If you go to our website, you’ll notice that some of our webstories are speechified. We’re using Loquendo’s TTS engine. The voice is called Alison. We chose her because we liked her concatenation and she didn’t sound too threatening. We also convinced our editor-in-chief that she was actually Cokie Roberts. Tell us what you think in the comments below!

We also have RSS feeds. Hold on to your hat!

Finally, we’d love for some of you clever people to contribute to this blog once every two weeks. If you’re interested, send us an email. Let us know your name, title, and favorite speech tech-related deployment over the last year. Also your favorite superhero and/or Greek god.

I promised a few weeks ago that I’d post some sort of info about Ryan and myself. So, I’m pulling some photos from the Interwebs to give you more info about us. Ryan’s post will come later today or tomorrow.

Lauren Shopp
Assistant Editor - Speech Tech Magazine

I graduated from Syracuse University with a bachelor’s degree in magazine journalism this past May. Somehow, I ended up in New York by June, and got a job with Speech Tech a few days later. I’ve been at the magazine since mid-June, and am in charge of editing the magazine’s “FYI” section, writing a feature, news stories, and case studies each month, in addition to Web news and this here blog. I’m also our go-to for SpeechTechMag.com’s new TTS project, powered by Loquendo. More on that later! I’m 23, live in Brooklyn, and spend my downtime hanging out with my foster cats, reading like crazy, and impersonating characters from the musical Fiddler on the Roof. Fun fact: I can play the electric harp with a whammy board. I can be contacted at lshopp@infotoday.com.

Hey everyone! Welcome to Speech Technology magazine’s first blog. All the content on this site will be managed by me, Lauren Shopp, the magazine’s assistant editor. In coming weeks, additions will be made by other ST staff members, and hopefully a few industry insiders, as well. While news updates are made daily to our main Web site, the blog will function as a means to examine the industry’s news and developments in a more casual, critical tone. Expect daily updates about everything from ASR to VUI, with lots of links, threads, and even a few pictures thrown in for good measure.

If you’d like to drop us a line with story ideas, we have our own blog-specific email address: blog@speechtechblog.com. And, of course, your comments are encouraged on our posts. See you soon!