The About Perception Podcast: Laurie Magovern, Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation

By The Garrity Group

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June 19, 2024

In today’s podcast, we will speak with Laurie Magovern the executive director of the Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation. We will learn more about the museum, foundation and its leader.  The Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation is an independent, 501(c)3 non-profit support organization for the Balloon Museum. The Balloon Museum is a program of the City of Albuquerque’s Department of Arts & Culture.

To learn more about the Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation visit https://balloonmuseum.com/.

Full Transcript

Tom Garrity, The Garrity Group [00:00:06] Welcome to the Perception Podcast, a production of the Garrity Group Public Relations, where we help small businesses to be heard and large organizations to be understood. I’m Tom Garrity. In this episode, we’re getting into a favorite topic of mine balloons, and specifically the Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation. My guest today is someone who knows a thing or two about the foundation and is someone who is well-respected in the balloon community. It’s the Balloon Museum Foundation’s executive director, Laurie Magovern. Welcome, Laurie.

Laurie Magovern, Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation [00:00:42] Welcome. Thank you. Or thank you for that. Welcome.

Tom Garrity, The Garrity Group [00:00:45] Oh, you’re very welcome. Well, you know, by means of disclosure, before we jump in, The Garrity Group actually helped to launch the balloon museum, and the foundation was a client of ours for a number of years, and now we’re a longtime supporter of the museum and foundation. Amanda Molina, long time vice president with our team, is a past chair of the foundation and a great asset to the community,  So I just wanted to recognize her involvement. But, Laurie, what is the Balloon Museum and how do the museum and foundation kind of coexist?

Laurie Magovern, Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation [00:01:20] Yes. So, the Balloon Museum is here in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on the south end of Balloon Fiesta Park. And one way that I like to think about the Balloon Museum and what it is, is that it has a very distinguished and, extended full name the Anderson Abruzzo Albuquerque International Balloon Museum. So the Anderson and the Abruzzo portion of the name is a reference to outstanding families here in Albuquerque, New Mexico, that had very esteemed accomplishments in long distance flight and many of the other areas in ballooning, in addition to helping Albuquerque grow. And so those family members came together and recognize the importance of ballooning to the Albuquerque community and what it also meant to those families. So I’m inspired that, we still get to work with members of the Anderson and the Abruzzo families, and we also get to honor the pioneers, that had a lot of those great accomplishments. And then the word Albuquerque is in the name, and Albuquerque is considered the ballooning capital of the world. And the Andersons and the Abruzzos greatly helped get that title for Albuquerque. But it was also the embracing of the entire community that found this amazing accomplishment festival, community building aspect of it, and has really embraced that as part of its cultural identity for many years now. And people travel all over the world because of this specialty here in Albuquerque. And then I love that the word international is in the word in the title of the Balloon Museum, because it helps us have a broad scope of aviation, the broad scope of the accomplishments that happen in Albuquerque on a worldwide scale, and the embracing of bringing cultures to New Mexico during Balloon Fiesta. And also here at the museum, we have several exhibits that have an international focus, such as our Hall of Fame and then, of course, ballooning is a special type of aviation. And so here at this museum, it’s a lighter than air specific focus for this museum, considered somewhat an air and space museum, but it also has lots of great history and pop culture and art. But it is focused around that lighter than air, aviation category. And then finally, the word museum is really wonderful because a museum, once it tells stories or gathers artifacts, it promises to keep those items in perpetuity. So they take it very seriously that we are going to protect these stories. Are we going to protect the artifacts for as long as we humanly can possibly do? And that has a lot of specific things with how the collections are cared for, how the stories are collected. Not only do we collect and store those stories, a museum also promises to share them, share them with the local community, share them with the world. And so I love those aspects. All of those aspects combined for the Balloon Museum. And then we add one more word at the end of that: foundation. We are the fundraising arm, a separate nonprofit for the Balloon Museum. The foundation was started in the late 1980s in order to get this museum started. And when the Anderson and the Abruzzo families successfully raised enough money to build the building, fill it with great stories. They then then partnered with the city of Albuquerque and the City of Albuquerque, then has taken the primary role for the day to day operations of the museum, and in 2005 and then the Foundation transitioned to be its support organizations or the museum’s largest cheerleader. We raise money, we raise awareness, and we raise involvement for the Balloon museum. And so one thing about being with the foundation is, I love that we get to build relationships with the people of Albuquerque. And so I just really appreciate that we get to help encourage people to learn about ballooning and to learn about the Balloon Museum.

