Talent Wars: A Podcast By DCI

In a world of remote work, digital connections and expanding career flexibility, it's easy to assume that geography matters less than it once did. But according to LinkedIn's data, where we live continues to shape our career opportunities in powerful ways.   On this episode of Talent Wars, host Patience Fairbrother Wallace sits down with Casey Weston , senior manager of public policy and e conomic...

On this episode from the archives of Talent Wars, originally aired in Season 1, host Patience Fairbrother Wallace interviews San Diego Regional Economic Development Corporation 's Senior Director of Communications and Community Engagement, Bree Burris , to discuss the   " San Diego: Life. Changing ." campaign. Bree shares insights on the EDC's two-pronged approach that encompasses talent attractio...

The digital journey to a new place is no longer a straight line. People are discovering communities through social media,  search , AI  tools  and the stories shared by the people who already live and work there.  So ,  what does it take to cut through the noise and build trust?   On this episode of Talent Wars, host  Patience Fairbrother Wallace  speaks with  Hanna Gbordzoe , vice president of di...

Success stories are easy to celebrate.  The harder and often more valuable work is understanding what happened after the spotlight fades.   On this episode of Talent Wars, host  Patience Fairbrother Wallace  speaks with  Matt Lewis , vice president  of  partnership strategy at  the  GREATER MSP Partnership , to reflect on the Make It MSP  campaign :  what  made it successful, where it fell short a...

West Virginia has faced population decline for decades, but Ascend WV is showing how storytelling, community connections and a deep understanding of what talent values can help reverse the trend. Their approach proves that incentivizing new residents takes more than offering financial perks. On this episode of Talent Wars , host Patience Fairbrother Wallace speaks with Danny Twilley , assistant vi...

Finland consistently ranks as the world's happiest country, but Helsinki's talent strategy goes beyond that narrative. Instead of promoting perfection, it focuses on authenticity to better connect with international talent. On this episode of Talent Wars, host Patience Fairbrother Wallace speaks with Anita Lankinen , marketing manager at Helsinki Partners , about how Helsinki competes for global t...

Detroit's story has always been one of  reinvention , and   Global Detroit   is building on that legacy by  championing the idea that immigrant inclusion is not just a social good.  It's  an economic development strategy.   On this episode of Talent Wars, host  Patience Fairbrother  sits down with  Dr. Alaina Jackson , managing director at Global Detroit, to explore how immigrant-inclusive strateg...

On this episode of Talent Wars, host  Patience Fairbrother  welcomes back  Josh Wright ,  h ead of  g rowth and  s trategy at  Lightcast , to unpack the three forces redefining the future of  the  talent  landscape : AI disruption, geopolitical  instability  and demographic decline.  Drawing on  research from  Lightcast's   Faul t  Lines   report, Josh explains why these trends are not happening i...

The labor market is changing faster than ever, but most decisions are still being made with outdated information.   On this episode of  Talent Wars , host  Patience Fairbrother  sits down with  Cary Sparrow ,  f ounder and CEO of  WageScape , to explore what real-time labor market data reveals about hiring, pay   and workforce strategy today. Cary  draws on  data from roughly 800,000 career sites,...

Most talent attraction strategies start with marketing. In Cleveland, they start one step earlier—by building the infrastructure to support what comes next. On this episode of Talent Wars , host Patience Fairbrother sits down with Sara Greicius , director of the Cleveland Talent Alliance , to unpack how a 14-partner regional collaborative is working together to grow Greater Cleveland's population....

Season 2 of  Talent Wars: A Podcast by DCI  took us from Maine to Michigan, Baton Rouge to Kansas City and beyond to Canada and Europe, uncovering how communities are tackling today's complex talent challenges.   In this bonus episode, host Patience Fairbrother steps back to highlight the biggest insights from the season and what they mean for talent strategies in  2026 . From the rising importanc...

What happens when a viral pop-culture moment suddenly puts your region on the national stage? On this episode of Talent Wars, host  Patience Fairbrother  sits down with  Danielle Hilton ,  managing director of  TeamKC ,  to unpack how  her team   moved at lightning speed to turn the Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce love story into a full-fledged talent attraction strategy.   From recognizing the mome...

