas-World”, or in Swedish, "Dinas Värld” a project for Save the Children in Sweden. Dinas-World is a production that identifies the different rights that children possess in the form of an animated series.

Having nurtured a love for voice acting from an early age, Philip’s transition into voiceovers and signing up with Voices.com was natural and proved complementary to his background in the gaming industry.

A game developer by trade, Philip has expertise in many facets of production, including developing games for the visually impaired, coupling those projects with impeccable sound effects and voiceover performances.

When interviewed recently, Philip revealed that it is vital that games created for the visually impaired are produced in a quality and professional manner, paying special attention to sound effects and voice acting.

Philip’s favorite voice acting pastimes consist of performing character voices, including a perfect imitation of Donald Duck, a beloved character of Disney fame.

As a singer and a composing hobbyist, Philip has hundreds of VST and Direct X effects in his library and makes use of his skills as a producer by modifying and expanding his vocal range using voice changing, filtering and enhancing technologies. Some of Philip’s character voice roles comprise of computer voices, robot voices, and voices for both heroic characters and those of a darker nature.

Recently, Philip Bennefall started developing his own audio drama productions, featuring material from the horror and thriller genres. Philip will serve as director, audio producer, and casting director for the dramas, voicing minor roles in select productions himself.

The most challenging aspect of this endeavor is that Philip’s voice actors are internationally based, however, with today’s technology, Philip can overcome those obstacles and produce first-class content, regardless of location.

Ever had to produce a commercial and didn't know where to start?

We're about to release our new collection of commercial advertising scripts to the public!

For those of you who don't have commercial scripts to work from when producing ads and would like some material on hand, I have a perfect solution and a gift for you.

All it takes is a few minutes of your time, and I assure you, it's time well spent.

Here's the opportunity:

Review our new Commercial scripts package today and keep the royalty-free scripts as our gift to you and your voiceover business!

We'll also include your comments on our website and link to your Voices.com website.

Remember, the majority of people who buy these scripts are ad agencies and corporations. Everyone who buys the scripts will see your name and can click through to learn more about you and your services.

If you'd like a chance to review the script package before it goes on the market, leave a comment on this blog post stating your interest and we'll send you a complimentary script package ASAP.

Looking forward to receiving your feedback and comments.

Cheers,

Stephanie

P.S. Wow! Thank you for all of the interest and to those who participated :) We'll let you know more in a little while. Requests to review the scripts are now officially closed.

Joe Barbera, half of the Hanna-Barbera animation team that produced such beloved cartoon characters as Tom and Jerry, Yogi Bear and the Flintstones, died Monday, a Warner Bros. spokesman said. He was 95.

Last night, I saw a breaking news bulletin from the Grey DeLisle MySpace team announcing that legendary cartoonist Joe Barbera had passed away.

To read more about this story, a detailed obituary is available at Yahoo! News here.

If any of you would like to pay homage to Joe Barbera, you are welcome to leave a comment on this post.

Sincerely,

Stephanie

Find out what happens when Kris Kringle gets in the booth in "The Santa Sessions".

I'd like to thank Bob Barnes for sharing this holiday video produced by Dailey and Associates.

If you can only imagine what a live voice over recording session with Santa would be like, particularly one that doesn't jive so well, you need to watch this video.

Kudos to you Bob - I'm sure jolly old elf impersonators everywhere (and others outside of the red suit) have been in this gentleman's shoes (and have felt his pain)!

Cheers,

Stephanie

* This post has been updated to include the YouTube.com video (December 2nd, 2007)

Enjoy a comical audio presentation of the three kings on their way to Bethlehem, performed by the man of over 4,000 voices, Pat Fraley.

Dear Stephanie and VOX Daily readers,

I'm pleased to share the story of why I made the "Are We There Yet" recording with you at the VOX Daily blog.

Here's the back story:

A few years ago, my pastor, John MacArthur of Grace Community Church wrote a book entitled, "God's Gift of Christmas."

In it, many traditions are explained, and traditions peeled away from Biblical information.

I was struck at just how much tradition had "supplemented" and "fleshed-out" the information on the visitation of the Magi from the Book of Matthew.

I realized that I had been working under a kind of "Hallmark Card School of Theology."

