VO-BB - 20 YEARS OLD!

Benjamin Stovall · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 9:34 am Post subject: News Bulletin for Voice123 users

It appears our friends at V123 have experienced some data loss. I was personally effected and lost a project I had submitted for and also some ranking data. Here is the message I got from support this morning (project number changed by me):

Bish · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 10:07 am Post subject:

Dear V123, I don't give a rat's nether regions. Telling me that it was Amazon's fault is like my taxi company apologizing for being late and blaming Ford. You, as a corporate entity, choose to use Amazon cloud services. They may be fine for consumer use, but they have proved themselves less than reliable for critical business applications. Please don't try to abrogate your responsibility by blaming your cut-rate supplier for supplying a cut-rate service.

Why does everything always have to be someone else's fault?

Yes... I too got screwed by the outage. Rolls Eyes

_________________
Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.

Lee Gordon · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 10:11 am Post subject:

I just spilt coffee on my keyboard. It's Bish's fault.
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Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
Voice President of the United States
www.leegordonproductions.com
Twitter: @LeeGordonVoice

ccpetersen · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 3:08 pm Post subject:

Bish, I wanna hug you and give you a kiss for the cheek in telling off the folks who used Amazon for cloud services!

I had to tell Amazon themselves off a few weeks ago and they did finally respond positively, but it took some real bitching at them to get them to do what was right.
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Charter Member: Threadjackers Local 420

Matto · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 4:33 pm Post subject:

*Stands up from office chair and claps loudly for Bish*
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www.mattcowlrick.com

Bish · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 8:10 pm Post subject:

Awww shucks Embarrassed

I only post this stuff because I'm trying to find something to do rather than edit my current audiobook project.

What miffed me more than anything was that I used to install multi-workstation (500+) LAN systems connected via redundant servers and multiple gateways to a global WAN and thence to remote mainframe hosts... before anyone had even heard of the internet... back when 9600bps or 14.4Kbps was really something. All this was for the real-time processing of airline check-in and reservation systems... and if those buggers lost data because a server failed, or a link went iffy, then there was hell to pay. Creating a situation where they couldn't push-back a 747 from the gate on time because a server failed (or whatever) was just not acceptable.

We have been trained to accept bad service and piss-poor excuses.
_________________
Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.

scottnilsen · Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2012 9:18 pm Post subject:

What's voice123?
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Well, that and mimes.

(714)408-6405 www.scottnilsen.com

ChrisMezzolesta · Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 4:52 am Post subject:

Scott Pollak · Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 6:33 am Post subject:

Laugh all ya wants, but it's the place where I've pulled in over $100k in work over the past 7 or so years, with a handful of national accounts and spots, and a veritable buttload of repeat clients.
_________________
Scott R. Pollak
Clients include Pandora, NPR Atlanta, Wells Fargo, Cisco, Humana, Publix, UPS, AT&T, HP, Xerox and more.

www.voicebyscott.com

ChrisMezzolesta · Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 7:19 am Post subject:

Absolutely it's great that it has worked out for you, no doubt...I went back and gave it one more shot after the big post-Savvy, post-"SmartCaste" debacle. I followed the instructions as to profile and demos, tried to play by the rules down the line, and.......nothing. Not one GD thing. No private leads, no auditions won, nothing. Just reminders that I was auditioning too much. Whatever the percentiles are supposed to mean, those were sliding down. I have talked to many folks such as yourself who are booking regularly from the site, and the only takeaway from the situation I could figure was that I suck. Ya got me, I have no idear. I've done very well without it, but sometimes wish I could crack the code that gets others booked...but it's one disappointment after another. In fact, ANOTHER disappointment after another that impedes career progress in other areas - I read about people fretting over their numbers and I'm like, Why? Why play this game? But for those who are booking I guess it isn't an issue. I plan on studying with Nancy Wolfson, maybe that will change things up a bit hopefully and I might have a chance on these sites...
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Chris Mezzolesta, Voice Talent
800.356.5519 www.voiceatile.com

DougVox · Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 8:09 am Post subject:

I've never booked a gig on V123, so I speak from ignorance, but...

Is it possible that the system favors people who've simply been there longer? So that folks like Scott and others with more seniority get the benefit of more (or more highly-targeted) auditions, or having their auditions presented at the top of the seekers' lists, or some other, similar advantages?
_________________
Doug Turkel (tur-KELL)
Voiceover UNnouncer®
UNnouncer.com

Bish · Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 8:25 am Post subject:

I'm another who has managed to make V123 work in their favour. I really don't think that there's any special sauce, you've just got to be selective... if there's any trick to it, it's about leaving stuff alone. It may be psychological, or a coincidence, but it seems that the less I audition, the better the quality of the gigs that do appear. I know that's meant to be part of "SmartCast", but I'm pretty sure that's all smoke and mirrors.

Biggest gigs for me are - Brit voice, four figures, ISDN required. These are with production houses who can't fill from their current "go-to" list, and if you get the gig, you're on the list for next time... effortless repeat business!

These gigs just don't seem to appear on Voices, who seem to have a lot of medium-to-low value gigs. V123 ranges from total $0 BS to some nice four figure jobs with "professional" clients.

Again, my usual qualifier... I'm a Brit, and I'm fishing in a slightly different pond from most of you here.
_________________
Bish a.k.a. Bish
Smoke me a kipper... I'll be back for breakfast.
I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls... I will not feed the trolls.

Lizden · Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 8:30 am Post subject:

Scott Pollak · Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 8:40 am Post subject:

I think Bish hit the nail on the head, and no, I DON'T think there's anything that favors those of us who have been there a long time.

Matter of fact, I'm finding it harder and harder to land jobs there. My audition-to-hit ratio is getting higher and higher each passing month. Part of this is due, I think, simply to the fact there are more talented folks using the P2P sites than there were when I first became a premium subscriber there about 7 years ago. Competition is WAY tougher now!

I try to be very selective about what I audition for - NOT because of the stupid 'over auditioning' percentage numbers, but simply to try to increase my odds of winning a job. And I've learned thru the process. A few years ago I really thought I did a decent 'movie trailer' voice, and landed a few gigs doing those. Now it seems like every time I submit for those I get TERRIBLE feedback and so I'm re-thinking whether that's even in my wheelhouse anymore. Maybe it isn't.

I'm just grateful that I did, in fact, get on that site so many years ago. I have, quite literally, probably 20-30 clients who still send me repeat business, who originally found me via V123. They include producers who use my voice for internal projects for Cisco, Wells-Fargo, Embraer aircraft (that's a client in India who found me on V123), and others. I have repeat clients in Israel and Russia who found me there. But it is - without a doubt - getting to be MUCH harder to snag the jobs there than it used to be.
_________________
Scott R. Pollak
Clients include Pandora, NPR Atlanta, Wells Fargo, Cisco, Humana, Publix, UPS, AT&T, HP, Xerox and more.

www.voicebyscott.com

DougVox · Posted: Thu Oct 25, 2012 8:43 am Post subject: