Kay Levasseur Makes Entrepreneurship Look Easy in SL

Being a serial entrepreneur can present some challenges, but SL business owner Kay Levasseur makes it look easy.

“I have been an entrepreneur for years, and with that carries the skill of extreme multi-tasking along with a pinch of insanity,” says Levasseur who owns a voice talent company, an architecture and building management firm (Vought-Levasseur Building, which she co-owns with her RL husband and SL partner), and Virtual talent, an in-world talent agency.

Her First Life

In her First Life, Levasseur owns and operates a health club and is a professional voice talent.

Says Levasseur, “Any given day, you will find me at the front desk of the health club on my laptop, working on online projects from Second Life businesses to voice auditions. When it comes time for recording, you might find me in the yoga studio at the club with a microphone in my hand, utilizing my portable set-up, at home in my professional studio or at the local radio station, where I’ve worked for over 11 years.”

Talk about multi-tasking!

Levasseur says that time management helps her – to a point.

“Sometimes you just have to devote your time to the project that is calling your emotional and/or intellectual energy,” says Levasseur. “I’ve found that my work in other areas is just not productive if my mind is on some other idea that needs to be worked out.” She adds that her days are long, and her time off is priceless.

The Good Stuff

Some business achievements Levasseur has had in-world include landing a first tenant before the building she and her husband jointly own was even completed. The tenant took not one, but three spaces, giving Levasseur a boost of confidence. Another milestone was getting a booking for a corporate level machinima within her first two weeks in SL.

Her Bottom Line

Levasseur acknowledges that the SL economy is still evolving so she is doing work for “pennies on the dollar” in SL–something she would never do in her First Life.

Says Levasseur, “I think and hope, as more business people find their way into SL, that will change.”

Her initial in-world investment was $50US, and she is now generating enough revenue in SL to keep her business afloat. And buy a few nice outfits.

“I am still earning my living via my RL efforts. However, I’ve made some very good connections in SL that have translated into RL work. Ideally, SL and RL will be integrated parts of my businesses,” she says.

Advice from the Front Lines

Levasseur gives this advice to aspiring entrepreneurs:

1. Understand that your avatar is an extension of you. Don’t let your avatar do anything that you wouldn’t do as a real person. If you must, get another avatar.

2. Write a business plan for each business. Even if its simple, know what your goals are, who your customers are, determine a marketing plan, set up hours when you will work your business.

3. Learn about Intellectual Property Rights.

4. Remember, behind every avatar, no matter what it looks like, is a human being and potential customer or business partner. Treat them as such.

5. Attend business meetings, classes, seminars, etc. You will learn a lot and meet like-minded people.

Source: SL Entrepreneur Magazine

Bettye Zoller New Voice Speech Coach for Bravo’s “Top Chef”

Bettye Zoller, voice and speech teacher, has been selected as voice speech coach for publicity agents of the chefs on the hit TV show on BRAVO called, “Top Chef”, many of whom now have jobs at trade shows, endorsements for cookware, working TV interviews, personal appearances, infomercials, and more.

When asked about whether or not she worked with the chefs directly, Bettye replied, “If a chef needs voice and speech work of some sort, I am called on to improve that person’s communication skills.”

Bettye Zoller began coaching voice and speech in the 1990s when, with three partners, she formed a corporation specializing in corporate training and coaching activities. The corporation also published many books and audio books, several of which were best sellers.

One title, “How to Get What You Want on the Telephone Every Time” was an Audio Book Club Best Seller and still is sold worldwide. It is one eight-minute CD. Another publication, “TALK: The Toolkit for Talkers” continues to enjoy top sales worldwide. The corporation was legally dissolved in 2002 by mutual agreement with the partners moved on to pursue other projects.

Since 2002, Bettye Zoller has been concentrating on voiceovers, audio recording activities, voiceover coaching and teaching but still accepts corporate and private voice speech assignments. Over the years, she has coached politicians, top officials and countless celebrities from the worlds of film, TV, radio, and pageants.

Recent clients of Bettye Zoller include Blue Cross Blue Shield, Blockbuster Video Corporate, Closed Captioning Institute, several U.S. government agencies and celebrities on television.

Bettye Zoller shares, “The thing I like most about voice and speech improvement coaching is that, literally, I CHANGE people’s lives. I have quotes and letters to that effect over the years saying, ‘I wouldn’t have my job without you,’ ‘You are the reason I got my promotion,’ ‘I now can speak in public and I’m selling so many more of my books because of it’ and so on. It’s gratifying! I also teach dialect and accent minimization to the foreign-born (and I also reduce regional accents in one’s native language) and do this for actors as well as voice talents and also business clients not in the arts. One never loses one’s accent or dialect totally, but it can be ‘masked’ and ‘minimized.’”