I whipped a little script of these three Magi in the middle of nowhere trying to figure out what they knew and didn't know.

I choose my bad impressions of Sean Connery, James Earl Jones, and Jack Nicholson because they usually amuse friends and family, and, after all, this is Hollywood.

Listen to "Are We There Yet" by clicking on this link.

Merry Christmas, or whatever your tribe celebrates,

Pat Fraley and family

Are you aware of the genocide in Darfur? Dave Christi, a professional voice talent and copywriter is, and he's using everything he's got to help stop it. Will you join him?

Read the interview with Dave Christi, founder of Voices For A Change at VOX Daily.

A couple of days ago, I found an interesting link on Bob Souer's blog that led to Voices For A Change, an organization comprising of professional voice talent that is working towards bringing awareness and an end to one of the worlds most evil atrocities, genocide, particularly, the genocide in the Darfur region of western Sudan.

A genocide literally means that an entire group of people, or, in many cases, the majority of a population, is annihilated without just cause. The motives behind these genocides often revolve around religion, politics and ethnicity with hate as the catalyst.

Merriam-Webster defines genocide as:

The deliberate and systematic destruction of a racial, political, or cultural group

You may recall the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. At the time, Canadian Lieutenant-General Roméo Dallaire was in the then war-torn Rwanda with a UN peacekeeping mission.

While he was there, he heard that there was going to be a genocide. In this country, there are two distinct groups of people, the Hutu people and the Tutsi people, the latter being the minority and also considered the aristocracy.

To give you an extremely brief summary of what happened, the Tutsi people suffered a genocide at the hands of the Hutu while the world turned a blind eye.

Between April 6th and July 16th 1994, over 800,000 Tutsi men, women, and children along with moderate Hutus were slaughtered over a period of 100 days - a massacre which Amnesty International NOW Magazine called a modern Reign of Terror.

I happened to have the opportunity to attend a moving presentation a couple of years ago that screened a documentary about the Rwandan genocide in London. Major Brent Beardsley, who served as the personal staff officer to LGen Roméo Dallaire in Rwanda, was there to share what he saw of the massacre first hand and how if the UN had only continued to provide support to their peacekeepers, the genocide may have been stopped.

Several survivors from the genocide were there and spoke that evening, many of whom were the only living members of their family, letting us as Canadians know how much it meant to them that Roméo Dallaire and his troops did not pull out or abandon them when the United Nations and the rest of the world did.

Roméo Dallaire and his troops defied the UN in order to defend the people of Rwanda, and the battle they fought has made the term genocide very real.

The question Roméo Dallaire asks is "Are all humans human? Or... are some humans more human than others?"

What is going on in Darfur is eerily familiar... it is a genocide.

In our human history, we have seen genocides before Darfur and Rwanda, although, sometimes they are known by other names.

Remember what happened to the Jewish people during World War II?

The Holocaust, as termed by the British government, is a genocide. Millions of Jewish people were brutally murdered by the Nazi regime.

History repeats itself, but as we also know of history, we can learn from it to change the world.

While it is true that not everyone can be at ground zero, there are things that you can still do from home.

When I heard about what Dave Christi had started, my heart broke for the people of Darfur and I wanted to see his purpose and the mission of his colleagues uplifted and shared with you.

I was fortunate to have an interview with Dave earlier this week.

Stephanie: What inspired you to start this project?

Dave Christi: A while ago, I happened upon an article online about a recent trip that a celebrity had taken to Darfur. Then another person on another trip. Then another and another. I wondered, "What's going on in Darfur?" I always knew that there were problems in Africa, but I never knew to what extent. A quick Google search later, I found information on SaveDarfur.org.

I was horrified. Not just by the atrocities happening there, but by my own ignorance of the gravity of the situation. I couldn't figure out why I hadn't heard more about this on CNN or MSNBC or CBS.

Through SaveDarfur.org, I petitioned my congressman and signed the petition to President Bush, etc., but I didn't feel like I was doing enough. I don't have sacks of cash lying around, so I decided to donate my talents as a voiceover artist and copywriter. Then, I figured there may be one or two other voiceover talents that would like to contribute in the same way.

Stephanie: Do you offer services to charitable organizations directly, or do they need to find you first and ask?

