VOX 2010 – It’s That Crazy Time of Year Again!
“Wow – nice hotel!” Was my first thought after travelling to the Midlands, with my voice over colleague Lindsay Abbott, to VOX 2010. It was Saturday the 9th May and we were there to party all night.
The Barceló Hinckley Island Hotel was far too posh for the likes of me but nevertheless, after being greeted by the excellent guys from Voiceovers.co.uk at reception, I made my way to my room. Even cooler – I had a jacuzzi bath, separate lounge and two TV’s!
Anyway, VOX has been around since 1997 and is really a networking and social event more than anything else – I met most of my colleagues in the main bar and it was only 2.00pm.
VOX was set up as more and more voice overs started to use their own home studios rather than meeting-up at the main recording studios / radio and TV stations to record sessions. So sometimes it’s weird to meet someone who you might have recorded a session with, but have never seen in the flesh. Yep, some pleasant surprises and a few shocks. 😉
The customary Speed Networking was held at 4.00pm and, after a few drinks (of coffee in my case), went very smoothly indeed. The ‘voices’ all moved around the charming Aviary Suite at the sound of a whistle and had about 2 minutes to present their demos and spiel to the ever-patient creatives and producers from a multitude of radio stations. Very sociable and a great way to greet old contacts and meet new ones.
As usual, next came the VOX Awards where the great commercials produced throughout 2009/10 were listened to and framed VOX 2010 certificates were given out – you can see the winners HERE.
Then came the VOX 2010 Gala Dinner which was first class. As usual I managed to sit next to an empty seat where one of my colleagues hadn’t showed-up - which meant two dinners. Woo Hoo! This was followed by VoX Factor. A thinly disguised karaoke hosted by the excellent Peter Dickson. Great fun and deservedly won by “Girls Not Allowed” – followed by a classy disco into the small hours.
At this point, the nice hotel “Triumph Bar” looked rather appealing and I believe I spent some time socialising in there.
Never did get to try that jacuzzi bath – looking forward to next year though.