An idea for the con program

[PaladinCecil79]

I've got an idea I'd like to share for next year's convention program.
I attend a lot of voice actors and have discovered that people commonly ask how to get into voice acting.
In my opinion, it's a good question. I think it's great that VAs have been an inspiration and that people who are interested deserve to know the details. But the problem with it is, it gets asked a lot and the panelists have to spend so much time explaining how to do it, that fewer people get to ask their own questions.
What I'd like to suggest is, when you invite voice actors for next year, have them offer their own insight on getting into voice acting and include it fliers to put in the con bags. That way, anyone attending the con can read about it and it'll make room for more questions at the VA panels.

[Prinz Eugen]

This *should* be a cool idea. However, I am thinking a large portion of the con demographic generally DON'T READ, so they will ask the question verbally even though the answer is sitting there in their own convention swag-bag.

It might seem rude for the Guest of Honor to ping-pong back the inevitable question with a friendly equivalent of 'RTFM,' so we should also have a FAQ sign or banner in the room stating that "For {Name of Guest}'s answer to the Frequently Asked Question 'How did you get into voice acting' please read {his/her} detailed remarks in your convention program," optionally followed by this text:

Warning: A LARGE ANIME WASHTUB WILL FALL FROM THE SKY AND *BONK* THE HEAD OF ANYONE ASKING THIS QUESTION IN THIS PANEL.

[Blue Leader]

Warning: A LARGE ANIME WASHTUB WILL FALL FROM THE SKY AND *BONK* THE HEAD OF ANYONE ASKING THIS QUESTION IN THIS PANEL.

Aw man, now you know that I'll have to ask it...

But yeah, the above suggestions sound good to me.

[Washougal_Otaku]

I agree that the original proposal isn't too bad of an idea, but the Prinz makes a good point.  How much of the stuff that is already provided fo the majority of congoers read?  Besides, this type of question is one of the reasons people attend these panels  I'll agree, it does get somewhat old after hearing the (basically) same message repeated over and over, and it can take away from the question time for other people with a more diverse variety of questions, but that's how it goes some times...

[PaladinCecil79]

That is true. It doesn't hurt to try, though.
And if it still got asked, the guest could just say that there's plenty of info on it in the program or con bag.

[Washougal_Otaku]

I suppose so, but knowing how some of them are, they may want to expand upon it.  (I think I'd be tempted to if I were one of them, too).

[Prinz Eugen]

Please don't be upset - but I am going to use this post as an EXAMPLE of what we are talking about.
Take the portion of the quote which I highlit in blue below:

That is true. It doesn't hurt to try, though.
And if it still got asked, the guest could just say that there's plenty of info on it in the program or con bag.

Now look at this excerpt from my quote above:

for the Guest of Honor to ping-pong back the inevitable question with a friendly equivalent of 'RTFM,'

Now, although I wrote a bit colloquially, these two written phrases describe the same event; a guest answering "That information is in the program already."
Get it? This is the question we are discussing: Even though the event was previously written about, it pops up a second time. Exerpt from Endangered Minds, Jane Healy c.1990:



Although this behaviour was new ( and puzzling ) to educators in the 1980s and 1990s, my point is not to bust on PaladinCecil79, but rather point out that we are all like this now.
We're increasingly a tl;dr culture and that it's been over 20+ years now that we should have gotten used to people not giving 100% focus and comprehension to information handed to them in advance (or in the comic above, a single sentence comprising a complete set of instructions.)

The question becomes - how to penetrate that tl;dr veil and get the answer inserted in advance so that it doesn't get asked in the first place.
Any strategies or ideas on how to do that?

My idea was to throw in a little anime-based humor on the situation to make light of it...

[@random]

After thinking about it for a while, I don't know if there is any effective way to penetrate the tl;dr veil and get people to RTFP.