Dave: The Voices for a Change website and concept are all still in their infancy. My vision is to offer voiceover services to non-profits that may need a PSA read, or a presentation narrated.

Also, since I am a writer, I am putting together a series of PSAs for radio. As far as I can tell, there is a serious LACK of media coverage of this genocide. I'll be contacting Amnesty International, The Save Darfur Coalition, BeAWitness.org and ask them what Voices For A Change can do to help.

Stephanie: How many people are involved with the project?

Dave: This is the truly amazing part. I made this project public when I had the first PSA script written. That was on Monday, December 11. Just a few days later and I have over 20 voiceover talents who have helped on the PSA and many more that have expressed an interest in donating their voices for future projects.

I am now looking for others that can help with the administration of Voices for a Change.

Stephanie: Do you have a mission statement?

Dave: Not an official statement, but the mission is 3-fold:

1. - Donating voiceover work to non-profits who raise money/awareness for the crisis in Darfur.

2. - Drive website traffic through VoicesforAChange.org to sites that accept donations.

3. - Creating effective PSA's to distribute to radio stations to help raise public awareness of the crisis in Darfur.

Stephanie: Do you have a blog to promote your project?

Dave: The entire website (VoicesForAChange.org) is setup on WordPress blogger software. I found this the easiest way to organize the fluid content of the site. So, yes, a blog is in place.

Stephanie: What is the demand for a service like Voices for a Change?

Dave: I feel the demand could be quite great. Like any "for-profit" business, charities need to market themselves. This means they need voice work. UNLIKE a "for-profit" business, charities don't have large marketing budgets. Every penny they have to spend is one less penny that goes toward their cause. If an organization like Voices for a Change can lower their bottom line just a bit, I feel like we've been successful.

Stephanie: What does a typical client of your service look like?

Dave: Right now there is just one focus. Darfur. I am running Voices for a Change as a one man show right now. If I'm successful with charities that help Darfur, then I'd like to expand to domestic children's charities like St. Jude or Make a Wish.

Stephanie: Do you have a case study on hand that people could relate to?

Dave: The only case study I have right now is my own. The abuse of human rights in Darfur as been going on since 2003. Why was I unaware until the end of 2006? Why is it that my local and national media saw fit to educate me on every tedious detail of TomKat's relationship, yet the stories of the suffering of the Darfuri people go unaired and unpublished?

Stephanie: How would someone go about getting a talent to record their message? Can clients pick their preferred voice from your base of volunteer talent or do talent view opportunities and respond if interested?

Dave: Right now I am collecting names of those interested in donating and I'm still researching charities that would need work done. Come to think of it, Voices.com has a lot of experience in getting voices and people who need voices together. Hmm, maybe I should ask THEIR advice on how this should be handled. ;-)

Stephanie: What qualifies to be recorded for free through your service? Are there any restrictions?

Dave: I want to ensure that the charities that use Voices for a Change are legitimate. In the US, that would simply mean faxing a copy of their 501(c)(3) to us before they would be given access to our services. The other requirement is that their charitable efforts go toward delivering relief to, raising public awareness for, and encouraging media and government response for the genocide in Darfur.

Stephanie: How can people get involved?

Dave: Even those who do not wish to donate their voices may still help the people of Darfur. Talk to your congressman. Talk to your local media. Talk to your friends. BeAWitness.org said it very well; "You can't stop a genocide if you don't know about it."

Stephanie: Thank you Dave for your time and for sharing this mission with us at Voices.com.

Dave: Thank you for the opportunity.

For more information, visit VoicesForAChange.org.

Sincerely,

Stephanie

As Don Cherry would say, "What a beauty!". Fred Cusick has become a living legend in the history books of the Original Six Boston Bruins Hockey Club.

Boston Bruin fans who tuned in on TV between the years of 1971 and 1997 will crack a smile when they see this.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Fred Cusick, he is officially the first American broadcaster to be inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame as a media honoree in 1984, recognizing his 44 years of on-ice radio and television play-by-play announcing.

Recently, Fred wrote an in-depth autobiography spanning his career and love of the game, aptly titled, Fred Cusick, Voice of the Bruins.

To learn more about this broadcasting treasure and his recent book release, visit the BostonBruins.com website.

