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Mark Your Calendars! March 28th, between 8:30 – 9:30 p.m. is Earth Hour – the global event created to symbolize that each one of us, working together, can make a positive impact on climate change. For that one designated hour, you simply have to turn off your lights.
Learn more… and get involved at www.worldwildlife.org/earthhour. |
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by Megan Andriulli
and Rob LeFever |
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Here’s a quick Message On-Hold or Voice Prompt tip regarding pronunciation preferences. As we all know, many common words can have various pronunciations (eg: data, route, associates). The same is true for many proper nouns (eg: Caribbean, Oregon).
When the choice presents itself, request the pronunciation option that your callers will be most familiar with. This often depends upon the demographic of your callers or the location of your facility. For example, if most of your callers refer to “Route 6” as “root six” (rather than “rowt six”), be sure to convey this to your Holdcom Script Consultant.
Remember, callers can get confused or distracted from the mission at hand when hearing words pronounced in a manner that is foreign to them.
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by Steve Brown |
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Do you want your project to rock? This month's collection will get it rolling and then some! Inspired To Rock is fully loaded with cool rock instrumentals. From the Ramones-like "Joy Roller" to the U2-inspired "Revolution" this collection covers a lot of ground. Visit www.holdcom.com/music and look under "Uptempo Contemporary", and get inspired to rock!
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Spring ahead a little early this year. Daylight Savings begins on Sunday March 8th. Since the changeover is at 2 a.m. on that Sunday, be sure to adjust your office and car clocks, PC’s, alarms, microwaves, coffee makers, thermostats, anything with a timer. Don’t forget about your phone system and company voicemail too! Contact your phone vendor or IT team to assist you. Most cell phones will automatically update, but check with your service provider for details. ENJOY the extra hour of sun!
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HOLDCOM is active in our community and we invite you to share these upcoming events with your friends, family and coworkers. We're looking for your support, so get involved! Contact us today at info@holdcom.com.
May 2009: American Cancer Society's Relay For Life - May 16, 2009 in Glen Rock, NJ http://www.relayforlife.org/relay/
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Does your company have what it takes to be Holdcom’s “Client of the Month”? We think all our clients do, but Holdcom wants to hear why YOU think so. We’d also like to hear how our Audio Marketing Services have made an impact on your business. Simply send us a quick email, telling us why your organization should be named “Client of the Month”. Our nominating committee will review all the submissions, and your organization may be featured in an upcoming edition of the Holdcom Voice!
The Holdcom Voice is a great way to reach new prospects, highlight recent accomplishments, and promote all your organization has to offer. Send your submissions to megana@holdcom.com today!
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By Joe Pietsch
2009 marks the 25th anniversary of the American Cancer Society’s Relay For Life®. It also is the 2nd year I’m participating in this event, along with my team from HOLDCOM. On May 16th, at the Glen Rock High School, I will walk for my parents, who continue to grow stronger in the face of cancer. My team and many other teams will walk to remember their loved ones lost and celebrate the survivors of cancer.
Although the Relay is in its 25th year, the American Cancer Society has been waging the war against the disease since 1946, when the first million dollars was raised.
In communities across the globe, the American Cancer Society offers people opportunities to fight back against cancer. Relay For Life® empowers you to continue that fight by making a personal pledge to help beat the disease. By participating in Relay For Life® and raising much-needed funds and awareness to eliminate cancer, you are already fighting back. Whether it is using your voice to advocate for all people to have access to quality cancer care, getting recommended cancer screenings and encouraging others to do the same, maintaining a healthy weight through proper diet and exercise, participating in other American Cancer Society events, or volunteering to help people facing cancer in your community, we offer many ways for you to fight back against cancer year-round.
One in three people will be diagnosed with cancer during their lifetime. The American Cancer Society Relay For Life® is doing something about that.
The funds raised at Relay For Life® save lives by funding cutting-edge research, early detection and prevention education, advocacy efforts, and life-affirming patient services.
I invite you to visit Team HOLDCOM’s Relay Home Page and while you’re there, you can join our effort by sending a gift or volunteering your time at our event. Feel free to email me at joep@holdcom.com with any questions.
