Blog – Page 14 – Connie Terwilliger

Social Media Paranoia

Over the past few years, I have posted a few select projects to Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, as well as blogged or distributed Press Releases. Not everything we do is post-worthy, so I have tried to keep the posts to interesting subject matter, great scripts, super production values, that sort of thing.

The intent is to simply remain visible in this sea of data. Stay in someone’s mind in case a project comes up that might require my voice. Not really selling anything specific, just a little social networking.

Well, all that changed yesterday, when I got the email from ACX that my first audio book is ready for people to actually buy on audible.com. “Death of an Obnoxious Tourist” by Maria Hudgins. Now I need to promote it – and ask people to buy it and listen to it. And when they do, they […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:17+00:00March 16th, 2012|Categories: Announcements|Tags: audible.com, audio book, Death of an Obnoxious Tourist, Dotsy Lamb, Maria Hudgins, narrator|

Study the trends, reflect on the past. Do we want to repeat history?

Spanish philosopher George Santayana (1863-1952) said, in The Life of Reason (5 volumes, 1905-6) – “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Well, I guess that depends on how you feel about the past. In some cases, we must not repeat it, and without getting political, we really do need to be vigilant about remembering the past. There are some recent signs that people are forgetting.

If you want to study up and philosophize on our voiceover past, I ran across a post on the Comprehensive Technical Group’s blog that highlights the Duke University digital library of vintage television commercials. They go back some three decades, from the 1950s to the 1980s.

Some of the early spots are worth looking at again. It truly was a different time. Here is a spot for Ansco film – with a jingle, an […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:17+00:00March 13th, 2012|Categories: Marketing|Tags: Comprehensive Technical Group, CTG Atlanta, Duke University digital library, George Santayana|

And Another Thing about FaffCon…

Full disclosure – I am not only a Founding Faffer and a Frequent Faffer, I am a Fanatic Faffer, so I have been part of the wonderful team helping Amy get things organized from soup to nuts.

Part of that team is all of the wonderful sponsors – without their support, FaffCon would simply be too expensive for most people.

Sure, educational conferences such as FaffCon are tax deductions, but you have to actually spend the money in order to get the deductions and there are limits to what pencils out.

So, many many many thanks to our incredible group of supporters. My friend Peter O’Connell (voice talent, bon vivant and also a Frequent Faffer) was part of the team making calls to potential sponsors as well as following up with the many sponsors who simply contacted us and said they wanted to support FaffCon. We […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:17+00:00March 11th, 2012|Categories: Announcements, Business, Marketing|Tags: FaffCon 4, Peter O'Connell|

FaffCon 4 is Fast Approaching!

I keep looking at the list of attendees for FaffCon 4 – Ventura Beach and literally clapping my hands in happiness! In less than 2 weeks, I will board the train from San Diego and head up to Ventura for another energizing weekend with some truly wonderful people.

Many of the people on the list are returning Faffers. More than half are face-to-face friends/acquaintances. Some I know virtually through social media and am looking forward to meeting them in person. Some names are completely new to me at this point in time. By the end of the weekend, they will not be strangers anymore.

http://faffcon.com/whos-coming/

I’m a Founding Faffer and have become more and more “involved” with the event since the first one in Portland. I can say without a doubt that each event has surpassed the previous in every way.

Portland was Perfect!

We were all feeling our way here – figuring out […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:18+00:00March 9th, 2012|Categories: Announcements, Musings|Tags: FaffCon 4, voiceover education|

In Between Sessions

I wish I could say that I was so busy that I had back to back sessions every day and had to squeeze in the bookkeeping, marketing and plant watering. Well, I’m busy enough that I make a living doing this voiceover stuff without the back-to-back sessions. And even if I don’t have projects stacked up waiting, I still have a hard time getting all the other stuff done. But there is simply no way I can actually organize a day with any strict rules on when I am going to do anything.

The day started out like a typical Tuesday. Walk down to the coffee shop for my 7-8 AM solve the world’s problems group, but the phone rang and I had to race back home to get the car to drive out to my mom’s Assisted Living Community to call off the Paramedics. You would think after 7 months […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:18+00:00March 6th, 2012|Categories: Business, Marketing, Musings|Tags: Connie Terwilliger, museum narration, narrator, voiceover, voiceover work|

What Do Voiceover Folk Say?

