When you go to Las Vegas, you want to share it with friends, right? And I’m hip to popular branding statement: “what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas”…but we all know that’s not true.
In fact, let me just tell you what me and my friends did in Las Vegas last weekend. We sat around and talked. Sounds like fun, huh? So I guess you’d have to be some kind of weirdo to get your kicks this way in sin city. Oh, a few of us found diversions in the off-hours, but overall, we took care of business…WoVO business.
World-Voices Organization is 3½ years old. It’s a pup compared to other non-profits. Yet in just the last 3 weeks, we’ve gained almost 40 new members. Now we’re closing in on 600, and we were worried we wouldn’t make 500 by the end of the year!
The group has its share of growing pains. We do very well exchanging info daily on our private digital channel, but some things are best handled in person. We decided in late Summer we needed some face time. Luckily, all but one could make it.
Pam Lorence Skyping-in to talk about International
The executive board consists of 10 members and a president emeritus to break tie-votes. We met for two long days of discussion. Some stuff was decided, other issues were advanced, and still others were left open. We knew from the start this weekend of strategic planning was only the beginning, and we would continue the work well into the future.
Amazingly, what we began in April of 2012 had a definite place in the pantheon of voice-acting. The time had come for something like WoVO — an industry trade association to funnel the will of a widely disparate community of freelance voice-actors. We’re happy it’s us…you, me, we…all of us. But it turns out building an organization from scratch — even a non-profit — takes immense resources, patience, time, volunteers, ideas, planning, and…well…organization.
Here’s a short list of issues we worked on:
- Voiceover.biz – the look
- Voiceover.biz – the functionality
- Voiceover.biz – dealing with scale
- Voiceover.biz – seeking paid staff
- marketing voiceover.biz
- international growth and outreach and structuring international chapters
- managing cultural/international rates and compensation expectations
- revamping the org’s infrastructure (eg: committees) for greater efficiency
- deciding to use an information officer and a social media czar
- handling membership troubleshooting (customer service)
- considering when hiring a paid Exec Director is feasible (and eventually other paid staff)
- planning 2016 goals, 2020 outlook, and building steps in between
- executive board burn-out. How to avoid
- efficiently tapping into member ideas, passion, and energy
- WoVOCon
- conceptualizing the needs of voice-actors in the near and not-so-near future
- telling our story to the right people
- advocating/educating for better rates
- building WoVO’s message with video, podcasts, promotionals, and even greater outreach
- interfacing (in whatever way we can) with SAG-AFTRA
- choosing conference to attend, and how to represent WoVO
- possibly developing CRM software specifically designed for Voice Actors
- interfacing with other professional organizations tangential to our interests
- brainstorming ways to boost associates to professional ranks through mentoring
- examining how other successful non-profits do it
Yeah. That’s the short list.
No, we didn’t cover everything we wanted to, but we’re pretty happy with the ground we covered.
In EVERY conversation we talked about how this org can serve its members. You.
So, if there’s a concern, and idea, a passion you have that you think is not being answered. Now’s the time. Expect that you might also get a call from us asking for help on this issue or that problem. We know the strength of WoVO is the talent of its members.
Watch for some fun/interesting/smart/engaging/and even provocative things to come out of this retreat in the not-too-distant future.
CourVO
