I must confess I felt like  I was in the “Twilight Zone”  right after I published Part 1 of this series and then opened my email.

No sooner had I uploaded the file and podcast, but a very intriguing story appeared in the Voices.com Vox Daily that day that  gave me pause. But, which dovetails perfectly with this short series.

Stephanie Ciccarelli was covering the Voice Coaches Marketing Expo conference citing trends in “Big League VO” presented by Billy Serow of New York’s Abrams Artists Agency.

In short, Big League VO has found itself in the Wild West, and is an industry in flux.

There are a lot of new folks to the voice-over world,  fresh out of voice over workshops. They’re filled with hope, enthusiasm….and inexperience.  Some might not even be good business people. They are ever so eager to jump on a national commercial for Bank of America advertised for $50, just to get their foot in the door, and to heck with everyone else.

Many v-o’ s  flame the “Voice seekers” for not awarding them the gig, or turning in a low rating. Many of the flamers are seasoned vets, too.

Then, hark the stern admonishment:

“Voice123 has received complaints from voice seekers due to messages from talents SHOWING DISCONTENT about ratings given to them. Please be aware that this unprofessional behavior hurts the voice over community. “

It is unfortunate to find some internet spaces, the “Wild West” element present in various internet forums, where some of the participants put things in writing that could certainly hurt their efforts of a happy working future in this industry.

Search engines are mostly unable to delete something like a remark or a photo once a post is “out there”. It could come back in unkindly ways.

Without digressing, the point I am conveying is all about what remains constant and never goes out of style.

It’s called professionalism.

It’s about doing your audition, or voice job, saying thank you, and moving on to the next thing. It’s about relationships, being helpful, and treating everyone you meet (even virtually) with dignity and respect.