Here is a picture of the SaVoa booth at the VOICE2010 conference in Los Angeles.

Attendance at the event is around 400+ and the booth is in an area set aside for other exhibitors which is getting good daily foot traffic.

Displayed on the table are promotional mousepads and pens with the SaVoa logo printed on them.

A number of SaVoa members in attendance at the conference are intermittently manning the booth.  We’ve also set out a sign-up sheet for people to put their name and email address, with a promise of future contact.  The sign-up response has been way beyond what most of us expected.

These are all potential new members of SaVoa, and the SAB (SaVoa Advisory Board) will be determining how to handle these new “leads” at our next regularly scheduled conference call in the next week.

respectfully submitted,

Dave Courvoisier (SAB member)

The campaign was largely successful, and has increased the subscribers of this free community to a total of 54.

SaVoaPro is open only to accredited members of SaVoa (if you have a shield and a number, that’s you!)

However, 54 is less than half of our total membership.  SaVoaPro.org was devised with the hope that members would find this a convenient, safe, and easy virtual community space to share, discuss, debate, learn, and network.

If you are reading this as a SaVoa member, please consider joining us.  Refer back to a newsletter recently sent by Thom Wilkins to see the procedure for joining (you only need to email Dave Courvoisier your passcode from the newsletter, then go to the site for a 3-minute registration process)

Over the weekend, a name was randomly drawn to pick a winner for the SnowBall contest.  I’m happy to report that LISA RICE  is our winner.

Be nice, now!  Call Lisa and congratulate her, OK?

Dave Courvoisier
SaVoaPro Admin & SaVoa Advisory Board member

More than $200 was raised.

Those of you who did NOT win the raffle, but still hope to go to VOICE2010 should take advantage of the 15% discount being offered by VOICE2010 for all SaVoa members.

That offer is only good until April 25th, though…so you’ll have to act quickly.Please refer to your earlier SaVoa newsletter for the special code to enter during the registration process to get your discount.

Plans for a high-profile presence at VOICE2010 continue.  If you would like to help man the SaVoa booth while you’re at VOICE2010, please contact one of the SaVoa Advisory Board members.

You can see that designation on the member list by clicking “Members” in the menu bar above.

Also, please make SaVoaPro.org your home for social networking with your peers in SaVoa…more than 50 members now are engaging in conversations there.respectfully submitted by Dave Courvoisier

_________

As a voice actor, you’ve probably heard that acronym word “SaVoa” floating around here ‘n’ there.

Well, SaVoa (Society of Accredited Voice Over Artists; a non-profit) is all about raising the level of professionalism of voice talent. It’s founded, organized, and peopled by and for voice-over artists.

WHAT’S NEW …

Recently, SaVoa launched an Advisory Board and elected a new president.

The Advisory Board meets monthly, and is made up of Dave Courvoisier, Scott Diskin, Dustin Ebaugh, Dan Lenard, Rafe Sampson, Rob Sciglimpaglia, and Thom Wilkins (Director).

The new president is founding member Rowell Gorman. You can see a letter from Rowell on the SaVoa.org web site here:

http://savoa.org/blog/savoa-announces-new-president

The changes have resulted in an infusion of energy and ideas into the organization. And following, are some significant recent moves:

AFFILIATE PROGRAM

An Affiliate Program has been launched for the key areas of:
Consultant
Casting Agent
Coach, and
Professional Services
Affiliate agreements have already been inked with George Whittam of Eldorado Recording; Rob Sciglimpaglia of All In One Voice LLC; Edge Studio, VO Planet, VOX agency, and Sweetwater Sound.

SaVoa members enjoy inside tracks and professional discounts or rewards when approaching these affiliates for a relationship.

ONLINE COMMUNITY

An exclusive - SaVoa members only - online community has been launched as a virtual space for online interaction, modeled after the ning VU (VoiceoverUniverse.com) web site. It is available to any SaVoa member in good standing.

The free interchange of ideas and information at SaVoaPro.org is encouraged.

TECH STANDARDS

SaVoa is reviewing its policies of what constitutes the universally high standard of sound quality that its members should meet.

Currently, the review is being generally modeled after the accepted standards being used by National Public Radio and the BBC.

PEER REVIEWS

SaVoa is also streamlining the peer review process - incorporating organizational changes that will make the process simple, yet deliver effective, fair applicant reviews.

FOREIGN APPLICATIONS

The SaVoa board is seeking a workable solution to accept the growing number of applications from those who speak a different native language than English.