There's also an exclusive interview with Fred Cusick and BostonBruins.com student correspondent Joe Beare for your reading pleasure.

Cheers,

Stephanie

P.S. Available at Amazon.com, this book could be a great gift for any Bruins fan or broadcaster.

If you haven't sent in your holiday dessert recipe yet, there are only 24 hours left! Have your cake and eat it too at Voices.com this holiday season :)

That's right, it's almost time for me to put on my publishers hat and get these delectable recipes for the holiday season packaged with a ribbon on top for clients who will download their free gift from Voices.com.

So far, we've had a good response, but it could be even greater with your help!

Why participate?

Each voice talent who submits their favorite holiday recipe for this promotion will receive:

• A link to their Voices.com website
• A 15 word or less description of their voice included with their recipe
• Acknowledgment via a news release
• Be mentioned in a special blog post
• Free publicity and a unique 'in' with clients worldwide

This sounds too good to pass up, doesn't it?

All this publicity just for sharing a recipe and some holiday cheer with the world. Not bad :)

Ladies and gents, you can go about submitting your recipe one of two ways:

1. You can leave a comment on the blog
2. You can email me with your recipe for inclusion (stephanie@voices.com)

The recipes will be available online until January 6th, 2007.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

Stephanie

P.S. I'll be editing this weekend - hope to see you in the eBook!

Do you live in Mount Pleasant, Michigan? If you do (or are nearby), help make a child's Christmas brighter and drop off a toy for the Toys for Tots drive.

'Tis the season to give and be charitable.

Radio personality Tina Sawyer from 95.3 WCFX in Mount Pleasant, Michigan and her team will be "Camping Out For Kids" this week, acting as Santa's helpers for the children of Mount Pleasant.

Tina said it best:

CFX will be live 24 hours on the corner of Preston and Mission in Mt. Pleasant! Thursday starting at 6am "Camping Out For Kids" and trying to fill our travel trailer with toys for Toys For Tots. We'll be there until 9am Friday morning. Please stop by with just one new unwrapped toy if you can...or if you can bring more, that'd be even more super!! You'll find us right across the street from Walgreen's and kitty-corner to Embers Restaurant. PLEASE stop out!

Tina

If you can't make it, there is a list of other drop off locations where you can deliver your unwrapped toys for Toys for Tots.

What a great way to help spread some holiday cheer!

So, let's recap:

What: Camping Out For Kids toy drive for Toys for Tots
Who: 95.3 WCFX Crew with Tina Sawyer
When: Thursday December 14th at 6 a.m. to Friday December 15th at 9 a.m.
Where: The corner of Preston and Mission in Mount Pleasant, Michigan

Best,

Stephanie

Voices.com and Google Audio Ads stir up some controversy at Michael Arrington's blog TechCrunch.

Does the name Michael Arrington or the word TechCrunch ring a bell?

Well, Voices.com got "TechCrunched" last night.

If you are unfamiliar with TechCruch, it is a blog run by Michael Arrington that is regarded as 'the blog to get on' if you are in the technology or Web 2.0 community.

TechCrunch is read by tens of thousands of people and their blog often plays a role in introducing startups to investment firms. Being 'TechCrunched' also generates a lot of buzz and traffic for websites, so you can imagine how exciting this opportunity has been for Voices.com as a whole.

David blogged about what he thinks about the new Google Audio Ads platform and how it will contribute to raise awareness for production and creative elements.

Click here to read the TechCrunched post at The Biz blog.

Best,

Stephanie

A look back at the voices who have made Christmas television programming a national treasure and part of family holiday traditions over the years.

It's the time of year when prime time television is decked out with the holly and the ivy, visions of sugarplums, and the jingle of sleigh bells.

Quite a few of the programs are geared at children, and by virtue of that fact, the majority of shows are animated cartoons, stop motion, or classics from days or yore in the style of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer or Frosty the Snowman.

Would Christmas be the same without Boris Karloff and his rendition of Dr. Seuss' tale How the Grinch Stole Christmas or June Foray's voice work as Aaron's mother in The Little Drummer Boy or as the heartbreakingly adorable Cindy Lou Who?

Some of these greats have eclipsed forty years of service, including the Peanuts characters in A Charlie Brown Christmas, commemorated above in a puzzle celebrating the program's Ruby Anniversary milestone.

