…stays in Vegas.”

First and foremost…your money! I resisted the urge to gamble on my recent jaunt to Sin City. Not easy for someone who has enjoyed the lure of Lady Luck in the past. Alas, Lady Luck also seems to channel Murphy’s Law whenever I pick up dice or cards. I figured I went there to make money…not lose it!

I’m currently cruising at an altitude of 27,000 feet en route from Toronto to Las Vegas. The sun is pouring through the window to my right and the forced air from the cabin head above is keeping me relatively cool in anticipation of the 102 degree Fahrenheit welcome wagon that awaits in ‘Sin City’. Appropriate little nickname this desert town acquired. It stems from the dubious reputation associated with ‘The Rat Pack’, the mob, bodies buried beyond city limits, gambling, booze and hookers. Nice to know city officials and the local tourism board wanted to recapture that endearing image by recently coining the vice-inducing slogan “What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas!” In other words, we won’t tell if you don’t….just come back again and drop more of your cash.

There’s a distinct irony to being a voice over talent and landing an acting role for television that requires you to be silent on camera!

I don’t mind the SOC roles at all. Television is television and with this new spot going national across Canada the exposure is excellent. I’m only on camera for a few seconds but I’ll take what I can get when it comes along. It’s always a fun way to spend a day and it beats the heck out of heavy lifting.

I created some voice-overs for a wide range of clients over the past couple of weeks including Staples-Business Depot, Stonebridge Life Insurance, Arena Sports Bar & Grill and the University of Ontario - Institute of Technology.For the UOIT project I played the part of a speaking laptop for a university orientation program. I believe I have now reached the pinnacle of my career. Back when I was in university we didn’t have speaking laptops. Come to think of it…we didn’t have laptops. But, of course, when I was a lad I trekked hundreds of miles to school in waist-deep snow. Scaling steep inclines to the University of the Himilayas where mere rations of stale bread and yak’s milk would nourish me before having to build a meagre fire to stay warm. I’d then use a piece of coal to write my thesis on how the absence of Sherpa guides could affect the global economy. Speaking laptops?

Although I don’t consider myself a master wordsmith I do like clever wordplay. Something catchy that will stick in someone’s head. A few years back I honestly thought I hit the target with my own company name. That is, until people started saying the name.

When coming up with a catchy name for my voice over company I wanted to convey a professional image. I needed to communicate what it was I did. Hey?! Image! Voice imaging. Yeah! Radio and television station imaging is part of what I do. How am I different? My voice imaging is unique. I have an edge over the competition. Wait a minute! “Image with an edge”. Hmmm? Nice ring to it. Let’s create a hybrid word and….VOILA! ‘Imedge’. It was the birth of IMedge Communications. I thought to myself, “that’s pretty cool”.

The variety of my projects amazes me at times. One thing is for certain, I can never call the job I have monotonous. Case in point would be these two contracts…

1) I’ve had the opportunity of providing television voice overs for some intense programs such as Power Boat Television, JEEP ‘No Limits’ and ‘The Strongman Challenge’. Well, I just landed my latest high octane voice over gig.