Podcamp Media's
Lead Balloon Podcast
Public Relations, Marketing & Strategic Communications Disaster Stories
Told by the Well-Meaning Comms Professionals Who Lived Them
On Lead Balloon, professional communicators share tales of the do-or-die situations that defined public relations and marketing careers—how they planned for the unexpected, how they navigated high-profile crises, and what they learned in the process.
With immersive storytelling and a wry sense of humor, host Dusty Weis revisits epic PR disasters, intense communications scenarios, professional inflection points and notable campaigns we all remember, and usually finds a reason to chuckle.
Because sometimes, there are important lessons to be learned from someone else's worst day.
And sometimes, it's just more convenient than group therapy. Tune in monthly for new episodes.
Dusty Weis is a former radio news reporter turned PR and content marketing professional, and loves to tell a good story. A Midwesterner at heart, his career has taken him all over the globe to build a background in business, technology, politics and so much more. He's also the founder and president of Podcamp Media, a podcast production agency for businesses proudly based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
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Lead Balloon Honored By Adweek As
"Marketing Podcast of the Year"
"Weis has finally breathed life into an exciting and educational topic that, surprisingly, rarely had a compelling platform until now."


Episode Transcripts


Lead Balloon Ep. 71 - America's Brand: Reclaiming Patriotism for Regular Americans, with Dr. Joe Trahan



Lead Balloon Ep. 70 - How to Go Viral and Not Screw Up Your Kid's Life, with the Original "Hysterical Bubbles" Laughing Baby (All Grown Up)



Lead Balloon Ep. 69 - How the Snapple Brand Won Our Hearts in the 90s, Then Lost Them



Lead Balloon Ep. 68 - Seth Rogen Film, The Interview, Sparks a North Korean Hack Attack and a Hollywood PR Debacle for Sony Pictures' CEO



Lead Balloon Ep. 67 - Coca-Cola's Master's Tournament Sponsorship Triggers 2002 Boycott Threat, with Ben Deutsch and Dr. Martha Burk



Lead Balloon Ep. 66 - Cracks in the ICE: Legal Observers in Minneapolis Use the First Amendment to Swing Public Opinion About Immigration Crackdown



Lead Balloon Ep. 65 - Delicious Redemption: Getting Fired for an Infamous PBR Tweet Made Corey Smale the CCO at Garage Beer



Lead Balloon Ep. 64 - The Wikipedia Prank: Why the Internet Mistakenly Thought the Movie Good Luck Chuck was Based on Ben Kollenbroich



Lead Balloon Ep. 63 - A.I. Podcast Host Invasion: Inception Point's Business Model & the Podcast Industry's Reaction



Lead Balloon Ep. 62 - Modernizing the Way We Communicate About Road Closures (Especially During an Emergency) with Map Apps, feat. Scott Oppmann from ArcGIS



Lead Balloon Ep. 61 - Will Wikipedia survive Artificial Intelligence? And Can A.I. Survive Without Wikipedia?



Lead Balloon Ep. 60 - Recession Lessons from Content Marketing Institute Founder Joe Pulizzi: Double Down, Dig In



Lead Balloon Ep. 59 - Bot Farms Have Made Social Media Engagement Metrics Meaningless, with Eric Schwartzman



Lead Balloon Ep. 58 - The Mystery of the I-94 Sales & Marketing Tip of the Week Billboard



Lead Balloon Ep. 57 - Why Have Streaming Services Put So Many Ads In Our Shows? w/ Film Critic Matt Zoller Seitz



Lead Balloon Ep. 56 - What Happens at American Airlines After a Plane Crash: Behind the Scenes with Former Spokeswoman Jennifer R. Hudson



Lead Balloon Ep. 55 - Liquid Death Spoofs the Pepsi Harrier Jet Giveaway, with Andy Pearson & Jeff Beer



Lead Balloon Ep. 54 - The Election of the Podcast? 2024 Presidential Campaign PR Focuses on Podcasts & Social Media



Lead Balloon Ep. 53 - Alex Jones’s Infowars Being Purchased by the Onion and Sandy Hook Families, with Onion CMO Leila Brillson



Lead Balloon Ep. 52 - FEMA Public Affairs Team Still Carries Scars from Hurricane Ike Assignment, with Molly McPherson & Mike Moore



Lead Balloon Ep. 51 - The Legend of Dukakis in a Tank: White House Comms Pros Talk Presidential Optics



Lead Balloon Ep. 50 - Grumpy Cat's Manager, Squatty Potty, the Sound of Freedom, Homestead, Watergate & More Updates



Lead Balloon Ep. 49 - How I Almost Got Fired in My 1st Week in PR: Important Life Lessons Learned



Lead Balloon Ep. 48 - A UAP PR Campaign: Mainstreaming the UAP Conversation, with Lt. Ryan Graves



Lead Balloon Ep. 47 - NextGen America Slides into DMs on the Dating App Hinge, with Kristi Johnston



Lead Balloon Ep. 46 - Why Are Wireless Emergency Alerts on Your Phone So Terrible?



Lead Balloon Ep. 45 - Replaced by Chat GPT: Are Creative and Copywriting Jobs Threatened by A.I.?



Lead Balloon Ep. 44 - How a Real Life Ad Agency Inspired the Robin Williams Sitcom, "The Crazy Ones"



Lead Balloon Ep. 43 - Brands Don't Have the Rizz: Gen Z Slang Is Falling Flat in Marketing



Lead Balloon Ep. 42 - OkCupid During the Covid Pandemic: PR Messaging and Online Dating Apps