Tom Garrity, The Garrity Group [00:06:22] You know, one of the things I love about the Balloon Museum and the foundation is, is the place where it sits. You know, it’s kind of that, bulkhead of Balloon Fiesta because, you know, it’s down at the south end of the launch field, and you have such the best, you have the best view of Balloon Fiesta Park from the Balloon Museum. And, you know, oftentimes, you know, there will be people who are looking for the balloon museum who will stop in at the balloon fiesta offices and say, oh, is this the balloon museum? No, it’s actually the building down the road that looks like a balloon that’s in the midst of inflation. And you know that attention to detail, I think, is reflective to the deliberateness that both the Andersons and the Abruzzos, really wanted to see when, you know, the Balloon Museum and the foundation were first established. And so, I say, you know, good for you and your board. Talk a little bit about your, board and just their role in the community.

Laurie Magovern, Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation [00:07:23] Certainly so. The Balloon Museum Foundation is a 501 C3 nonprofit. And so, we have a board of directors. We have a small staff as well, and the staff and the board of directors, kind of like the twin engines that make the nonprofit work. And so, the board of directors is really wonderful. And we have that really sweet spot. We have about 21 board members, and about a third of the board members have been with the board for a very long time. We also have it in our board bylaws that there’s always an Anderson and an Abruzzo are a part of that. And so now we are on, the second generation of the Andersons, of Russo’s. Some of the young adults from those families joining our board, and then about a third of our board have been with us. I say kind of for the midrange. They maybe weren’t here when the museum started, but they have a nice tenure of maybe about ten years. And then we have about a third of our board that are brand new, that have been with us 2 or 3 years. They bring that new energy, new connection to new communities. And it is a really active board. We’re fundraising board. And so, we really appreciate that. The board knows our history, loves the museum and loves ballooning, and want to bring more people and more attention and more support for the museum. But it’s a really lovely, lovely board.

Tom Garrity, The Garrity Group [00:08:58] And in fact, as of this taping on June 19th, one of your big events that are is that’s on the horizon is red, white and balloons. Share a little bit about that grand event that’s going to be coming up.

Laurie Magovern, Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation [00:09:10] Certainly. So, one of the ways that we raise money with the Balloon Museum Foundation is to hold large special events. Because of that bulkhead location that you mentioned. And the designers of the building put so many windows on the north end of the building that have the best views of the sandy is a balloon fiesta park. They’re really smart when they designed that. And so on. 4th of July at Balloon Fiesta Park, which is our neighbor. But we are separate entities. There is a large 4th of July event. So, the City of Albuquerque puts on a lovely fireworks display called Freedom Forth from the large Balloon Fiesta Park. And since are neighboring to that, and the Balloon Museum has eight acres of land connected to it, we are opening up our land for picnicking, cabana tents, tables with umbrellas for people to picnic, listen to live music, and have a really elevated view of that fireworks display. And so, we appreciate that people want to celebrate milestones or holidays or family gatherings at the Balloon Museum. Like, as you mentioned, we’re here year-round. So, we’re able to kind of highlight ballooning in a way, year round. We’ll have hot air balloons on July 4th with a, balloon glow, both remote controlled balloons, which are the smaller balloons, and the full scale size balloons. We’ll even have the Uncle Sam, balloon inflated, which is a historical balloon. And we’re very grateful to Rainbow Ryders. to inflate that balloon for us that day. So, it’s just a really lovely evening where you have your own spot, you can lounge, you can picnic. But we’re a little less crowded. We like to say ditch the crowds and enjoy the view. But at the same time, 40% of the ticket price is tax deductible because it is a fundraiser for the Balloon Museum Foundation.

Tom Garrity, The Garrity Group [00:11:19] That’s great. Well, I’m looking forward to it. In addition to Red, White and Balloons, what are some other events and activities that are supported by the foundation?