This hinges on finding a sufficient peer review pool.

SaVoa & VOICE 2010

We want to increase awareness of SaVOA in order to grow our membership, and also to explain our mission.

At the moment, this is taking shape around a decision to have a high profile at the VOICE 2010 conference in June in Los Angeles.

A mutually beneficial agreement between SaVoa and VOICE 2010 is in hand, and will rely on strong support from current members.

SaVoa believes VOICE 2010 offers a wonderful opportunity to reach out to the specific population of attendees - specifically, voice actors who have reached a level of professional proficiency and feel they are ready to be successfully evaluated by their peers, and agree to abide by the SaVoa guild standards.

VOICE 2010 is a unique gathering of voice actors from across the nation and other countries, who aspire to achieve professional success in the voice-over field.

Note: For a $100 discount on your VOICE 2010 tuition, just click here and insert the Registration Code: VOXTRA (all caps).

PROFESSIONAL BENCHMARKS

Bricklayers, contractors, dental hygienists, teachers, CPA’s - even beauticians - must pass certification, proving they meet practicing standards. They enjoy professional status.

Voice actors generally do not, and with the emerging “Wild West” of the Internet, it’s been difficult to know exactly who you were hiring, until recently.

SaVoa believes that establishing professional benchmarks will help standardize the authenticity and define criteria that we as voice-over professionals aspire to.

STEADY GROWTH

Several years ago, founding SaVoa members pulled together professional benchmarks, business practices and ethical standards for voice actors.

The full set of bylaws, accreditation standards, FAQs, a full listing of members, and more can be found at the SaVoa.org web site.

Growth in the organization has been steady.

SaVoa is a guild, never intended to be a union or an agency. It sets minimum standards for acceptable audio quality and uses a peer review process to qualify its prospective members.

Membership is for a two-year period and costs $75.

RESPECT FOR VOICE ACTING

SaVoa members feel these are exciting times for this organization, and that SaVoa’s emergence is a natural outcome of a profession finding new respect as a specialized and burgeoning workforce in entertainment and advertising.

Applications for membership are readily welcomed, and will be promptly processed.

This community is now over 128 strong, and helping to define the identity of what it means to be a voice actor in an industry that is ever-changing.

After all, if a plumber can tout accreditation in his trade, why not a voice actor?

For more about the organization and how to join, please visit http://SaVoa.org.

    You’ve been hearing from members of the SaVoa Advisory Board in the last few weeks about VOICE 2010.  Many of you are familiar with this conference, and some of you have even attended past conferences.

    VOICE 2010 is scheduled for the first weekend in June, which puts it roughly 9 weeks away.  As an organization, SaVoa is moving to make our presence known to the attendees at VOICE 2010.  This is consistent with our goals, good for our growth, and just smart marketing.

    SaVoa is also encouraging members to attend VOICE, and we’ve been working with James Alburger and Penny Abshire (the founders of VOICE) to get the best deal possible for SaVoa members.

    From now until April 25^th, all SaVoa members are eligible for a 15% discount in the price of attending VOICE 2010.

But wait, there’s more!!!
In order to achieve our goals at VOICE 2010, SaVoa will incur some expenses. We’ll have a booth for attendees to visit for personal contact with attending SaVOa members, along with small promotional items for all attendees to help promote SaVoa. We need your help to offset those expenses. If would like to donate to the effort, you can make a $20 donation and you will automatically be entered in a drawing – exclusive to SaVoa members only – for one free registration to the entire conference!

    The deadline for the $20 drawing is April 15^th.  Click on this link: http://www.savoa.org/donate to make your donation. The winner will be announced on the 15^th.

    After the drawing for the free registration is held on April 15^th, if you aren’t the winner, you can apply your $20 donation to your registration fee on top of the 15% discount.  Again, your donation helps defray the cost of our presence at VOICE 2010.

We hope you’ll take advantage of this special pricing. Feel free to contact your SaVoa Advisory Board member if you have any questions, or contact Dave Courvoisier at CourVO [at] CourVO [dot] com 702-610-6288 or Dan Lenard dansvoice [at] verizon [dot] net  716-689-8179. If you’ve ALREADY registered for VOICE 2010, and you’re a SaVoa member, please contact us and we’ll make sure you get the discount.  

Please see check your recent e-mail from Board Member Thom Wilkins for the special SaVoa member registration codes and links you can use to get your discount…OR log onto http://savoapro.org to see the instructions.

We’ll see you at VOICE 2010!

respectfully submitted by Dave Courvoisier & Dan Lenard