May 30, 2008

Make It A Good Day

My blog entry for this date will be general observations of some interesting things that have come across my desk in the last few days that I’d like to pass on to you. I hope you’ll read to the end and read “The Principle Of The Garbage Truck.”

Partly because it is so closely related to transcription (or it could be), I’ve been interested in scrapbooking, but also partly because I like that sort of thing, although I’ve never had very much time to devote to it.

If you put together a scrapbook of family interest, one of the best things you can include is either an audio describing the pictures and events, or an audio and a transcription with a description. The latter really works well because it includes all of one’s modalities, hearing, seeing and reading. Read more

Filed under Tips, Transcription, Legacy, Priority, Recording, Make It A Good Day by Patsy Bellah.

Yesterday, I decided to do a current search on digital recorders and I learned some good news:  We’re getting more and paying less.  I did a search on Olympus and found that for the same amount we were paying a year ago, we are actually getting longer recording times. 

Then I went to a couple of local sources for purchasing recorders and found out the same thing.It occurred to me that this is a new technology and that some of you may be a little wary of trying it.  It’s kind of like going from the standard typewriter to the electric typewriter.  It was new and we had a lot of new stuff to learn.  Then again, when going from an electric typewriter to a computer.  More new stuff to learn.  And now along comes this new technology and there’s more stuff to learn.

Read more

Filed under Transcription, Success, Digital Recorders, Recording, Make Money by Patsy Bellah.

February 15, 2008

The Nuts And Bolts of Transcription

If you’ve never used a transcription service, you may have questions about how it works, what you can expect from the service, how you contact them and what you will get back. In a recent interview I did with Yolanda McIntosh on Womens Radio, we covered that subject. You can listen to it at Womens Radio. In the interview we covered what “transcription” means.Basically, transcription is taking information from an audio and typing it or putting it into words onto a piece of paper that can be read.Perhaps you’ve seen on television assistants or secretaries in older movies taking shorthand. That’s the way I started. When I was in high school I learned how to do shorthand and then when I was in the work world, I would take shorthand from my boss and then I would transcribe it, type it into a letter or whatever the document was.

We’re much more sophisticated now, because we take the audio, an MP3 or WAV or whatever format you may have recorded it in, and with the software and equipment we have on our computer, we can transcribe your audio. Read more

Filed under Transcription by Patsy Bellah.

August 23, 2007

Christmas In August

Of course you’re thinking of Christmas gifts. Aren’t you? Well, I don’t usually, but this year I am because I want to tell you about a wonderful idea for a gift to your family, but this one you have to start early.

Present them with a family memoir. A memoir is like a biography or autobiography. It’s a way to be remembered, to honor your experiences, and to pass along your reflections. It’s a way for family members to get to know their siblings and their ancestors.

I had an opportunity to live with my maternal grandmother for a short time just before she passed away. She was anxious to talk and she was probably thinking a lot about her youth. I regret, now, that I wasn’t more attentive to her and asked her more probing questions. I wish I had recorded what she had to say.

The same is true of my mother and of the many members of the rest of my family.

So for Christmas this year, why not give a gift that the whole family can enjoy for generations? Give the gift of memories. Read more

Filed under Transcription, Legacy by Patsy Bellah.
On May 3, 4 and 5 I attended a really spectacular seminar. It was the Speakers’ Summit here in Los Angeles, presented by Speaker Services, owned by Susan Levin.It was a fun, profitable, learning experience. What more can you ask when you come away from a seminar having had a lot of fun, enjoying the presentations, bonding with other participants, and having learned a great deal. 

Susan Levin, Jack Bernard and all of the other presenters really made this Speakers Summit an exceptional experience. Read more

Filed under Transcription by Patsy Bellah.

Welcome to my first blog. This is so exciting. After having observed blogs from others, I’ve finally gotten the courage to start one of my own. As my friend, Merle Singer, www.mymteverest.com would say, I am on the way to conquering a personal Mt. Everest and exercising my “courage” muscle. Read more

Filed under Tips, Transcription by Patsy Bellah.