Success Breeds Solitude Over the last few years, being a professional voiceover talent has become more and more isolating. And in most cases, the more successful you become, the less time you spend around like-minded people. This can be difficult for just about anyone, but maybe more so for creative, artist-types. We tend to […]
A little more than three weeks from now, professional voiceover talent from all over the country will spend a weekend together in Charlotte, NC at the first-ever Faff Camp conference. Faff Camp is a bit like the wildly successful FaffCon series of events, only with a bit more structure. The days following the event […]
It’s becoming a common refrain in all sorts of creative endeavors: some established, experienced talent are complaining about the vast numbers of newcomers to their field. I’ve heard it from web designers, graphic designers, copy writers, and yes, voiceover talent. In a recent blog post titled True Professionals Don’t Fear Amateurs, entrepreneur, marketer and author Seth […]
I get it. FaffCon’s unorthodox nature can be difficult to understand. Its brilliance isn’t immediately obvious. In fact, the whole concept of an UNconference runs counter to convention. (And counter to conventions, for that matter.) Like so many things, an UNconference like FaffCon is much easier to understand once you’ve experienced one. If you were at FaffCon 1 you can stop reading now, and I know that I’ll see you at FaffCon 2 in February because you get it, too. If you weren’t there, let me try to help you imagine the experience.
Part 1 of this post gave you some background regarding voice over Mastermind Groups and how they can be helpful for voiceover talent. Now we’ll get down to the nuts and bolts:
GETTING STARTED
How many members will your group have? Four to eight seems to be the most common size. With too many members, meetings take too long. And with too few members, the resources just aren’t there.
When, where, and how often will meetings be held? How long will your group work together?
As I write this, a soft breeze is rustling the palm fronds, and a small pod of dolphins repeatedly breaks the surface of Blackwater Sound with their dorsal fins. The solitude of this beautiful spot on the bay side of Key Largo has become a favorite weekend escape for my family and me.
At the end of a week filled with the realities of daily life ¬– bills, taxes, car repairs, chaperoning the kid’s field trip and trouble-shooting the hum in my left studio monitor – sitting on this dock, watching the day go by and reeling in the occasional mangrove snapper is just what I need to prepare for the week ahead.
Solitude can be good. Solitude can be great. But when it comes to a business that involves as much networking as voiceovers, solitude can be very isolating.