The flood of S*%t People Say videos isn’t stopping apparently. Just saw one posted to Facebook by my good buddy Trish, the Dish.

This one was done by a bunch of Australian talent who work in studios. Pretty funny stuff. But considering that so many of us work primarily out of our own studios these days – the bits about the color of the cable or asking for a different set of “cans” – just wouldn’t happen.

But I have so many memories of working in the different studios around town. Some with cans that squeezed your head. Some with cans that fell off because they were so loose.

Watch the body language of the “mushroom” bit. I so wanted to hear what she came up with.

And I do that warm up in the shower! Well, not exactly that warm up, but something goofy.

RMK Management Pty Ltd is […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:18+00:00February 27th, 2012|Categories: Musings|Tags: RMK Management Pty Ltd, voice acting, voiceover work|

Happy St. Valentine’s Day Massacre!

I couldn’t help myself, I had to send out a press release announcing the opening of the Mob Museum in Las Vegas, because it includes a couple of videos narrated by myself and my friend Scott Gentle. Both videos were created by Northern Light Productions out of Massachusetts and are examples of what good video should be – from the visuals, to the editing, to the sound.

I had the good fortune to narrate a longer documentary produced by Northern Light Productions called “Weapons of Mass Disruption,” which tells the more than a little disturbing story of cyber warfare. The script was superb and such a pleasure to read.

Anyway, here is the release about the work we did for the Mob Museum. I can hardly wait until my April […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:18+00:00February 14th, 2012|Categories: Marketing|Tags: documentary, narration, Northern Light Productions, Scott Gentle, The Mob Museum, voiceover|

The P2P Balancing Act – Do they pay off?

Some questions were raised recently on one of the social networking sites in my chain about the Pay to Play sites and if they are worth it. I think Online Voiceover Casting Sites are still evolving and will be part of our permanent way of doing things, so figuring out how to make them work is probably a good idea.

Do these sites really produce money for the talent? Well, your mileage may vary, but yes, there is money in them thar electrons. I get work.

I pay for a few of them at this point. Voice123 and eLearning Voices would be the ones that seem to work best for me. Voice 123 is the broad brush and eLearning Voices is the precision instrument.

I have more than several repeat clients now from P2P sites. But, I will say that I am very very picky about what I will audition for. It is […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:18+00:00February 2nd, 2012|Categories: Auditioning, Business, Marketing|Tags: e_learning voices, p2p, Voice 123, voiceover auditioning|

Back to School!

While I work as a voice talent full-time – and have been this time around for the past dozen years or so – I do manage to carve out enough time in the Spring and Fall to teach one class at San Diego City College.

The reason I say “this time around” – is that I started out making a full-time living doing announcing and voiceover work, while also working in my spare time as a producer/writer. I actually gave up my free-lance voiceover work for several years while I worked full-time in a video and film department where I wore lots of hats. Eventually, I chose to stop producing and put the writing on the back burner as well, moving back into voicework full-time. I actually consider those years as “post” post-graduate school for my voiceover work.

Back to the class. It is a basic introduction to voiceover. If you are interested in what goes on […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:18+00:00January 22nd, 2012|Categories: Business, Teaching|Tags: san diego city college, voiceover work|

Nurturing the Garden

In my part of the world, the climate allows me to have a garden all year long. Right now I have lettuce, an eggplant, some tomatoes and a perpetual red Swiss Chard that has been growing for about 2 years now.

But a winter garden requires more attention than a summer garden. In fact, it is a mess right now! The lettuce is starting to get a little nibbled and brown at the edges and has never really grown to expectations. For some reason the little purple flowers on the eggplant have not produced anything. It is sturdy, but barren. The tomato vine is brown and the actual fruit gets to a certain redness and then stops. The Swiss Chard seems to bounce back with just a little water…but the size of the leaves get smaller and smaller. Don’t even look at my banana trees, it is simply not banana tree […]

Connie Terwilliger2018-02-06T06:48:18+00:00January 15th, 2012|Categories: Business, Marketing, Musings|Tags: lessons learned, nurture the garden, voiceover business|

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