If your voice has been immortalized as a character for the holiday season, leave a comment and let us know which shows you were in, the character(s) you voiced, and any special memories created by that role for you over the years.

Best,

Stephanie

P.S. If you have a favorite character from Christmas specials of your childhood or from the present, don't be shy - let the voice actors know and show your appreciation by leaving a comment - you never know who may be reading this blog :)

Are you baking already for the holiday season? If you have a favorite recipe that you'd like to share, leave it as a comment here on the VOX Daily blog and get some extra publicity for your voice.

Yesterday, we brought some gingerbread cookies that I had baked to the office. It was nice to have some Christmas cheer a bit early, and the cookies were very well received!

Jay liked them so much that he asked me for the recipe.

While I was emailing the recipe to him, it struck me that perhaps you too would like to make gingerbread cookies, or at perhaps find out what Voices.com gingerbread cookies are like.

I got the recipe from Fine Cooking magazine. I bought it last year when I was taking my first stab at gingerbread and Christmas baking in general to prepare for a party we were hosting.

Without further adieu, here is the recipe that rocked the office this week:

Gingerbread Cookies
Yields about 3 dozen 4-inch tall gingerbread people

14 1/2 oz. (3 cups plus 2 Tbs) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
2 tsp. ground ginger
1 tsp. baking soda (I used baking powder instead...)
1/2 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. table salt
3/4 lb. (1 1/2 cups) unsalted butter, softened at room temperature
1 cup very firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses (fancy or cooking molasses is fine)
1 large egg

1. Sift together the flour, cinnamon, ginger, baking soda, cloves and salt.

2. Using a stand alone mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and molasses on medium until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes.

3. Beat in the egg until thoroughly combined. Scrape the bowl with a rubber spatula.

4. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the flour until blended.

5. Divide the dough, wrap each half in plastic (saran wrap is fine) and chill for about 1 hour until firm enough to roll (overnight is OK too).

6. Position on a rack in the center of the oven; heat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

7. Lay each piece of dough between two long sheets of parchment or wax paper. If the dough is very firm, let it sit until it becomes pliable (or, easily rolled).

8. Roll it to about 1/8 inch thick - be sure that they are at least that thick to prevent flatness and burning :)

9. Peel off the top layer of paper and cut out cookies with a cookie cutter.

10. Put the sheet of dough into the freezer for a few minutes until the dough firms enough to easily transfer the cutouts to un-greased cookie sheets (space them about 2 inches apart).

11. Gather and re-roll the scraps.

12. Bake until the edges are golden brown, 10 to 12 minutes. (I advise that you stay closer to 10 and keep a close eye on them).

Let cool on the sheet for 1 minute before transferring the cookies to a rack to cool.

The cookies can be stored in an airtight container for three or four days.

~~

Do you have a favorite recipe that you would like to share with us?

Leave a comment on the blog and detail your favorite recipe, or send it to me via email. We'll compile the recipes and make them available just in time for the holidays.

As a gift to you, we'll include a brief (15 words or less) description of your voice and link to your Voices.com website from your recipe listing. This document will be available for clients to download as well as your colleagues and visitors to the site.

Happy baking!

Stephanie

P.S. A press release will follow to help promote the project. Your name may appear in the press release, but you've got to send in your recipe and soon - time is ticking - gett'em to me by the end of this week (send in by December 15th)!

Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!

Let me tell you, we really feel for the folks on the west coast!

Overnight, we were hit with the same snow storm that the other side of the country had earlier this past week.

There was literally 3 feet of snow - now, that's up to your waist snow for those who measure in other units :)

To give you a picture of what a southwestern Ontario snow day consists of, here's a picture for you:

• All schools are closed
• The University of Western Ontario is closed
• Fanshawe College is closed
• City buses are not running
• Snow plows don't make it out to the suburbs

Suffice to say, if you don't have a shovel or a plow on your street, you aren't going anywhere.

Well, do you know what the first email we received this morning was?

Jay from our client sales department emailed letting us know that he was snowed in and that he was ready to start working from home.

Laurynda is also working from home.

Carol is working from home.

David and I are working from home.