Laurie Magovern, Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation [00:11:29] Certainly. We have a few different endeavors, and I like to call them social enterprise endeavors because we take an entrepreneurial spirit towards it. So, 4th of July is a little bit like that. We sell the tickets, we have the summer market, and so we really want it to have a great energy, and we want the people that purchased tickets to feel like they’ve received a lot for those tickets. So, we have a few other social enterprise programs, and one is a dining event during Balloon Fiesta called Observation Deck. You get a lovely VIP meal on the balcony of the Balloon Museum, and you get to overlook Balloon Fiesta. So that’s actually one of our largest fundraisers. Tickets are on sale for that right now. We work with great outstanding local restaurants for that, and our alcohol provider is local, and people just love sipping their mimosas, having an elegant meal, doing a bucket list item on that balcony. We’ve had many balloon pilots tell us how we flown over your balloon museum, and if there’s ever a day that I don’t fly, I want to watch Balloon Fiesta from that balcony. We’re like, it is pretty special. We also run the balloon museum shop. That’s an enterprise for us. So, we hope that every visitor that comes through the museum goes through the shop. And, it’s just a great collection of balloon inspired merchandise, but also local artisans. New Mexico inspired, again, history and pop culture in that shop. And so that’s really fabulous. And then we have some museum focused programs as well, such as, we run the museum membership program. We do some great lobbying in Santa Fe. We run the openings and special events for the museum throughout the years so people can enjoy the museum.

Tom Garrity, The Garrity Group [00:13:22] That’s great. You know, I know you’ve already talked about some of your favorite things, but there are other favorite things that you enjoy about the museum and Balloon Museum Foundation.

Laurie Magovern, Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation [00:13:31] Well, I’ve been here 17 years and so I feel like I know, have now fallen in love with the building itself. So, with the exhibits, with the large grand scale windows, with the ease and access of the parking lot, it really just makes for a wonderful experience for our visitors. And so, I get very inspired by the different exhibits. We walk in to the large-scale rooms. And so, with that physical space, there’s just this amazing creative energy on how to get people to come enjoy this beautiful space. I really think it’s one of the most iconic architectural buildings in Albuquerque. Like you said, it’s shaped like a balloon with the most panoramic views. And then, of course, I love the exhibits. The exhibits cover everything from when ballooning started in 1783, in France, all the way to the most modern-day ballooning accomplishments in our Grand Hall, and then some really unique side stories. Women in ballooning, a very interactive child select, child activity area. And one of my favorite things is when you begin to read into these exhibits and you see these names that have accomplished amazing, amazing things in ballooning, such as traveling through the Pacific Ocean, such as pilot Troy Bradley. Did we have that gondola? Really nicely featured in our Grand Hall area. And then we also get to meet Troy Bradley. He’s a well-known pilot in town and very active. And so, it’s really fascinating in this museum that you can read about these individuals, but then also meet them, which might be somewhat different from other museums. If you go to an art museum and you get to see a Georgia O’Keeffe or a Van Gogh, you don’t necessarily get to meet those individuals. But we get to meet a lot of the people, the active key players that have made many things possible. They’re still really involved in the museum. They’re fantastic community organizers, and it’s this amazing emphasis on that ballooning as a community, and we get to meet that community and highlight them as well.

Tom Garrity, The Garrity Group [00:16:06] Yeah, I really and I really like how you put that as far as being able to see the rock stars of the industry, just, you know, kind of there because you never know who else is going to be kind of, you know, strolling through the Balloon museum, for whatever reason, or at a balloon museum foundation event. So, I think I really like that description because it’s so true. You know, you’ve been with the organization 17 years. Oh, my goodness, I just had to double check myself because I was like going, wow, it seems like it was yesterday and stuff. So, you’ve accomplished so much over the last 17. Where do you see the next 17 years for the Balloon Museum Foundation?

