voice over conferences Archives - Laura Schreiber Voice

On Conferences:

This year I had the great joy of attending several conferences. I presented at OneVoice USA and at MAVO and I was an attendee of Johny Heller’s New England Narrator’s retreat. As a presenter at OneVoice, I sat on a Demos panel with some of the people I OVC Demos Panel

look up to most in the industry, including Anne Ganguzza, Clif Zellman, and J. Michael Collins. In addition with being in such good company, I try to pick up public speaking tips as well. At MAVO, I attended sessions of other industry greats like Michael Scott, and I took note of his presentation style. I also spent a lot of time talking to Joe Cipriano, who I have looked up to for many years, and learned a tremendous amount from him.

At Johnny Heller’s workshop, as an attendee, I was able to spend all my time honing my narration skills. It was nice to be able to just participate and be amongst my peers. While I did also want to network with the publishers in attendance, my primary focus was learning about the different genres and developing my skill set. The time away from my booth felt like such an indulgence and I came away feeling inspired and like I did, indeed, learn a lot.

On Awards Nominations:

This year I was nominated for a Signal award for an ensemble podcast cast that I have been part of for several years for PJ library. I also personally only submitted to the OneVoice Awards. My demo partner, All Systems GO AV, and I were elated to snag a OVC Awards night

nomination for one of the demos we did, an eLearning demo for the super talented Dallas based John Guccion. I also earned a nomination in the bloopers category which was good fun. While we didn’t take home any statues this year, I will say it really meant a lot to be in such good company and it was for sure a highlight of the year.

On Coaching:

My coaching business has continued to thrive. As a former teacher, I really love helping people work on the voice over skills and grow their businesses. I am very passionate about my coaching and often I wake up super early in the morning with enthusiasm for my lesson plans. A lot of the people I coach have met me at conferences, and it means a lot to get to work with them afterwards. I genuinely want to help each and every coaching student, so this aspect of my 2023 work has been very meaningful.

On Travel with VO Friends:

With Diana Birdsall, Michelle Blenker, me, Kim Handysides, and Dearbhla Trainor in Montreal

This summer I got to go on a trip to Canada with the gals in my VO accountability group! We had been talking about going away together since before Covid. We had so many ideas, but really, the most important detail was that we were all included and beyond that everything else was secondary. To have this time together to bond and to reflect was so meaningful. We are all exceptionally close, and this trip was as wonderful as can be.

On Getting Sick and Working Through It:

Immediately after the Canada get away I got a really, really bad stomach bug. It started in late July and lasted until late October. I was profoundly ill and they did not realize that it was a food born bacterial infection until I had been suffering for several months. I was so sick when I went to OneVoice that I had to bring my son with me to help, and he was immensely helpful. I was frankly thankful I could get through my sessions. I missed uncle Roy’s BBQ which was so upsetting. I was a mess. By the time they figured out what it was I was beginning to worry I would never get better. Never was a girl so thankful for antibiotics!

On Working While Kids are in College

2023 marks the second year of working while my twins are away. While you would think I have unlimited time and could simply do as I please, having the twins in college presents new challenges. When they call I feel that I need to drop everything to tend to their immediate needs. I also certainly block days from my calendar to visit, whether it is a Friday print to parent’s weekend or a Monday post-conference. This time is precious and my fear is that it is fleeting. So while the day to day life may be freer, they certainly take up large chunks of time still. Also, when they are home, I do try to black my schedule and limit my coaching so that they have my undivided attention. I have also noticed I need to remind them of the “rules” when there are live sessions, as if they never new them. They seem to have forgotten about staying quiet or keeping away from the space over my studio. It’s funny how these things can be un-learned.

Over-all Reflections

I always to people thinking about voice over that it is a marathon not a sprint, and 2023 felt like I jus kept marching along, doing my thing. Do you remember the children’s board game Candyland? I lot of times I feel like that is my life, I’m just on this sweet ride, winding around the board, wondering where I’ll land next, trying to take a deep breath and actually enjoy the people I meet along the way and the ride that I am on!