In fact, when we called Jay at 8:15 this morning, he had already started working before he emailed us.

Laurynda had also started early and is serving customers by email and web as we speak. Perhaps you've already been in contact with Laurynda today.

Bottom line:

Come sleet, or rain, or snow, or sun, Voices.com will still operate to serve you to the best of our abilities. We're dedicated, inspired, and are passionate about what we do, and we do it for you :)

This snow storm, or as we call it here, snow day, has given us the opportunity to show you how dedicated we are.

Jobs are still being posted and approved, support questions are being answered, blog posts are being written, and the ideas, yes, the ideas through all this whiteness keep coming like wildfire in the night on how to make this the best web service for you.

Are any of you snowed in? It isn't just London, ON that got a whammy this morning, that's for sure.

If you're homebound today, have the kids home for company, or somehow managed to brave the elements and are at work, leave a comment.

Gotta grab my hot chocolate - see you throughout the day.

Stephanie

Ever wondered what you can do to find an agent?

This has got to be one of the most popular questions that is asked of us by voice talent, both new and established.

The question is "How do I find an agent?"

Well, the answer to that question has remained a bit of an enigma - that is, until today.

Patty Lerma asked the Voice Cat a question that has unlocked the secrets of how to go about finding an agent, communicating with agencies, and what to look for in an agent.

It's so comprehensive, we decided to give it a separate blog post on the Voice Cat blog in addition to the first post that answered Patty's question.

If you've been wondering about this very same area of the biz, I invite you to read Marc Cashman's post on How to Find an Agent at Ask the Voice Cat. It's a treasure trove, truly.

Cheers,

Stephanie

Donna Papacosta exchanged a few words with voiceover star Joe Cipriano about voiceovers - 23 minutes of words to be exact! To learn more about this podcast, read on.

If you've been hanging around the Apple site, you probably realized that Joe Cipriano is now their podcasting poster boy.

While many who get to know him now through Apple may see him as a podcasting pro, the voiceover industry knows Joe as one of the world's most in demand voiceover talents.

Joe is heard on television sets in households everywhere with his recognizable style doing promos for Fox, NBC, and CBS among other stations.

I'll turn it over to Donna to describe her interview with Joe :)

In our discussion, Joe shares some of his tips for using a microphone properly, for keeping the vocal cords healthy, and for being a success in the voiceover business (it’s all about relationships, says Joe modestly).

Whether you're a podcaster or an aspiring voiceover artist, you can learn from Joe (who happens to be a really nice guy, I may add). Be sure to watch Joe in the Apple Podcast Recipe tutorial.

You can grab the 23-minute podcast on the Trafcom News Podcast page and read the shownotes there.

Thanks again to Joe for being so generous with his time!

A big thank you to Donna for sharing her news with me and for thinking of you, our readers.

Best,

Stephanie

P.S. Joe Cipriano is also the live announcer for the Grammys, for the Emmys and is also a member of the Primetime Voices crew.

P.P.S. For those of you who love blogs, you can read Joe's blog at his website, joecipriano.com.

Leesa Barnes has just come out with her very own Top Ten Ladies of Podcasting list called "Top Ten Savvy Women in Podcasting" for 2006. Wanna see who made it on the list?

Our good friend down the 401 in Toronto, podcaster and media guru Leesa Barnes, has just come out with her kudos list for female podcasters, recognizing the most influential ladies behind the mic (and on-camera) on the podcasting scene in 2006.

One of our readers, Donna Papacosta from Trafcom.com made the list - congrats, Donna!

A few of other ladies on the list include television / podcasting trailblazers Amber MacArthur, Joanne Colan, and Amanda Congdon.

To find out who rounded out the Top 10, visit Leesa's blog entry here:

Top 10 Savvy Women in Podcasting

Congratulations to the First Ladies of RSS :)

Best,

Stephanie

Help this York University Masters student score big on his thesis - it's all about voice actors and animators.

This afternoon, I came across some thesis material by Mark Mayerson, a professor at Sheridan College, who was preparing to present his masters thesis "The Collaborative Nature of Animated Acting".

Before he presented his masters thesis at a graduate symposium in late November, he made the basis of his thesis available on his blog to gather feedback, comments, and any insights that people may have before he submits it to York University in Toronto.