Laurie Magovern, Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation [00:16:48] Yeah, I think it’s great. In 2025, it will be the Balloon Museum’s 20th anniversary. And so, it is exciting to think about the next ten years, the next 17 years. And the Balloon Museum has some large-scale goals. It feels like a newer museum in Albuquerque. But then when you also realize it’s 20 years old, it’s great to keep looking forward. And so some of these exhibits, will continue on. Consider the permanent collection. And so it’s really impressive to have exhibits that can withstand the test of time, but also it’s lovely to keep adjusting them. And so that’s one large goal of the Balloon Museum is just somewhat reimagine, as visitors walk up to the front of the museum. What is that experience? What is the front landscaping look like? What is the ticket booth look like? How are those initial exhibits in the front look like? And that part hasn’t changed in 20 years. And so the Balloon Museum is going through an exploratory process of what is that experience when people walk into the museum and how are they greeted? How do you increase and improve the visitor experience when they walk in? And so that’s quite an undertaking, to reimagine the whole front of the balloon museum, how that affects many things. The shop, donor recognition in the front, the ticket taking the welcome area, and then a few exhibitions as well. So that’s a large project. And I think that it’s going to grow in wonderful ways. And then the other large project the Balloon Museum is working on is a large-scale outdoor exhibition that would have lay and performance area elements included, that’s balloon themed, a Flight of Imagination outdoor exhibition on a grand scale. So there’s been some research and plans made around that. It’s going to take some efforts in fundraising and state and city support to pull it off, individual donations. And so that’s one thing the foundation is really going to focus on is how to bring that playscape outdoor exhibit exhibition to life. I just think locals and visitors will really find it a unique opportunity on the, outside, it’s our back of the balloon museum, but you could see it from Balloon Fiesta Park. And so I don’t think there’s anything else like that in the city. And then, the foundation. And we would love to continue to increase our membership. Membership is a really wonderful and easy way for individuals to get more deeply involved in a museum. And I’d love to strengthen our relationship with the foundation, with the ballooning community. Overall, I think we have a current great relationship, but it’s always inspiring to think of new ways we’ve just started. Something called the Corporate Council, which is about 20 business people saying yes will join your corporate council to give you advice and to help you connect to more the business community. And we want to support those businesses as well too, but they’ll also help get our word out to their networks as well of getting more and more people involved with the museum.

Tom Garrity, The Garrity Group [00:20:39] That’s fantastic. So much going on, so many ways to get involved. This is a really great insight, Laurie. You know, in advance of doing some, you know, research in advance of our conversation today. I see that you personally are a big believer in giving back and supporting the community. A lot of organizations have benefited from, your involvement, including TEDxABQ, Rio Grande Down Syndrome Network, Women and creativity, Maple Street Dance. Share a little bit a little bit about the communities you’re engaged in and why you’re engaged in it.

Laurie Magovern, Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation [00:21:20] Well, I think it’s mutually beneficial. So, I enjoy spending time with many different organizations, nonprofits or arts organizations, but they also satisfy areas that I’m really interested in. It sounds somewhat selfish, but it encourages me to continue to be involved with them. My youngest daughter has Down’s syndrome. I grew up in arts, theater, storytelling, dance, and performance. And so, I just know in New Mexico, our organizations with disabilities and our arts organizations thrive because people are involved. And a lot of things in New Mexico, thrive because people give their labor of love, their blood, sweat and tears to help each different organization flourish. And so, I think New Mexico, we need as much help as we can get. And then you come into these really rich communities, the disability community, the art community, the ballooning community. When you get in there, they’re just really rich with this love and commitment to try to make their organizations flourish.

Tom Garrity, The Garrity Group [00:22:39] So yeah, I mean, you’ve been in New Mexico, you’re a native New Mexican, and you’re still here. So why are you a big believer in New Mexico?

Laurie Magovern, Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation [00:22:49] I did. I grew up here. My senior year in high school is like, I’m out of here. I left for about 20 years. College New Orleans, lived in Washington, DC. I got to work at the Kennedy Center in the Smithsonian. And when we began to have our small children, my husband and I moved back. And that’s been the 17 years, and we knew we wanted to raise our children in New Mexico. Our family was close, but there was also just something very grounded in New Mexico. You know, I always take inspiration from that, the Zia symbol on our state flag. As part of our storytelling programs we did at the Balloon Museum, we explored what the “Zia” meant. And there’s four lines in four sections around our sun. And those four lines represent four different parts of life. So, the four seasons, summer, spring, winter, fall, the four directions, north, south, east, west, the four stages of life, childhood, teen and young adult, to adult elders. And then the fourth area, kind of the four areas of life the physical, the mental, the spiritual. And the fourth one of that is community that we kind of can’t be ourselves without being a part of community. And so there’s just something really grounded about that, always respecting those four areas of life and connected in a circle, too. And so every time you see a license plate, I like to think of that. And the many ways that we see the Zia of that, there’s something special about how that is a symbol for New Mexico.

