 Moe Egan and Liz de Nesnera at the VO-BB pre-Mixer gathering:
"Like, there's a party goin' on right here?" Uh huh!
'New York VO Mixer' Warms Up Rainy Night
With High Energy 'Hi's, Hugs, Smiles & Prizes
By John Florian
VoiceOverXtra
Dec. 9, 2009
 Tareq and Michaele Salahi were not on the attendee list, so couldn't get past the door guard last Saturday night at the White Rabbit, a long-bar lounge on Manhattan's Lower East Side.But more than 200 voice talents did get the OK nod and escaped a driving rain into the high-energy warmth of the 2nd Annual New York Voice Over Mixer.
The first smile was from greeter September Day, who with Erik Sheppard and LindZ Reiss organized the event under the umbrella (an apt word for the night) of Sheppard's Voice Talent Productions.
 "We thank everyone for coming out and joining us," says Sheppard (pictured, as he announced door prize winners). "This is not a for-profit venture - this is for fun," he adds. "We try to give people a chance to hang out and have a drink and talk with their peers without any pressure of classes or sales.
"And we love that over 200 other folks think that might be cool, as well!"
Sheppard had another cool move up his sleeve that night: an engagement ring for LindZ (click here for that photo story).
WORLDS OF FRIENDS
 Envision four hours of several hundred friends - from both the physical and virtual worlds - meeting shoulder-to-shoulder ... exchanging hugs, smiles, business cards, experiences and ideas - like the chocolate mic (pictured) that David Kaplan is sending his clients this holiday.Philip Banks jumped "across the pond" from his U.K. studio. Dave Courvoisier shrugged off the rain as a welcome change to always-perfect weather in Las Vegas (do we believe that?). Bob Souer flew up from Charlotte; Elaine Singer and Stephanie Ciccarelli flew down from Toronto; LA's Bob Bergen was conveniently in town, presenting a weekend workshop.
And arriving from Maine, DB Cooper presided over a VO-BB (Voice Over Bulletin Board forum) pre-Mixer party at a nearby restaurant.
(Let us know your travel log, too, in the COMMENTS below.)
Many journeyed home with door prizes.
WORLDS OF SMILES
When pointing a camera, no one had to say, "Smile!" Among the hundreds of flashes throughout the party were these ...
.jpg) Together again! (Moe Egan photo) .jpg) Bob Souer, Philip Banks and September Day (Lee Gordon photo)
 Peter O'Connell, Doug Turkel, Melissa Exelberth and Roy Yokelson
 .jpg) John Florian and DB Cooper (Moe Egan photo) .jpg) Lee Gordon, Mandy Nelson and Bob Bergen (Lee Gordon's camera)  Erik Sheppard: Will you marry me, LindZ?  David and Eileen Kaplan
  Ron 'Graywolf' Levine  Elaine Singer and Mary McKitrick  Tom Dheere and Mark Stewart  Denise LoPiccolo, Frank Rucco, Rob Allen and Marc Bode
 Marjorie Ocho Kouns and Trish Basanyi  Xavier 'X-Man' Paul and Karen Gerstman  Leslie Diamond, Danielle Quisenberry, September Day and LindZ Reiss   DB Cooper and Anthony Mendez  Bob Bergen and Marian Massaro  John Florian and Terry Daniel  Liz de Nesnera, Diane Havens and Adriana Sananes
 Bob Hurley and Lee Gordon  Bob Souer, Pam Tierney and Michael Schoen  Melissa Exelberth and Bobbi Owens  Peter O'Connell and Tony Impieri 
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Pierre la France, French Male Voice Over Talent
moe
Just one small correction, I drove over from Pittsburgh. I didn't fly up from Charlotte this time. But, the main thing I want to say is it's so good to read and see and remember. Thank you for the wonderful write-up!
Be well, Bob
Fantastic job of "covering" the event in a "photo-journalism" fashion. Makes me all the more determined to bring a big Western "Yeee Haaa" to New York the next time around. Hope to met many of you "live and in person" in LA in June. Thanks again, John.
dD
Best, Jeff
Peace! Liz
Dave Courvoisier,
....and yes, I REALLY did enjoy the rain/snow immensely!