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Lead Balloon Ep. 23 - Bridgegate: Behind the Scenes at the Port Authority During the Scandal
With Anthony Hayes -- Known as the scandal that ended Governor Chris Christie's presidential ambitions, we look back at Bridgegate from a...

Dusty Weis
Aug 7, 202129 min read
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Lead Balloon Ep. 22 - Scandal at Foresters Financial, with former VP of PR Henry DeVries
As spokesman for the company, Henry DeVries's moral fiber is tested when he's dragged into a torrid affair between two Foresters...

Dusty Weis
Jul 1, 202125 min read
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Lead Balloon Ep. 21 - Hip-Hop Mogul Russell Simmons Hijacks the Mainstage at LinkedIn's Sales Summit
When the co-founder of Def Jam Records goes off in front of a live audience, LinkedIn emcee Justin Shriber tries to save face. When...

Dusty Weis
Jun 1, 202128 min read
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Lead Balloon Ep. 19 - Coca-Cola and the Masters Tournament, with Ben Deutsch and Dr. Martha Burk
When women's rights activists take aim at a last-bastion boy's club, Coke has to navigate a Public Relations lose-lose. Home to the...

Dusty Weis
Apr 1, 202134 min read
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Lead Balloon Ep. 18 - Coca-Cola's Retired Comms VP on the '98 World Cup, Belgium Health Scare & More
Former Communications Executive Ben Deutsch illustrates why overseeing communications for one of the world's largest corporations is not...

Dusty Weis
Mar 2, 202128 min read
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Lead Balloon Ep. 17 - The Lincoln Project’s Rick Wilson: Insurrection, Business Comms & Politics
January 6 was a dark day for America, with lasting ramifications for how businesses talk about politics and Trumpism. What constitutes...

Dusty Weis
Feb 2, 202129 min read
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Lead Balloon Ep. 16 - Vaccine Messaging: How Comms Professionals Can Help Save the World from Covid
With former HHS Spokesman Bill Pierce and Dr. Maria Sundaram With Covid-19 vaccination efforts finally getting underway, communicating...

Dusty Weis
Jan 21, 202142 min read
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Lead Balloon Ep. 15 - Going Rogue, Battling Bears, Government Shutdowns and National Parks
With Julie Wright, Diane Lebow and Laura Kiniry In public relations, "going rogue" is a notion that sets teeth on edge for most PR...

Dusty Weis
Jan 5, 202125 min read
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Lead Balloon Ep. 13 - The Squatty Potty Saga and the Science of Going Viral
With Harmon Brothers CEO Benton Crane: Promoting anti-poo-stink spray and constipation remedies may not be glamorous, but it is highly...

Dusty Weis
Sep 23, 202031 min read
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Lead Balloon Ep. 12 - A Creative in the Corporate World
With David Allen Moss: For outsiders transitioning into the world of marketing, it can be easy to feel like a square peg in a round hole....

Dusty Weis
Sep 2, 202030 min read
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Lead Balloon Ep. 11 - The Emotional Unsubscribe, and other Marketing Automation Pitfalls to Avoid
With Misty Dykema and Abby Bell from Simantel Group: The difference between "campaign" and "crater" is a razor's edge in the world of...

Dusty Weis
Aug 3, 202032 min read
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Lead Balloon Ep. 10 - Getting Uncomfortable About Race in America
Professional communicators must be ready to have uncomfortable conversations to address issues of race and police brutality in America....

Dusty Weis
Jul 1, 202048 min read
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Lead Balloon Ep. 9 - The Ritz-Carlton Hail Mary, with Trusted Media Brands CCO Beth Tomkiw
With a flagship custom publishing account on the line, former Playboy editor Beth Tomkiw goes for broke. The Hail Mary: a last-chance,...

Dusty Weis
Jun 1, 202021 min read
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Lead Balloon Ep. 8 - The COVID Pivot, with Content Marketing Institute Founder Joe Pulizzi
Joe Pulizzi explains how he built his content marketing empire during the Great Recession, and how those lessons apply during the...

Dusty Weis
May 1, 202034 min read
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Lead Balloon Ep. 7 - COVID-19: Critiquing the Federal Response with former HHS Spokesman Bill Pierce
Plus, Busting Coronavirus Myths with Epidemiologist Dr. Maria Sundaram Communicating with the public during a crisis is as critical as it...

Dusty Weis
Apr 6, 202052 min read
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Lead Balloon Ep. 6 - HBO's McMillion$: The PR Crises Behind the Hit Docu-Series
With Directors James Lee Hernandez and Brian Lazarte, as well as PR Agency Owner John Boyanoski Everybody remembers the McDonald's...

Dusty Weis
Mar 24, 202030 min read
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Lead Balloon Ep. 5 - The Seinfeld Press Conference, with Tim O'Brien
It might be tough to imagine these days, but public relations work still got done in the era before cell phones and broadband. Somehow....

Dusty Weis
Mar 2, 202026 min read
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Lead Balloon Ep. 4 - We Don't Do Ribbon Cuttings, with Patrick McSweeney and Katrine Strickland
Patrick McSweeney is a cliché warrior. If it's a hackneyed, over-worn marketing and PR trope, he’s gone to battle against it. But when...

Dusty Weis
Feb 5, 202023 min read
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Lead Balloon Ep. 3 - Bud Light's Corn Syrup-Fueled Ad War, with Neil Caskey and Paul Gatza
During Super Bowl LIII in 2019, Bud Light launched a new advertising strategy that was... unconventional, even for them. HEADS UP: We...

Dusty Weis
Jan 1, 202027 min read
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Lead Balloon Ep. 2 - City Hall Self Destruct, with Jim Bohl, Bill Arnold and Jim Owczarski
At the end of his first week working in public relations, Dusty Weis did something so dumb, he could have been fired on the spot. During...

Dusty Weis
Jan 1, 202028 min read
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