Last night I had the opportunity to spend some time with one of my Faffcon friends Peter O’Connell. If you haven’t heard of Peter, than you simply haven’t been paying attention. Peter is a fantastic voice talent, coach and marketing genius… and a very funny guy! He had me laughing all through dinner. Peter and I had talked years ago but met for the first time at Faffcon2 in Atlanta. He promised that if he ever made it to Asheville he would let me know and we would try to get together. Being a man of his word, we met yesterday and had a great time.
I gave him a tour of ProComm Voice’s Studios and then brought him out to my home studio. After that, Peter, my wife and I went out to dinner and talked at length about our kids, travels, histories and of course our voiceover work. Aside from all the laughter, I learned a great deal from our conversations. I’m very thankful to have had this opportunity to hang out with Peter and look forward to many more in the future.
As voiceover talent and studio people we spend a great deal of our time in quiet, dark and secluded spaces. It can be difficult to find time or make the effort to get out and connect with other people in the industry. The internet and all of the social media groups, while helpful, are no substitute for face to face interactions with colleagues. This is why “getting outside of your bubble” is so vital to your career and probably your overall well-being.
Meeting people who are not only helpful to your career, but who can also become lifelong friends is probably the most rewarding part of Faffcon and other industry events. I strongly encourage anyone who is serious about working in the voiceover industry to get out there and participate.
Thanks Peter for coming down to Asheville and hanging out with us. I look forward to seeing you in Hershey in September. I also hope to meet many more pros who I can learn from, perhaps teach and most importantly, who I will also be able to call good friends.
By the way, if Mr. O’Connell makes it out to your town and you are trying to decide where to go for dinner, take him somewhere that has rack of lamb. The kitchen ran out right before they got his order… that steak sure looked good though!
