Have you ever become part of something that matters, and you wanna do it right, and many many others will be impacted by your collective decisions?
That’s where the World-Voices Organization lives.
Dustin Ebaugh, Dan Lenard, Randye Kay, Chris Mezzolesta, Andy Curtis, Ann Richardson, myself, and legal counsel Robert Sciglimpaglia talk every day. We email, we phone, we HangOut on Google, and we text each other ALL THE TIME. Others, who are not on the board, but are volunteers on committees also interface with us and offer suggestions.
CERTAIN PROGRESS
We’ve been doing this for almost a year. That time has seen fits and starts of progress. We feel this urgency to get this project off the ground, and at each stage, we learn, grow, and knock heads, and discuss, and search our hearts, and grapple with tough issues.
Despite that sense of urgency, even greater is the determination to DO. IT. RIGHT. I know, I know it sounds cliché, but it’s absolutely true.
Through it all, we’re absolutely floored that you — the community of Voice Over people — are so understanding and patient. We owe you one big THANK YOU.
We also feel like we owe you explanations and updates. That’s what this is.
A SHIFT IN PURPOSE
As an initial offshoot of what we considered to be a failing accreditation association, The Exec Board decided to take what we thought was that fairly workable vision, and improve on the organizational process by launching WoVO. What we found was that SaVoa’s vision was also untenable.
That realization came out of months of wrangling and feedback from people we really respect. Hence, our biggest conceptual adjustment is this: WoVO is NOT pursuing a direction as an accrediting, or certifying, or endorsing entity. There may be merit in such a position, but there are so many more opportunities in the new direction we’ve chosen.
INDUSTRY TRADE ASSOCIATION
Every field of endeavour matures to the point where it reaches critical mass, contributes to the culture, AND gains all the accoutrements of a legitimate business enterprise. Just look at any profession that enjoys general acceptance: teachers, nurses, engineers, carpenters, sales, etc… and you’ll see an industry trade association.
Here’s Wikipedia’s definition of a trade association: “An industry trade association participates in public relations activities such as advertising, education, political donations, lobbying and publishing, but its main focus is collaboration between companies, or standardization. Associations may offer other services, such as producing conferences, networking or charitable events or offering classes or educational materials. Many associations are non-profit organizations governed by bylaws and directed by officers who are also members.”
This is what we propose to achieve with WoVO.
Apply to be a member, and you will receive a response that includes some of the following ideas:
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Through chapters and national programs, WoVO works to:
Inform and educate: about best practices, standards for ethical conduct and professional expertise
Communicate voice acting’s importance to the public and business leaders about the power of professional quality voicing and recording.
Inspire through articles, portfolios and recognition of achievement and excellence.
Represent the profession through a network of chapters and independent professionals.
Stimulate discussion of the industry through events, social media and websites
We’re committed to professional Voice Over—and to our members who create, inspire and raise the level of excellence in our profession. WoVO’s members are the lifeblood of the organization.
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At the moment, World-Voices Organization has an online presence that is in development (that’s a nice way of saying we know it’s a bit confusing)
http://www.World-Voices.org is our original site, with a minimal amount of info. Right now, it basically points to this site: http://www.WorldVO.com.
WorldVO.com is a wideopen social media community site available to any and all voice-actors who want to sign-up for free. Our absolutely genius IT expert: voice actor Andy Curtis (from Australia) has developed this site from scratch, and we think it’s tops. Go and sign-up and feel free to visit all you want. We’re closing in on 200 participants now. Our vision is that this site will be a value-added offshoot of WoVO.
Believe it or not, there is yet another site — not yet public — that will be the definitive World-Voices site, including membership sign-up and announcements…representing the center of our Trade Association. This site will likely be announced this week.
If any of this has appeal to you, we’d love to have you on board. Email me at [email protected], and I’ll put your name on the next list of invites.
We all know the word ‘voice’ has several definitions. We think WoVO lives up to the best of those definitions in more ways than one: A World of Voices.
CourVO
