Should you spend the travel and expense of going to a big VO conference? Find colleagues who went last year. Add up all the travel, food, lodging, and conference fees. Can you cover it? Will you have money left for the gear you need or for that pay-to-play site renewal fee or for your cloud backup monthly fee?
If you haven’t set up some bookkeeping yet, do so before you head off to that big VO conference in Far Away City, USA. Make business decisions based on solid information.
Also, have specific goals for yourself at a big conference. Do you want to meet an agent or two, get more info about a specific genre, or get ideas for business cards? And be ready for the unexpected, the AH-HA! moments.
Sometimes you can buy “fly-on-the-wall,” online access to a conference and watch from home. You can see lists of agents and other participants in the online program, and so see people you may want to reach out to.
Of course, there’s no substitute for finding out tips and tricks from fellow voice actors, in the hallways, at dinner, and at the social mixers. And so put those conversations on your list of goals. If you’re too shy to mix it up, you may be missing the greatest value of large VO events.
Oh, and one caution: take care of your “instrument.” Social mixers of voice actors seem to be louder than the runways at McCarren. Don’t come home so hoarse you can’t work for a week!
So get your feet under you here at TVAS. Make lists of what you need to learn about 1) performance, 2) tech, and 3) business. And when you “graduate” and get some experience auditioning and booking jobs, then think about how to continue your learning. There’s a whole world out there for you to pick and choose from.