US English/Latin American Spanish Voice Talent, Amy, guest blogs about attending the One Voice Conference in Dallas Texas, August 26-29, 2021
One Voice Conference was a welcome change of pace for us voice actors who are usually isolated in our padded rooms. It was a vibrant gathering spot for fellow voice talents, coaches, demo producers, agents and casting directors. It was particularly special for me because I brought my 18 year old who also does voiceovers with me.
There was a LATAM component to this conference, which was beneficial to me because I’m bilingual. I spread my time between the English and Spanish sessions offered. Highlights of the conference were meeting Bill Farmer (voice of Disney’s Goofy) who gave a session with Mario Filio (Spanish voice of Goofy.)
I decided to try some new things at One Voice and stretch as an actor. I went to a dubbing class. Dubbing is an area of voiceover that I’ve never dabbled in and I found it fascinating. I attended a session with a panel of casting directors and agents, some of whom I work with daily by way of auditions, but whom I’d never seen or heard before. There were several take-aways from that session, including the importance of slating or not slating, how many takes they expect, and how they want their MP3s labeled.
One Voice Conference USA 2021 was the first conference I’ve attended since the pandemic. I was impressed with the preventive protocols, including a mask policy, at the elegant Hyatt Regency DFW Hotel. The conference floor was peppered with hand sanitizer stations, and socially distanced tables were in all of the breakout rooms. Organizers took every safety precaution, and I felt safe going into each session.
The event was organized by J. Michael Collins as well as Gravy for the Brain founders, Hugh Edwards and Peter Dickson. Kudos to them for forging ahead with the conference amidst all the obstacles that I would imagine Covid-19 hurled onto their path.
I applaud the production crew for making this first-of-its-kind hybrid conference a nearly seamless event. This monumental task consisted of hybrid sessions, where some panelists were in person on stage, while others were virtual, on a big screen above them. There were a lot of mics to pot up and down and many on screen participants. There were people walking around with mics during the Q&A portions of the sessions, so that those watching the session on-line could hear the questions. It was well thought out for both in-person and on-line attendees. The technical team deserves many props for their efforts.
I’m glad I attended. I’m looking forward to attending future conferences. Hopefully, the state of the world will have improved for the next one so the conference can become even better!