Canada has long been recognized as a global leader in attracting top talent and building economic strength through immigration. With its population on track to reach 100 million by 2100, the country is now tackling an important question: h ow do you ensure that growth is not just rapid, but smart and sustainable?    On this episode of Talent Wars , h ost Patience Fairbrother sits down with Muraly...

From " Peak 18 " to AI transforming work itself, communities are realizing they need to pivot and rethink how they attract and retain talent.   On this special episode of Talent Wars, host Patience Fairbrother captures insights from some of the top workforce leaders and experts in the U.S. a t the 2025 Young Smart & Local Conference in Tulsa, Oklahoma. Through conversations with leaders on the fro...

Attracting tech talent takes more than spreadsheets and strategy. What really makes a place "sticky" is its social fabric, which is made up of connections, conversations and stories that make people feel part of something bigger. On this episode of Talent Wars , host Patience Fairbrother sits down with CEO and Co-founder of Technical.ly , Chris Wink , to discuss what nearly two decades of reportin...

What drives a professional to pack up their life and move to another country? On this episode, host Patience Fairbrother sits down with Steve Duncan , managing director of C Studios, to discuss the latest " What Talent Wants " study. Inspired by DCI's " Talent Wars " research, the study explores what drives cross-border, international relocation in Europe. Patience and Steve discuss how career opp...

Live from the 2025 DCI Marketing Summit in New York, Talent Wars is coming to you with a special episode ! H ost Patience Fairbrother sits down with three leaders shaping talent initiatives in different regions: Alicia Chilton , vice president of marketing at Greater Des Moines Partnership , Haley Waxman , strategic marketing manager at Wake County Economic Development and Murphy Gray , marketing...

What if talent attraction looked less like marketing and more like matchmaking ? On this episode of Talent Wars, host Patience Fairbrother sits down with Whitney Martin , p rogram d irector of GoRockford's Made for Rockford campaign , a high-touch talent attraction program in Rockford, Illinois.   From guided tours for job candidates to custom welcome gifts and personalized text invites to communi...

How is Louisville planning to add 41,000 working-age talent to its workforce pipeline in just five years? On this episode of Talent Wars, host Patience Fairbrother sits down with Kelly Gold, vice president of marketing, talent attraction, and retention at Greater Louisville Inc., to delve into the inner workings of the ever-evolving Live in Lou talent campaign.     Launched in 2016, Live in Lou ha...

What does it take to launch the first employer-led talent attraction organization in the country and keep it thriving for nearly two decades? On this episode of Talent Wars, host Patience Fairbrother sits down with Rachel Gray , executive director of Hello West Michigan , to explore how a group of forward-thinking CIOs turned a local hiring challenge into a national blueprint for attracting and re...

What really drives talent to move in 2025? Here at DCI, we continue to research the talent landscape to bring you those answers.     In this episode of Talent Wars, host Patience Fairbrother sits down with Robyn Domber , s enior vi ce p resident of r esearch at DCI, to unpack the ninth edition of the DCI Talent Wars report , which is already shaping some of the top talent campaigns today .    Base...

How did Michigan launch the largest talent attraction effort in the U.S.? In this episode of Talent Wars, host Patience Fairbrother sits down with Spencer Lucker , director of strategic talent initiatives at Michigan Economic Development Corporation (MEDC) , to go behind the scenes of " You Can in Michigan" —a statewide initiative that's redefining what bold, data-driven and emotionally resonant t...

What does it take to pioneer an entirely new industry? In this episode of Talent Wars , host Patience Fairbrother interviews Katie Shorey, director of engagement at  Live + Work in Maine , about one of the very first employer-led talent attraction initiatives in the U.S.   Launched in 2015, when the idea of statewide talent marketing was still uncharted territory, Live + Work in Maine helped creat...

On this episode of Talent Wars, we explore how communities can move beyond simply attracting talent to retaining talent by creating a true sense of belonging that helps people stay rooted. Dr. Andreya Williams, cultural strategist and founder and CEO of Sunday Still, shares her innovative approach to talent retention that centers the human experience of moving and starting over. Join host Patience...

Philadelphia is leveraging its established tourism brand to attract new residents in an innovative new talent attraction campaign. In this episode of Talent Wars, Nikki Pumphrey, vice president of talent & workforce from The Chamber of Commerce for Greater Philadelphia, explains how " Stay for Philly " adapts Visit Philadelphia's successful tourism messaging to reach potential residents with a foc...