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| by Aaron Kamphuis |
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Sound Treatment is a neccessary element of recording. A great voice will not sound very good if recorded in a poor environment. Any room will require some degree of sound treatment to capture a good sound.
"Sound treatment" and "sound proof" are not at all the same thing. Sound proofing is very expensive, and involves some serious construction work to build an isolated room within a room to control any sound from getting out of the room. Sound treatment refers to manipulating the reponse of a room to create a sonically balanced spectrum. There are specially designed acoustic panels that are engineered to control frequencies in a particular way. These panels can cost upwards of $25 a square foot, and covering a ten foot by ten foot room can add up quickly.
If you just go out and buy a mic to plug directly into your computer and record in an living room, office, or conference room, you're not going to get very good results. The room may seem quiet, but the mic will pick up all the stray noise and interference generated by lighting, air conditioning, and the computer itself.
Here in our studio at HOLDCOM, we have a specially designed pro quality isolation booth, in addition to state of the art recording equipment, plus a dedicated staff of trained engineers. Combine that with our talented script department and our Client Relations team, and you have a recipe for excellent results and service.
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| by Megan Andriulli |
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Did you know that if you shave 4 minutes off your regular shower, you could save up to 40 gallons of water!
-Install a low flow shower head - they use 2.5 gallons per minute where as older versions use 5 to 7 gpm. You will notice the difference initially, but after a month or so, you won't even remember the blast from the old shower head.
-Do fix (or have fixed) any drips or leaks around the house. A drip can waste 15 gallons a day, 105 gallons per week or a shocking 5,475 gallons per year!
-Turn off the tap when you brush your teeth and don't leave it running while you wash dishes.
All that water that you will be saving can alleviate the strain on water-less areas like Southern California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico.
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The Holdcom Voice’s March 2009 Spotlight is shining on… Connie! We took some time to get to know Connie and invite you to do the same.
Holdcom Voice: How did you get into voice over work?
Connie: Being a singer and radio personality, it was a natural move.
HV: And when did that happen?
Connie: I’ve been doing voice over work for around 18 years.
HV: What is the most exciting/interesting aspect of working as a voice over talent?
Connie: It’s actually more fun when you get to go into the studio and meet clients, but around 50% of my business is Remote. Most of the time, I just use my natural voice, but it’s fun when I’m asked to do characters and get outside of myself.
HV: While you have a moment of our readers’ attention, is there anything you’d like to share about yourself with them?
Connie: Well, I’m a music buff. Love listening to it and participating in it. Love to travel and meet new people. I’m a published author, I won an award for having the best morning radio show in Nashville, TN in 1998, and I’m the nationwide voicemail operator for a major telecommunications company. If I could have a penny every time someone in the world called their voicemail, I’d be retired and have that villa in Tuscany.
Interested in sampling Connie’s voice? Visit www.holdcom.com/voices.
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| by Ralph Gioseffi |
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In our business of Audio Production, we work with words. First we write them, then record them, so it’s imperative they all serve a purpose. It’s our obligation to eliminate the “junk” words dancing around our scripts, flirting with important words and stealing their attention. Ken Smith’s book, Junk English, presents a compelling list of those that have invaded our society’s vocabulary.
Smith breaks them into groups: “Invisible Diminishers” are favorites among Advertisers trying to promise more– Virtually Spotless, Helps Prevent Hair Loss, As Much as 50% off. Studies show that we read ahead and skip words. Companies are anticipating we’ll remember the latter of these phrases, not the former.
“Paddings” are filler words used to mildly emphasize nouns and verbs: I literally haven’t slept in days, it’s basically the easiest way to drive there, this actually tastes better. Take away the words in italics and your idea is still getts across.
Another observation by Smith is sports terminology used as synonyms. He writes, “Timeout replaced break (let’s take a timeout), teamwork instead of cooperation, and those who fail to meet standards did not make the cut.” When did we all become sports announcers?
I highly recommend this book. It will convince you to evaluate the way you speak and write emails. We are all guilty of using these unnecessary words that, as the author states, “mute the loudest parts of our sentences.” Brilliant. |
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