Tom Garrity, The Garrity Group [00:24:38] You know, one of the things you mentioned as being a storyteller. And that was one of the tidbits that I discovered is that you’re also a professional storyteller. What does that mean?

Laurie Magovern, Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation [00:24:52] A few different things. I ran a storytelling program here at the Balloon Museum for young people. We were looking for programs to get more people here. In the middle of the week. We started a storytelling program every Wednesday. It has now been every Wednesday for the last 17 years. I taught it for 15 of those. They say you become an expert when you do something for 10,000 hours or more. It definitely did this for more than 10,000 hours. And so, I think there’s you just learn a lot when you have to entertain toddlers. It seems kind of short and simple, but there is an art and a craft and a science to it and I just loved it. I also worked with Ted X Albuquerque and that type of story is very prepared, very practiced, very coached. They say anybody can be an expert speaker if you practice and are willing to be coached. And so that’s a really particular type of storytelling. And then another favorite part of storytelling for me is improvisation, where you learn how to make it up as you go. But there’s actually some really, detailed and clear rules about improvisation. Many people have heard of that saying “yes… and” when somebody says something to you, you say “yes and” you contribute new information. You need to also. Make your partners look great. One of your goals is to whoever you’re speaking with or telling stories with, is that you make them look outstanding. You also want to use your five senses, describing what you see, what you hear, what you taste, what you feel. And then also you need to know when to stop. And so those different types of storytelling. I enjoy the art of it, but they come in great practice. Whether I’m teaching or running a special event or telling the stories of the Balloon Museum, why folks would love to get involved.

Tom Garrity, The Garrity Group [00:27:02] You know that that is one of my favorite games that I’ve not played in the longest time is the “Yes, and” that is just the best, you know, I mean, it’s a great brainstorming, teambuilding kind of thing because in our collective world, sometimes it’s easy to get caught in that. No, that idea won’t work, you know. Oh, you know, we’ve done that before. And, you know, to have that. Yes. And kind of approach, if we have time, we might actually play that game.

Laurie Magovern, Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation [00:27:34] Yeah. Have fun. Yeah. It’s great. It’s helpful in other areas of life, too. A conversation with a coworker, a conversation with a family member where there might be a disagreement, and you kind of twist it up too. Yes. And so, it’s helpful. It’s kind of this interesting mantra that picks up in your head in different scenarios, unexpectedly.

Tom Garrity, The Garrity Group [00:27:56] So you have a lot of energy, you have a lot of interests. How do you recharge? Are there favorite podcasts, a recent book or movie that you’d recommend?

Laurie Magovern, Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation [00:28:05] You know, right now. I found this podcast called trained. It’s by Nike and it’s actually about health. And if you like to do athletic or exercise types of things. I’m a yoga instructor right now, but I just appreciate it because they have the 4 or 5 tenants of health and it’s physical training. It’s mental training. It’s. And one of them is rest. So, I listen to the podcast. I’m kind of forgetting what all those different areas are, but I appreciate it because they focus on not only the mental training, but also. How to be sturdy and steady and keep going, but also how to be reflective and thoughtful, using meditation or the like, but then rest and then nutrition, of course. So right now, that one is just interesting. When you have a full life, you have to keep those ones in check too.

Tom Garrity, The Garrity Group [00:29:13] You do? Yes, absolutely. Do you have some favorite advice or the best advice that you’ve been given? Regardless of whether or not you asked for it.

