4. We Don't Do Ribbon Cuttings, with Patrick McSweeney, Katrine Strickland and Jason Maddux

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 you choose creativity and innovation over familiarity and stagnation, there can be hidden dangers. They might result in a sticky mess and hundreds of dollars in damage, but ultimately, isn't that a lesser risk than failing as a storyteller? In this episode, Patrick re-lives a couple of embarrassing moments from his career, along with his former colleague Katrine Strickland. News editor Jason Maddux explains why he never runs ribbon cutting photos in the newspapers he manages. And with Patrick, we explore the importance of authenticity in PR and media relations, and how to be prepared for anything in a field where everything can happen. (Includes music by Alavedra, McColl & Levine / CC BY 4.0) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices