A few days ago, fellow voice talent and good human Chris Mezzolesta posted this on Facebook:
VO-BB is shut down??
My jaw dropped. It shouldn’t have come as a shock, but it did. But first, let me rewind a bit…
In early 2006 I was a few months removed from going full-time as a voice talent. I had three clients to my name and I barely knew what I was doing. For the life of me I don’t remember how I found it, but on April 20th I signed up (as the 100th member, I’m proud to say) of the Voiceover Bulletin Board and my world got a whole lot bigger.
For those of you who aren’t aware, the VO-BB is the Voiceover Bulletin Board. It’s an online forum that started November 10, 2004 by another good human DB Cooper. At the VO-BB, you can post a question about virtually anything in the voiceover industry and get a quick reply from a caring VO veteran. You can post your demos and get thoughtful feedback. You can announce your victories and seek solace in your defeats.
I met some amazing people there that to this day I am proud to call friend. I learned how build a home recording studio and I discovered pay-to-play sites, which back then was the foundation of my voiceover career. By the end of 2006 I had ten clients and my voiceover income almost tripled.
The online forum model has been replaced by social media sites like Facebook so they have become largely obsolete. That and other reasons caused the VO-BB to shut down, but it still remains a vast repository of voiceover knowledge and for me, fond memories.
Thank you DB, for your ten years of care & effort.
TIP OF THE WEEK
A few weeks ago I finished narrating the audio book “The Art of Community: Seven Principles for Belonging” by Charles H. Vogl. As I was reading it, so much of the book reminded me of the Voiceover Bulletin Board. It talked about the power of stories and symbols, rituals and tokens.
If you want to be a successful voice talent (or a successful person for that matter) seek out a community and contribute. Be positive, be curious, be supportive, and be a good human!
NEWS AND NOTES
My next Edge Studio “Business and Money 201” webinar will be Thursday August 4th @8PM EST. The subject: Cost/Benefit Analysis. We’re going to talk about how to look at your business and turn what you see into an effective game-plan. Click here to register!
HAPPY HAPPYS
Happy Chili Dog Day and Walk On Stilts Day!
QUOTE OF THE WEEK
From my village to yours; this is Tom Dheere, GKN News…
Tom Dheere is a 20-year veteran of the voice over industry who has narrated thousands of projects for clients in over a dozen countries. He is also a coach at Edge Studio, voiceover business consultant known as the Voice Over Strategist, and is currently writing & producing the comic book “Agent 1.22”.
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