Now More than Ever…

Laura Schreiber and Industry Friends in NYC — With Uncle Roy, Lynn Norris, Michelle and Steve Sundholm, and my sister Julie Levin in NYC in Chinatown SOVAS Weekend

I think we can all agree that 2020 has presented us with some challenges. For those of us who enjoy the close knit voice over community, from the myriad of conferences each year to traditional events like Uncle Roy’s BBQ and Christmas Parties in NYC, when you work alone in a padded foam booth, interacting with others in voiceover is so much more than a chance to network. Any of us who go to these events will tell you about the gooey sweet bonding that happens between the karaoke and the shop talk. So the lack of face time in 2020 has been hard, but for me, the presence of social media groups, especially on Facebook (as much as I hate to admit it) has helped fill the gap. I feel like I still “see” my dear friends and have a sense of how they are and what’s going on. More than that, I crave the interaction, look for their posts, and try to be responsive. For me, these voice over groups on social media are not a distraction, they continue to give me a sense of connection when we are all forced to be distanced at the moment. This week, these connections in my Facebook voice over community genuinely helped me through an experience from a pay to play that had me feeling pretty exasperated.

The Frustrating Experience of this Week

Laura Schreiber at WoVo Con in Las Vegas with Industry Friends — Laura Schreiber with Michelle Blenker, Diana Birdsall, David Rosenthal, Lisa Suliteanu, and Kim Handysides at WoVoCon in Las Vegas in 2017!

On Thursday I got one of those messages we all love: I had been cast in a national spot. Spoiler: wait before you start celebrating for me, it does not end well. The initial offer was low and it needed negotiating, which in no way scared me off, negotiating is part of the job, right? But the good news was that they wanted me and I was available. The message came through Voice123 and the client asked me to call him right away. I called the client back immediately. I spent a long time chatting with the client. The spot was actually more regional in use but the client wanted national rights to not have to deal with his client more later. Fine. We also discussed pricing for web and social media. He was pleasant and very specific. He wanted a zoom session Friday morning. I gave him a choice of times and he said he would get back to me. I had a 5 pm zoom on Thursday and I was in a really good mood during that call. When I got off of that call, I got an email from the client. He said his client no longer had the budget and was going to use an in-house voice. They were going to use an in-house voice for a national spot? Are you kidding me? And he wasted so much of my time. I was really annoyed. I was aggravated. Frankly, I was pissed off.

I Was NOT Alone….

One of my VO besties suggested I post it on Facebook. We have a VO Red Flags group, and I also decided to post in our V123 Platinum members group. My wheels were turning and I was curious if he had interacted with anyone else. I wanted to see how others would have reacted and if this had happened to anyone else recently.

Laura Schreiber and Industry Friends at Uncle Roy's BBQ — Kim Handysides, Shelley Avellino, Devla Trainor, and Laura Schreiber at Uncle Roy’s BBQ in NJ

I got an immediate response in the V123 group. This guy had been making his rounds to other top voiceover talents. He had been negotiating with one male talent all week, since Monday! He had contacted other female voice actors at my level who also book a lot on that platform to negotiate with them! For some reason I have not seen my post go up in the Red Flags group yet. Sometimes that happens.

Laura Schreiber and Industry Friends at VOA — Michelle Blenker, Michelle Sundholm, Diana Birdsall, and Laura Schreiber and VO Atlanta 2018

The point, though, is that I felt much better having a community to discuss this with. I was not alone in my booth, or alone in my kitchen talking it through with my husband. I was part of a pretty awesome group of talents dealing with this together. I went from feeling angry to being thankful for having such awesome people. I realized this guy was outnumbered. He had heard over and over and over that his budget was too low. We were all in sync. The reason that there are industry standard rates and that we can all work so hard to maintain them is because those of us in the industry are such a cohesive, tight knit network.

So to be clear, the response that I got on Facebook this week had both an emotional impact on my stability and also, at the same time, showed the impact of the VO bond on our business. By communicating and remaining close, we all benefit. It is so so important that we stick together!

So cheers to a better 2021, and to seeing you all in person, so that I can give you all a big hug and we can have some fun together again! I am so profoundly thankful for this community.

End of Year Reflections in 2023

On Conferences:

On Awards Nominations:

On Coaching:

On Travel with VO Friends:

On Getting Sick and Working Through It:

On Working While Kids are in College

Over-all Reflections

Another Instance of Why the VO Community Matters So Much

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