New Business Development Feature
By Liz Raphael Helgesen

“Selfless service, when unintelligently handled, often creates chaos and complications. It could even cause the opposite of the desired effect.” – Meher Baba

Doing nothing often brings me amazing results.  That’s right, nothing.  My lifetime habit of doing too much was often driven by misguided intention.    And I’ve learned that when I serve others for the wrong reasons, I can actually do harm.  Therefore, I give very careful, thoughtful consideration to those I serve and to the jobs and clients I pursue.
 
On the biggest, universal scale, I want to serve the world doing what I do best—passionately use my gifts to elevate others and make the world a better place.  To achieve this requires thoughtful, precise application of my talents and gifts.  From the tiniest nuances of my most intimate relationships, to the clients I choose and the charity I give, I want to make absolutely certain that I take the right actions, and wisest, most direct course to improve lives and help people to grow.
 
In the days when I was much hungrier for business, I competed aggressively for voice work.  Vying for a job or role, I marketed myself in the most creative of ways, jumping on every opportunity.  I won a lot of business this way, but I also lost a lot of precious energy and valuable time.  Today, I pause and give thought to my purpose, my strengths and G-d’s will for me.  When auditions come across my desk, before I jump in and record, I ask, “G-d, do you want me to be a spokesperson for dog biscuits?”  “Is it your will for me to hock this anti-cellulite cream or chewing tobacco?”  I may not get an immediate answer, but it’s the asking, pausing and sometimes doing nothing for a few hours (or a day) that often brings me to the right action.  After all, I want to help clients achieve their desired results.  It’s possible, when I put aside my ego, that I may not be the vehicle to take them where they want to go or vice versa. 
 
So, with my husband, children, clients and others I support, I surrender my habituated thoughts, attitudes and beliefs before I take action and I allow truth to emerge and guide me.  When I step back, pause and ask how I can best serve them, I give everyone a much more beautiful gift of appropriate, respectful and thoughtful care.    Sometimes this even means doing nothing—not fixing, saving or appeasing others.  This is not always easy, comfortable or pleasant for me, but letting the chips fall where they may is living in right order, peaceful, and so much less exhausting.  Letting a child sit quietly with their consequences or turning down a potential client is sometimes the most respectful, responsible thing to do—for them and for me.
 
When I do nothing, what spirit time does with an hour, a day or a week is amazing.  The shifts that seem to happen all by themselves just blow my mind when I get out of the way.

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Welcome to Sound Ideas

Glen Campbell welcomes all CV Newsletter subscribers and readers with an exciting exclusive offer that you will not find anywhere else. Simply submit your name, mailing address. phone number and email address to Glen monthly...that's all there is to it. First he will offer to send you a Sound Ideas Sampler of many of their terrific products and you will also be eligible to win one of two great Production CD's, Captain Audio (450 sfx) or Mzzz Muzic (200 music tracks). Just click on Glen's name to submit. I have been dealing with Glen at Sound-Ideas for many years both in radio and in VO. He is very knowledgeable and professional about his business and is not a sales-hound if you know what I mean. Give Glen a call anytime at 1-800-665-3000 (within Canada) or 1-800-387-3030 (USA), 905-886-5000 (International). Check out their Blue Plate Specials every month for amazing deals!

Welcome to Sound Ideas Online The world's largest publisher of professional sound effects, royalty free music, and your source for a comprehensive selection of production music and production element libraries.Buy direct from Sound Ideas - our e-commerce Web site offers secure online purchasing of more than 200 different sound effects and stock music products for broadcast, post-production, multimedia, game development and other wireless and entertainment applications.

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Looking up IP addresses(Part 2).....by Rick Gordon

CV Platinum Member Tony Craine contributes to this topic (Thanks Tony)

"Here's where I go to look up IP addresses: http://www.ip2location.com/free.asp
I like this one because it also gives the name of the ISP. Sometimes this is a crucial bit of info, because some companies run their own ISPs, so in those cases you know precisely where they came from.
Tony Craine

Here's another popular IP whois search engine. http://samspade.org/

Pronunciation

On another note how many times have you come across a word that you are not sure of the pronunciation? Well, not considering dialects and various accents you may find this site helpful. It is based on The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language. Just type in your word and click "Go" and it, in most cases, will bring you to a definition, phonetic pronunciation and a small speaker where you can hear their version. Good Luck and have fun. http://www.bartleby.com/61/

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The Funnies

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MIC and Me.......How can I get more work?.....Deb Munro

We’ve all experienced the frustration of feeling like we’re doing everything we can but just can’t seem to get the work. We audition, maybe even get a callback, but then somebody else gets the part. Whether you’re auditioning every day or just weekly in your local city, you know there’s competition out there, but you’re sure you were right for the part. Something is wrong.
You’re not alone........More

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Producer's Corner
This month.....Monitors

Last month we discussed the use of headphones in production, this month let's discuss what to look for in a monitor....

Well - the first characteristic is that it should be sonically balanced. There's no such thing as a flat monitor, but you certainly don't want a monitor to impart excessive or inadequate highs, mids, or lows. Put it this way, whatever frequency range is over-emphasized by the monitors, will be under-emphasized in your productions. This means that if your monitors are excessively bright-sounding, your projects will sound unusually dark and muddy as you will under-compensate the high-frequency range during production.....More

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