The MCAICT board members would like to wish you all a safe and happy holiday followed by a successful year of new projects and ventures. Keep connected through our chapter meetings and online newsletter.

We look forward to seeing you in 2008!

Please make a note of these meeting updates as we kick off plans for 2008:

• There will be no January meeting.
• February’s meeting will take place on the 3rd Wednesday, February 20, at Gibbs College in Norwalk. The topic will be “new media.” Details will follow in January.

Kindly refer to our “Meeting Topics and Dates” for details on our other meetings in 2008.

Ads are available in this online newsletter as follows:

Top right large ad: $20 per issue
Size: 260 X 150 pixels

All other banner ads between stories: $10 per issue
Size: Up to 540 X 60 pixels

Checks should be made out to: MCAICT and sent to:

Gulnar Jeffereis
7 Country Way
Bethel, CT 06801

Artwork should be e-mailed to Mark Hastings at: mark@palacedigital.com

The deadline to submit your ad is the 15th of the month before the release of the newsletter – i.e. January 15th for the February newsletter. Your ad will appear in the next newsletter following receipt of your check.

Our MCAICT member meetings are usually scheduled for the second Tuesday of the month (note change for February*). Please mark your calendars and visit our Web site for updated information along the way. Plan to join us!

We welcome the following professionals who recently joined MCAICT as new members:

John Florian is a voice actor and former publishing exec who is now
combining those two fields and loving his dream job.  He is founder and webmaster of www.VoiceOverXtra.com, an online resource and web portal for voice actors, offering directories, calendars, how-to content, free newsletters, classifieds and more. Contact: johnflorian@VoiceOverXtra.com or 203-459-8834.

Dan Giglio is a senior at Southern Connecticut State University, planning to graduate in January 2008 with a bachelor's degree in Communication.  His main areas of interest are video editing, graphic design, and animation. He can be reached at gigliod1@southernct.edu or 203-506-2887.

Tom Toomey, of Roaring Brook Productions, LLC, is a videographer, editor and steadicam operator.  With a bachelor’s degree in Graphic Design Management, a master’s in Technology Education and a master of fine arts in Visual Arts, his work has also included large projection video art pieces. He can be reached at 203.733.8827 or robrpro@yahoo.com.  Visit online at www.rbp-8x10.com.

Alan Varner has been a successful New York City recording engineer, producer and studio designer for over 30 years.   During that time he lent his voice to some of the radio and television commercials he worked on.  Recently, Alan entered the voice-over field full-time.  His credits include Haagen-Dasz, Petsurance, Miller, K-Mart and Realestate.com.  Visit http://alvarner.voices.com to listen to his reels.

We welcome news from our members!  Please e-mail information and a photo, if available, to dploch@snet.net and we will consider it for publication as space allows.  Some editing of your information may be necessary.

MCA-I International
A Journey to the Center
By Steven Washer
President-Elect CT Chapter

In mid-September, our chapter sent me to Milwaukee to an MCA-I leadership conference. It was eye-opening, to say the least, as my knowledge of MCA-I had really been limited to the activities of my local chapter. It was an opportunity to integrate my knowledge of local events with the greater purposes of the international organization. What follows are my impressions of how I think our local chapter will be consorting with national in the months and years to come. (More...)

Who Gets Work in CT and Why?
Accomplished Panel Reveals the Secrets That Will Get You Hired By Steve Washer

In the rich tradition of under-promising and over-delivering, November’s meeting overflowed with a diversity and richness of information that the attendees no doubt found revolutionary and eminently practical. If you attend no other meeting this year, your dues would have been very well spent at this one. So let’s do the recap.

Billed as a basic how-to for constructing a demo reel, we quickly learned from our distinguished panel of experts that the reel is but the tip of the iceberg when it comes to getting that employer to say “Yes!” (Click here to read Steve’s account of the panelists’ tips – topic by topic.)

October Meeting Focused on Tax and Accounting Tips for Media Professionals

The October 9th meeting of MCAICT held at HB Group (www.hbrentals.com) in North Haven focused on accounting and tax issues for media professionals.  Representatives from Kostin, Ruffkess & Company, LLC, (www.kostin.com) an MCAICT member company of business advisors and public accountants, shared ideas, facts and tips on a number of topics ranging from sales tax, property tax and income tax to updates on tax credits affecting our industry.

There are gray areas and some of the tax guidelines can be confusing.  For a more detailed explanation, printed copies as well an audio version of the presentation are available free of charge.  Please contact Gulnar Jeffereis at gulnar@gjpro.net or call 203.790.1044.