VO-BB - 19 YEARS OLD!

ccpetersen · Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 12:00 pm Post subject:

"the people that run the P2Ps are in it to make money…. plain and simple.. those sites are not public services for the betterment of the VO Community. It is obvious they are re-structuring Voices.com more for the higher end user.. "

I read that as "ripping off the higher end user" by offering something that looks "exclewwwwsive" for an outrageous amount of money, thus upping the snob value while delivering less "service". Kind of like charging Lexus prices for a beat-up VW that needs work and can't go more than 25 mph.
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Charter Member: Threadjackers Local 420

Mike Harrison · Posted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 1:03 pm Post subject:

The people behind the original two P2Ps have no experience in VO or any directly-related industry, but were/are marketing (and IT) gurus who saw an opportunity in the form of a growing VO community and came up with a way of making money from many members of that community.

That is all.
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

audio'connell · Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 6:18 am Post subject:

I stumbled into a P2P discussion recently with a good friend.

We and some others were laughing about the $5000 super titanium voices.com membership level. But this person did not laugh. This person mistook our incredulousness about how - with this new membership level- voices.com was (in our opinion) scamming the regular members by obfuscating their access to leads.

This individual actually hoped everyone left voices.com so this person could continue to get leads and jobs from the site as this person has for years. This individual has payments on tuition, cars and mortgages that even the low paying jobs add up to meet.

We clarified that our point was that this new membership could easily hurt this person's potential to do that and that the obvious money grab here was a slam to the foundational members that allowed that site to grow.

So obviously there continues to be a sensitivity out there that needs to be considered whether the service holds any personal value to us. I myself think I'm not always as considerate of that as I should be. That's the problem with being only partially omniscient.

As to whether the P2Ps have hurt the voice-over business - my shorter answer with a longer examination that I'll save for a day when somebody really has nothing to do is not yes -- but hell yes!
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- Peter
audioconnell Voice Over Talent
Your friendly, neighborhood voice over talent

Philip Banks · Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 6:54 am Post subject:

I know "this person" and "this person" refuses to be distracted by inane arguments with a cry of "Hell, I'll do it fer a hundred bucks" because "this person" doesn't need the moral high ground "this person" needs the money which is why this person concentrates on just doing the job.

Casting = The first person who sounds ok and will do the job for what we're offering gets the gig.

That'll do productions Ltd

There's a good living to be made doing them. The focus of most P2Ps are ..That'll do Productions. In the Dollar Shop everything is $1 you just buy what you want and nobody competes on price. I have a Rolex for sale guess in which store you WON'T find it.

Close the P2Ps down tomorrow and by Thursday the great unwashed will be griping about how Haddock sales in Buckie are impacting their way to make a living as VOs.

todd ellis · Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 8:58 am Post subject:

don't get me started on P2F haddock sales!
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"i know philip banks": todd ellis
who's/on/1st?

Lee Gordon · Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 9:51 am Post subject:

Todd FTW.
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Lee Gordon, O.A.V.
Voice President of the United States
www.leegordonproductions.com
Twitter: @LeeGordonVoice

Mike Harrison · Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 10:08 am Post subject:

I purchased a haddock from this very boutique not half an hour ago and it's stone dead.
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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

Philip Banks · Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 10:47 am Post subject:

Twas beaten to death by members of the so-called Voice Over Underclass. 17,000 versus one Haddock? Poor Frazer didn't stand a chance. I should've distracted them with a 25% off my "How to eat Cullen Skink like a TV promo pro" class or the opportunity to audition for an audio book NAH ration job. 2 volumes of 854 pages "Military Aircraft of the American Civil War"

Lizden · Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 3:38 pm Post subject:

You all make me laugh!

Today I called v-dot-com and told them to remove the auto-renew that will be coming up in April.

We'll see if suddenly something changes, although I doubt it and am moving on.
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Liz de Nesnera O.A.V. ~ Livin' The VO Dream!
English/French Bilingual VO w/ ISDN
HireLiz.com / liz@hireliz.com

Bish · Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 3:56 pm Post subject:

I cancelled via stopping the auto renew last year. Get it in writing. I did, and I had no problem (I simply asked them to confirm our conversation via email, which they did). Someone on FB (Johnny George) is currently very upset because Voices didn't cancel the auto-renewal after agreeing to do so via the phone. It all ends up as a he said/she said and a lot of time and effort wasted to put it right.

Remember, a verbal agreement is not worth the paper it's not written on.
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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.

Mike Harrison · Posted: Tue Sep 01, 2015 4:42 pm Post subject:

I don't like auto-renew for ANYTHING. Yes, it can make things easy for us only if/when we remember that the renewal will take place. And I also believe companies offer it knowing that sometimes it will renew when we may not want it to (as was the case several years ago with a certain talent agency who never even disclosed that there WAS an auto-renew), making things better for them. That's when it can be far more time-consuming and aggravating for us to try to un-do it which, many times, is not possible.

I say: bring back the days when we can say "The check is in the mail." Laugh

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Mike
Male Voice Over Talent
I have taken leave of my sensors.

Lizden · Posted: Wed Sep 02, 2015 7:11 am Post subject:

SoundsGreat-Elaine Singer · Posted: Thu Sep 03, 2015 3:45 pm Post subject:

Yes, I had a problem when I tried to cut myself loose despite the fact that I cancelled the auto renewal. After emails and phone calls they gave me my money back. But, because this Canadian company charged this Canadian in American funds, I lost out on the transaction. There is a Canadian company called Simply Audibooks and I loved that they charged $25 in American funds if you were in the US and in Canadian funds if you were in Canada. I don't know if they still do this.
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Elaine
The Youthful Mature Voice (Emeritus)
Senectitude is not for the faint of heart.

HeatherMasters · Posted: Fri Sep 04, 2015 11:18 am Post subject: Grateful

Hi All,
New to the forum, but just wanted to give an expansive thank you to you all for this discussion. I'm an Audiobook Narrator in Alaska, and as such, my options are pretty limited. I love audiobooks, and so far the availablity of work is just wonderfully overwhelming, but I am looking to branch into other VO fields to avoid burnout and have been toying with Voices a bit, thinking I would get a few clients there, and then go local. This discussion has been very eye opening, and delightfully witty and clever, which is a fantastic bonus...

Thank you for sharing your wisdom. It is invaluable
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Heather

www.heathermastersvo.com

Bruce · Posted: Sat Sep 05, 2015 9:01 am Post subject:

Welcome aboard Heather!

Bruce
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VO-BB Member #31 Enlisted June, 2005

I'm not a Zoo, but over the years I've played one on radio/TV. .