Happy Birthday, VO-BB Peeps!

ChrisMezzolesta

This has been some day.... This morning I was interviewed by one of our local TV stations in regard to my involvement with HearTheBill.org. Then I took the wife to lunch. Then my car was half submerged in the rising rainwaters near my folks' house. Wheeeeee!!! So the remainder of the day has been slogging back n forth in knee to thigh deep water to get the car out of the middle of the road/river, and help my dad move his truck before it was swallowed by a 20 foot sinkhole that opened up by the road where he was forced to park (streets in the development impassable).

Then we caught the interview...

http://www.wwaytv3.com/video/web_site_offers_ability_listen_health_care_bill_online/09

So tomorrow it'll be an insurance kinda day! Dangit, I really like my car. Oh well. How was your day??!!
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Chris Mezzolesta, Voice Talent
Member 07010, SaVoa
800.356.5519 - www.voiceguy1.com

Chrissy · Posted: Mon Sep 07, 2009 11:37 pm Post subject:

So sorry to hear about your car. I hope you and your family are okay.

It's a great idea to narrate this bill. A lot of people don't have the time or patience to read something of this length.
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bobsouer · Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 12:52 am Post subject:

Chris,

Great job with the interview and how fun to get to see your booth!
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Diane Havens · Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 7:39 am Post subject:

Chris was fantastic to work with on this. When Kat Keesling and I were under a tight deadline to get this all together, Chris recorded his sections beautifully and QUICKLY -- it made our end of things go so much smoother.

When you deal with 80 people, it's a pleasure to have some not to worry about.

Liz de Nesnera and Mandy Nelson were fantastic too -- Lee Gordon and Jeffrey Kafer also did a great, hassle free job for us and perhaps some others I haven't mentioned that might frequent this board -- and Roger Baker is still working alongside me and Kat behind the scenes doing the audio fixes and organizational tedium. When Kat and I came up with this idea, we had no idea how it would take off. Many thanks to all involved.

Another press release goes out today -- I have been acting as Communications Director. I am glad I don't do THAT job full time!

My main concern is that this remain not a promotional vehicle for voice acting, but to keep the focus on the bill and the educational value of the audio itself.

I think Chris struck a good balance there -- he didn't make it all about HIM.
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Diane

Veni, Vidi, Voci
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KaraEdwards · Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 9:00 am Post subject:

How nice to see an idea blossom and so many VO's working together. I agree with Bob- great interview an a cool sneak peak at your studio!

(And sorry about the car!)
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Mandy Nelson · Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 1:03 pm Post subject:

You rocked that interview! Sorry about the car...I hope it recovers.
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ChrisMezzolesta · Posted: Tue Sep 08, 2009 9:40 pm Post subject:

Thanks for the kudos and well wishes - evidently there hasn't been rain like that around here since the last hurricane a number of yrs ago (10" in our area in less than a half day).

Had a great time doing the interview, am still sending out releases!!!

Thanks again...
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Chris Mezzolesta, Voice Talent
Member 07010, SaVoa
800.356.5519 - www.voiceguy1.com

KarenL · Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 5:33 pm Post subject:

Over the weekend, the NPR program, "On the Media" broadcast a story about "Hear the Bill" and I'm pretty sure I heard Diane's voice. Someone else's too - did Moe record any of it? It went by so fast, and no TIVO on the radio! :o)
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Melissa · Posted: Mon Sep 14, 2009 9:08 pm Post subject:

I heard it ran when I was working at WNYC last night - I had given them the press release when Diane sent it to us, but wasn't sure if they used it. Here's a link to the audio and transcript of the segment.

http://www.onthemedia.org/transcripts/2009/09/11/02

Diane Havens · Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 9:59 am Post subject:

And now we're in the NY Times. I've lost track of the mentions on various media outlets since that hit.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/14/health/policy/14audio.html?_r=2

I did NOT, by the way, tell the reporter about the book I had on Audible -- we can thank Google for that. I have really tried to make all the stories about the site -- I keep bringing it back there. Kat has been amazing all she's done as a one person site manager, and all the volunteers -- and now we've been deluged with many others wanting to help.

It's getting big -- and the both of us are truly exhausted from the long days. It's really like working two jobs -- one unpaid.

And here is coverage neither of us solicited in any way -- we found out it was on MSNBC through David Houston's blog. And don't worry about the lean left, Fox will be covering it next.

http://davidhoustonvoice.com/blog1/2009/09/hear_the_healthcare_bill_updat.html
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Diane

Veni, Vidi, Voci
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Lee Gordon · Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 2:07 pm Post subject:

One of my friends is the director of the Phoenix area branch of Sun Sounds of Arizona, which provides reading services (newspapers and such) to the visually impaired. I told her about hearthebill.org and she has begun to spread the word among her counterparts in similar organizations.
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Lee Gordon
Voice Over Guy
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Diane Havens · Posted: Tue Sep 15, 2009 2:17 pm Post subject:

That would explain all the new subscribers from Arizona!
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Diane

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craigcrumpton · Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 2:44 am Post subject:

I know DB doesn't care for us bumping older threads, but I didn't want to start a new thread just to post this interview with voice actor Bob Jordan discussing his work on hearthebill.org:

http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/3702993
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Diane Havens · Posted: Fri Dec 11, 2009 9:11 am Post subject:

Thanks for the bump, Craig. Bob does us proud. And out of that exposure, we gained a local talk show host as a narrator, and another interview.

We could always use new volunteers, by the way, as the next bill can be unveiled any day now -- and around the holidays, time will be limited for most of our regulars, who have put in many, many hours over the past few months on this. The more that volunteer, the lighter the load on all of us.
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Diane

Veni, Vidi, Voci
http://www.dianehavensvo.com