Bettye also teaches the acquisition of some accents, primarily Italian, German, French, New Yorker, deep Southern U.S. and some others and is a proud member of VASTA, Voice and Speech Trainers Association. A serving member on several college and university faculties over the years, she is degreed through PH.D. studies with two Masters Degrees.

Source: Bettye Zoller

Broadcasters Honor Reading Services for The Blind

The Cincinnati Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired and its Reading Services won two awards at the Ohio Public Broadcasting Awards ceremony in Columbus last month.

The agency won for its public-service announcement about its One on One volunteer program in the Public Information, Short Promotions category.

The Radio Reading Service also received honorable mention in the Program of the Year category for its community-connecting program called “Titanic.”

The public-service announcement was written by Jennifer Holladay, One on One volunteer coordinator, and Jen LaFramboise, volunteer. It was produced by LaFramboise.

The voice talents were Holladay and Doug Cooper, volunteer.

Titanic was produced by Mark DeWitt, CABVI broadcast manager. The voice talent was Brigette Waldmann-Thomas, volunteer, and Sharon Linde, CABVI manager of volunteer services.

Radio Reading Services makes local and world news accessible.

Source: The Enquirer

Broadcasting School with a Sports Journalism Twist

Jim Van Horne sits behind the desk, papers in front of him, his familiar baritone delivering every word with authority.

But this is not the television sports anchor desk that Van Horne sat at for two decades and the papers do not contain hockey scores. This is a classroom at Canada’s newest college and the first private school to offer an exclusive sports broadcasting course.

Van Horne is officially television coordinator at the College of Sports Media, a rather untraditional school housed in the basement of an old ad agency on George St.

It looks more like, well, an ad agency than a school and with only 16 students enrolled in its inaugural semester, the atmosphere is a lot more casual and familiar than the average school.

“I just love this,” says the former TSN and Rogers Sportsnet anchor, who spends the day critiquing and praising the writing and announcing skills of a handful of young hopefuls. “The enthusiasm of the students, their desire to learn is invigorating.”

The college is part of a growing trend towards specialization in sports broadcasting and journalism. As the sports media world experiences an explosion of digital television channels, online streaming and podcasting, new skills are required and the world of education is trying to keep pace.

Scarborough’s Centennial College and Loyalist College in Belleville will soon be offering one-year programs aimed specifically at sports journalism.

“There’s a general belief in journalism schools that if you can do news, you can do sports,” says Centennial journalism program co-ordinator Malcolm Kelly, whose print-electronic course will launch next January. “It’s just not true.

“They just don’t teach sports in journalism schools. There’s so much that’s specific about sports journalism, both in print and electronic.”

The first to tap into that need, at least electronically, was former Score reporter David Lanys, who has turned a daydream into reality in five short years.

Lanys says he got his inspiration while exchanging elbows with other reporters in a scrum following a Maple Leafs playoff game, which gives you an idea how long ago that was.

“One of the reporters in the scrum was asking some of the most ridiculous questions I’d ever heard,” Lanys recalls. “I thought, this person obviously didn’t get the fundamental training in sports journalism.”

That got him to thinking that there was a need for a school to train young broadcasters specifically interested in sports. It also got him thinking about his future.

“I knew I didn’t want to be a field reporter going to a Leafs’ game on a Saturday night when I was 55 years old,” he says. “I wanted something different in my future and even though I loved broadcasting, I always had an interest in business.”

Indeed he did. Lanys has always had an entrepreneurial bent. While in high school, he hired his friends to work for his Streak-Free Window Washers company in the Finch-Bayview area. That venture financed a new car and two European vacations and led to him opening his own consulting company in university.

“I’d go into small mom-and-pop businesses and advise them on what they were doing wrong,” he recalls. “I’d charge $400 or $500 and I didn’t have many clients.

“I hope those companies are still around,” he adds with a laugh.

But an entrepreneurial flair is one thing. Financing a project this big was another.

Lanys came up with a business plan, figuring he needed $1.25 million to open the school’s doors. Television pays well, but not that well, so he hit the banks shortly after leaving The Score two years ago.

The banks weren’t interested, so he started asking around. On a recommendation from an acquaintance, he contacted a tax accounting firm and they hit it off almost instantly.

A deal was struck, but now came the hard part: getting approval from the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities so he could grant diplomas and use the term “college” in the school’s name.

Part of that laborious process was enlisting an advisory board that included some of the biggest names in the business including TSN president Phil King, CBC executive producer Joel Darling and FAN 590 general manger Nelson Millman.

“The industry is changing rapidly and schools need to change all the time,” says King. “The more talented people that go into sports broadcasting, the better it is for the industry.”

Lanys says that board gives his school a leg up on others.