That is, other than for the guest to answer such a question with a humorous version of "RTFP" and then end their answer right there. It means a bit of embarrassment for the asker who didn't RTFP, but the rest of the audience would learn and the probability of a similar question would drop significantly.

I can definitely see what you're saying, that some guests would rather not do so (to avoid even the appearance of hostility). But some guests might get a hoot out of it, and it would be for everyone's benefit. Even the asker's, once the embarrassment fades.

[PaladinCecil79]

Another idea would be instead of putting papers in each program with the advice, just make copies of those papers to put on each seat of the panel room during the voice actor panels.

[chelseahavoc]

cecil i agree but that would waste ALOT  of paper @.@ i like the idea of jokingly saying something about rtfp lol. maybe ask the guest to mention something about it in the opening of thier panel? like "this is how i got started" or something?

[PaladinCecil79]

That is true. We wouldn't have to do it with all the VA panels. We could exclude with panels they did of specific subjects where people would have (or be more likely) to answer questions on-topic and just use them for the regular Q&As.

[AllyKat]

What if it was in a sort of FAQ - Magazine Style? That we put on the website or in the Con Book?

I've got a sneaky awesome little expose' (okay, that makes it sound scandalous, it's really just an awesome interview I did with Todd, Vincent and Chris) that I'm waiting for mid-year to put up with the awesome pictures attached, but would something like that be similarly ideal to people?

For instance, when we announce the guests, if we did a correspondence FAQ with them and posted it to the site? It would definitely include the obligatory How do you/How did you get into VA work question.

[PaladinCecil79]

That's a thought. We could definitely consider that.
It might be good to post what they say on the site and also post them in small fliers for the regular Q&A panels (not VA panels on specific subjects).

[DSaturn]

I think the best way to get this question out of the way of some of the other pannels that the VA's do is to have one pannel with all/most of the VA's and other guests that have any connection with VAing to have a pannel together to answer this question. It is a big enough topic with enough facets and details that I'm sure they could go on talking about it for at least half an hour to an hour.

[PaladinCecil79]

That's a good idea. And if anyone asks it at any other VA panel, the panelist could say that it'll be answered at the voice acting panel.

[veraca]

I agree. Some people asking this question are looking for more than a "go into your drama department and strike it lucky" kind of answers...

Not that the VA would say that, but it'd boil down to that kind of information from what I've heard answered in response to the question.

[AllyKat]

Honestly though, it's not a secret on how to become a VA. It just takes the same (if not more) work as becoming an actor or writer and both of those really boil down to perseverance, marketability and luck. The tools are all out there, and easy to learn on the internet, it's just not something people think about Googling.

Most VA's seem to start out on the Acting track, or working in a less visible position at the recording studios. I've heard of some VA's coming from Radio and local news, but in the end, you have to start with some sort of agent or managing group that can professionally record your demos or help you get marketed to the places you want to be employed at. People like Todd Haberkorn have agencies that plan their convention tours, acting jobs and voice acting jobs. Other people eventually decide to do it themselves or higher a PA to do it in house. But the easiest way to get into any entertainment firm is to start at ground level (getting coffee and pushing papers) and see what the producers are looking for and hone those skills. You can take the route of hiring a vocal coach and getting a agent and that can fast track you to jobs if you've got the talent they need, but you have to be willing to really get out there and make yourself known, by taking any jobs that come your way and get your voice noticed. Voice acting is an up and down sort of thing that one can start doing, and spend years and years getting little to no income from, but through perseverance small jobs can snowball into bigger ones and you could eventually land a role that makes you a name in the industry worthy of calling up for potential castings. It's all about how dedicated you are to the career, just like anything else. But you need recordings of your voice (like a portfolio of your vocal capabilities) and you need a plan and a direction. Pick a company and start looking for minor openings, that's the easiest way to get your name and face recognized.

Each person seems to get into VA work differently though, and it changes with EVERY generation, so the problem would still remain that YMMV in that, what worked for Vic or Sonny, may not work for the next generation of voices.