Laurie Magovern, Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation [00:29:28] Sure. So, I kind of have two. One is from a board member who I respect greatly. His name’s Jerry Landgraf, and he’s been with the board for a very long time. Very generous, that somewhat quiet philanthropist in Albuquerque. I see his name in many, many places. He and his wife and he really helps the foundation to keep moving forward. You know, we have a small staff. We work in the circles of Balloon Fiesta, which is an enormous organization. We work in the circles of City of Albuquerque, which is an enormous organization, and we play with those two organizations. But sometimes there’s some interesting steps that you need to take to work with these large organizations. And Jerry will just tell me, get her done, to get her done. And so he doesn’t tell you how to do it. So, I kind of have that mantra in my head as well to just to get it done. And of course, he does it very respectfully. And then I do work with, the Mindful Center here in Albuquerque it teaches you how to use, meditation in life. And, and so all of those lessons are great, but the most recent one, is this one called The Blue Sky. And that’s just remembering in life that there’s this blue sky that if you can kind of equate your essence to it, and that sometimes in your blue-sky clouds are going to come in and that’s your thinking mind. And sometimes the clouds are dark and stormy. Sometimes in our lives we are figuring out difficult and maybe dark things. Sometimes in life, the clouds that have come in are fluffy and fun and cute. So, our thoughts are that way. Sometimes those clouds provide shade, but really, that blue sky, your essence is always there. So, you have to ride out those dark, stormy thoughts sometimes. But the face that the sky is there is larger, unaffected. It’s helpful. And so sometimes when things seem problematic or you’re kind of feeling small, that essence of the blue sky helps keep a little bit of perspective, but that you respect the clouds as well too.

Tom Garrity, The Garrity Group [00:32:12] Wow. Those are two great items to “get it done” philosophy. And then the mindfulness “blue sky”.  I really think that that’s, you know, something all of us can learn from and learn from and just apply. And stuff. So, I really appreciate that. And I appreciate the time that you’ve taken today. This has been. I can’t believe the time has just flown. I mean, like a nice hot air balloon in an Albuquerque box. How is that? 

Laurie Magovern, Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation [00:32:37] Yeah. In a blue sky.

Tom Garrity, The Garrity Group [00:32:39] In a blue sky? Absolutely! So, how can people learn more about the organization and how can they contact you? If they’d like to, you know, become engaged in the Balloon Museum Foundation.

Laurie Magovern, Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation [00:32:53] Yes, we try to keep it nice and simple. BalloonMuseum.com. Our website is a great resource. And of course you can sign up to receive email blasts. You can visit us at the museum in the shop. And we’ve got some great social media. And yeah, we’d love to talk with the people. That’s one of our big goals. Develop relationships.

Tom Garrity, The Garrity Group [00:33:18] That’s great. All right, well, should we play? “Yes, and…”

Laurie Magovern, Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation [00:33:24] Sure.

Tom Garrity, The Garrity Group [00:33:25] Okay. So, you know, one of the things I love about the Balloon Museum is, is how it’s shaped like a hot air balloon.

Laurie Magovern, Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation [00:33:40] Yes. And it references to hot air balloon. So, when you walk up to the museum, the front is a balloon on its side inflating. And when you look at the museum from the back, the large window references a balloon fully standing up.

Tom Garrity, The Garrity Group [00:33:59] Yes. And if you’re on the back end of the Balloon Museum looking south, you can actually very carefully see several of the actual aircraft that either flew across the Atlantic or the Pacific or around the world.

Laurie Magovern, Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation [00:34:19] Yes. And those aircrafts, the gondolas that are inside of the museum are also boats, so they have emergency colors on them, red and yellow or bright colors. So, they not only fly in the air, but they allow pilots to land in the water if it’s needed.

Tom Garrity, The Garrity Group [00:34:40] All right. Well, as you can see, so much!

Laurie Magovern, Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation [00:34:44] Yes, I know, I know more history. I don’t know if I know more history. What I do love is that you are part of this history. You’re one of those people that, I was speaking about that we meet the founders, we meet the players, and. And you do so much for Albuquerque. So, it’s actually an honor to get to speak with you one more time. And thank you so much for everything that you’ve done for the ballooning community. You were one of those rock stars.

Tom Garrity, The Garrity Group [00:35:09] Well, you know, I’m very humbled by that. And I appreciate this time we spent together today. And thank you for all of your success with the Blue Museum Foundation and just helping Albuquerque to be a better place to live. And thank you. Laurie Magovern, Executive Director of the Anderson Abruzzo International Balloon Museum Foundation, for being part of the perception podcast. And you can learn more about the organization by visiting Balloon museum.com. And with that, I will go ahead and sign off and say, I’m Tom Garrity with the Garrity Group Public Relations, where we help small businesses to be heard and large organizations to be understood. For more information about our team and our success stories, visit garrity.com, or feel free to reach out to me on the Twitter X @TomGarrity or via email. Tom@GarrityPR.com. Thank you for listening to the Perception Podcast.

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