“With our instructors and advisory board, the network that our students will have when they graduate will be the one it took me 10 years to develop,” he says.

Lanys hired veteran broadcasters as instructors, adding the likes of former CFRB sports announcer Ray Williams, ex-Raptors reporter Norma Wick and CBC reporter Elliotte Friedman.

But a staff and a proposed curriculum, which included everything from radio to television to new media, weren’t enough to get final ministry approval. The school had to be ready to open its doors.

After a long search, Lanys found an empty ad office near Jarvis and Adelaide. He wanted the ground floor, but price sent him downstairs.

Still, it was a good fit.

“The layout required very few changes,” he says. There was even a sound-proof studio for voice-overs.

Other studios were built, recording equipment, cameras and computers purchased and ministry approval was granted. A sparsely attended press conference was held Nov. 19.

Four days later, the first inquiry came in for the two-year course. Within six weeks, 35 had applied even though no classes had been taught and tuition was a hefty $17,000 a year – Centennial’s is $4,200 by comparison.

Students showed up for their first class on Feb. 4.

They’re a mixed group, including those who’ve graduated university and those just out of high school.

One doesn’t fit the mould, though.

At 45, Patrick Brown looks a little out of place but doesn’t feel that way. A former project manager at Air Miles who took a buy-out package, Brown decided the time was right to follow his dream.

“I’d always wanted to get into broadcasting,” he says. “But I got on another track and suddenly I’m 45 and I figured it’s time to do something different with the rest of my life.”

Brown heard about the new college last fall and placed a call.

“I figured I’d get an answering machine or a secretary,” he recalls. “But Dave Lanys picked up the phone. I kind of liked that.”

Source: TheStar.com

The Art of Risk : How to Control Your Own Performance

How many times do you “put yourself out there”, and see nothing come of it?

Good question. Obviously the answer varies, depending on so many factors, which would be difficult to quantify into a solid statistic.

It is the question as well as the answer that makes more than a few voice actors wonder.

In general, it would be safe to assume that you are in the majority if you take the risk of performing on any level, you run a risk of not booking the job more often than not;

Risk of failure. Risk of rejection, Risk of “de-selection”.

Think about the Oscars. So many actors auditioned for the films and just so many got the job. Only so many many films or actors were nominated, and just a few select won the “golden ticket”.

It’s a hard knock life, folks, but you can make a work for you. To learn more, click on the source link below.

Source: Bobbin Beam

SunSpots Productions’ Zak Miller Celebrates 10 Years and 7,000 Sessions at SunSpots Florida Studios

Think you’ve done lots of spots?

SunSpots Productions Zak Miller may have you beat. He just produced his 7,000th session at SunSpots recording studios Orlando location. If that isn’t reason enough to celebrate, Zak is also celebrating his 10th anniversary with SunSpots Productions.

How many spots is that?

Zak says “You can figure an average 2-3 spots per session, so I imagine I’ve engineered and produced anywhere from 10 to 15 thousand commercials.” Radio and TV commercials, long form industrials, web 2.0 audio and every application you think of where a voiceover is needed has been recorded from Zak’s customized studio.

An avid surfer, Zak had his studio custom painted last year with all walls filled with soft clouds and blue skies melting into a fiery sunset. “Clients love it when they do sessions in my room. They’re surrounded by the beach sunset.”

What about 10 years at one location?

“That’s rare in this business, but I was here soon after SunSpots began in the voiceover and audio production world and I knew the owners were dedicated to excellence. I’ve done things I never could have done when I worked in radio.” Zak was a fixture on Orlando radio station WDIZ for many years. “Last fall, I was flown to LA to be the post-production engineer on an HBO film with Katt Williams. A couple of years ago Larry the Cable Guy was in the studio to lay down ADR for the movie Cars and there’s been other celebs I’ve got to work with here at SunSpots. A couple of weeks ago we were working with Golf Legend, Arnold Palmer.”

Zak’s hard work and dedication eventually earned him the position of Studio Manager of the Florida SunSpots location.

“I’m looking forward to another 10 years at SunSpots. We’re the best in the world at what we do.”

SunSpots co-owner Thomas Rohe, feels the same. “Zak has been there from our baby steps to our giant leaps as we’ve become a world-wide leader in our industry. Whatever we’ve needed, Zak has been there for us, his co-workers, but also our voice talent and our clients. We can’t thank him enough for his hard work and dedication.”

Source: PR.com

GM Voices Exhibiting at the 2008 Blue Cross Blue Shield Customer Contact Conference

GM Voices, Inc., the leading global provider of professionally recorded voice, localization and branding solutions for self service applications, announces its participation as an exhibit sponsor of the 2008 Blue Cross Blue Shield Customer Contact Conference to be held March 2-5 in Los Angeles.