To quote, Mark wrote this:

I'm making a presentation about my masters thesis this week at a graduate symposium at York University. Below is the basis for what my thesis will be when I finish my research and start writing it in December. I've already written a bit about this subject, but this is the longest and most organized piece I've done about it to date. I know that the things I'm writing about vary based on time period, studio, director, etc. but fundamentally, there's far more collaboration in an animated performance than in a live action one. Whether you agree or disagree, feel free to leave comments.

So far, there are ten comments including one from yours truly.

I was fascinated by the topic and knew that I had to let you in on this before Mark's paper reaches the presses without your voice acting insight :)

Well, what do you think?

Read Mark's blog post and leave him a comment to help shape his masters thesis.

Best,

Stephanie

If we were to run a tele-class, would you dial in?

To be quite honest, we've been thinking about this for a long time and the demand for us to host a tele-class (or series of classes) continues to grow more and more enthusiastic.

Would you be interested in attending a Voices.com tele-class?

To start out, we would entertain the topic of how to interpret voice over copy and bring originality to your performances, touching on several techniques to help bring out vocal nuances within the copy and to help define your personal voice over style.

Many teachers across the continent are broadcasting their classes over the telephone, so there must be something to it :)

Providing this tele-class would be like bridging the north, south, east, and west of voiceover.

Sounds pretty nifty, doesn't it?

If you think this would be a great idea (and also one that you would enjoy participating in), you are invited to leave a comment for us on the blog to convey your interest.

Cheers,

Stephanie

P.S. If you've attended a tele-class, share your thoughts about how effective you thought the tele-class was. Your feedback is valued and welcomed.

Who would have ever thought that an animated feature film would beat out a James Bond flick at the box office... for several consecutive weeks?

You may have noticed that a dancing penguin has doe see doed around Casino Royale, not even letting the new James Bond (Daniel Craig) savor one week of box office victory.

Happy Feet was the top movie at the box office for a third straight weekend earning an estimated $17 million. The animated singing penguin movie has now earned $121 million and continues to thrive while Casino Royale has been the runner-up for the third week in a row, raking in $115 million over the duration.

Happy Feet, an animated film starring the voice talents of Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Brittany Murphy, and Hugo Weaving is a tale about Emperor Penguins in the Antarctic who meet their mates through song.

However, one penguin, Mumble (Wood), is born without a singing voice and has to tap dance his way through life instead of singing for his supper.

Now, what makes Happy Feet so special?

First off, the cast is full of Hollywood voice talent. Their names alone have stirred a buzz and encouraged people to come to the cinema.

Secondly, the concept of a penguin who cannot sing but can tap dance is hilarious in itself. Overcoming obstacles in life, even as a penguin, is also enticing.

Thirdly, the visuals were beautifully executed. A stunning masterpiece for the eyes and ears.

Have you seen Happy Feet?

Leave your review and fave characters from the film in your comment.

Best,

Stephanie

P.S. Something to note: the late Steve Irwin (Australian Crocodile Hunter) also played a role in making this film tap dance to success. He voiced the character Kev. I believe that the film is also a tribute to him and his love of all creatures, great and small.

Ever been to an Anime Con? Whether you went as a fan or a featured voice actor, we want to hear about your experiences.

Yesterday, I was updating our Profile on MySpace and noticed that several of our friends are anime voice actors, including Kyle Hebert.

Interestingly enough, a couple of weeks ago there was an anime con, Anime USA Convention, and one of my MySpace friends, Crispin Freeman, was mentioned as having attended the conference with several of his colleagues and cast mates.

You can read more from Toon Zone's account of the Anime USA Convention here.

I myself have a vague idea of what these conventions consist of.

I understand that fans often come to the conventions and dress up as their favorite characters and celebrity voice actors make appearances throughout the weekend convention.

Come to think of it, I believe there was an Anime (or perhaps, sci-fi) convention going on once when I was in Toronto five years ago in the same building (or thereabouts) as the filming of the Great Canadian Music Dream on the CBC hosted by Jian Ghomeshi.

I'd like to create some awareness for those of us who are not as familiar with the Anime voice acting art form, but I need your help.

Are any of you Anime voice actors or fans of them?

Leave a comment!

Cheers,

Stephanie