 

The 2008 conference provides an opportunity for telecom and call center technology providers to present their solutions to the Blue Cross Blue Shield member plans. The forum will focus on customer service, telecommunications and claims issues.

 

As part of the sponsor program, GM Voices will present voice, persona and branding solutions as they relate to the insurance and healthcare industries. GM Voices goal is to enhance awareness and understanding of its products and services and how BCBS member plans can leverage them to increase customer satisfaction and reduce ROI.

 

Source: TechLINKS.net

Champions of Customer Strategy

Voices.com takes customer service seriously — very seriously, and as such, was honored with a 1to1 Impact award.

1to1 Media reports that customer strategy is always evolving. And in many cases, the best advice about what to do with your customers comes from your peers, doing similar things at their companies.

The 1to1 Impact Awards shines a spotlight on companies doing extraordinary things with customer strategy with war stories direct from the winners about how they were able to achieve their customer goals.

When asked in an interview with 1to1 about what advice could be given to marketers about using customer strategy to make an impact on the bottom line, David Ciccarelli, CEO of Voices.com shared:

“I would say treat each customer uniquely, and understand that each has specific needs. They’re coming to you for solutions to whatever problem they might have. Also, be flexible. Understand that their needs are unique to them, and tailor whatever you have to offer around wherever they’re at. That’s everything from going the extra mile to offering discounted rates or flexible payment terms. I think that those are just small ways to meet those customer needs. But also explore tools and best practices that vendors and partners have to offer. Utilize the knowledge of other people within the industry.”

To read more, click on the source below.

Source: 1to1Media.com

Microphones Donated to Upgrade PA System for Announcing

The Pratt Leadership 2000-Plus fall class of 2007 donated two microphones to the Pratt Recreation Department Wednesday at the Green Sports Complex.

The microphones upgrade the complex’s public address system. The donation was part of the class’s community service project. PRD director Bruce Pinkel graciously accepted the donation.

Pinkel and his staff welcome 90,000 visitors per year to the complex, hosting national, state and local events.

In 2007, the PRD hosted the state American Legion AA championships and Hap Dunlop World Series.

Source: Pratt Tribune

Sausalito Company Voicetrax Celebrates 20th Anniversary

The business of the voice-over has taken directions the founder of a Sausalito studio and academy never imagined when she started it 20 years ago.

A successful voice actress at the time, Samantha Paris had experience doing voices for cartoon characters, commercials and film narratives in Los Angeles, but she never imagined she would offer the range of classes that she does at Voicetrax San Francisco Inc., based in Sausalito.

Voicetrax’s curriculum includes more than 100 workshops and seminars for students at all levels, as well as individual coaching. Its clients include news anchors and trial attorneys who want to improve their presentations, as well as professional voice actors.

Classes cover acting, narration, dialogue, animation and audition techniques. But newer classes have been developed to meet modern-day needs that were created largely by advances in technology. For instance, Paris has introduced a directing class because agents increasingly expect actors to be able to audition from home - without a director.

“Technology is pulling me,” Paris said. “I have to stay on top of it. There are more voice-over opportunities than ever before.”

New business has come in the form of multimedia, podcasts, telephone prompts, Web voice work, walking tour guides and audiobooks. Paris, 47, has been a voice actor for 32 years and admits she has run the business living on the edge.

“It’s my life. It’s my passion,” Paris said. “Your business plan is you’re going to wake up every day and do what you love.”

Paris said although hers is the only such business in Marin, she is aware of two other similar businesses in San Francisco.

When Paris moved from Los Angeles to Sausalito 20 years ago, only a handful of actors in San Francisco were doing voice-over work. That surprised her because many of the scripts she read in Los Angeles were from advertising agencies in the Bay Area.

As she picked up work and got to know people in the industry, she found that the Bay Area did not have a large pool of voice-over artists, so the agencies sent scripts directly to Los Angeles.

Before long, students were coming to her for coaching, and Voicetrax was established in a hall closet in her home. As the business grew, Paris added a casting service after local producers were asking for talent.

“It signaled a huge shift in the ad agencies’ attitude toward the Bay Area talent pool,” Paris said. “It showed that they were becoming more open to the idea of hiring locally for their high-profile campaigns.”

Chuck Kourouklis started with Voicetrax as a student and now works in the studio. He said voice acting can be more tricky than performing on a stage because the actor must connect with an audience without physical gestures.

There is more to voice acting than training, he said.

“You need to learn how to act and learn the process of seeking representation and getting auditions,” Kourouklis said.

Source: Marin Independent Journal

Image: Samantha Paris directs students while teaching a class at Voicetrax in Sausalito. Her voice-over training program is celebrating its 20th anniversary. (IJ photo/Jeff Vendsel)

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