The About Perception Podcast

You’ve heard of marathons, trail races, and even obstacle course competitions. But what about racing with a burro? In this episode of the Perception Podcast, Tom Garrity speaks with Shane Weigand of New Mexico Pack Burros about one of the state's most unique and entertaining outdoor pursuits. Shane is the creator of the Strike It Rich Pack Burro Race Series. The conversation includes burros,...

What quotes are shaping you right now? Not the ones framed on a wall. Not the ones you repost on social media. The ones that quietly sit in front of you every day — and challenge you to lead better. Thank you for joining, me, this is Tom Garrity. This month on the Perception Podcast , I’m taking you on a short field trip — to my office. At the base of my computer screen are three Post-it notes. Th...

By the second week of January, most New Year’s resolutions are already negotiating their exit strategy. The gym is a little less crowded. The notebook with the fresh goals is sitting closed. And the optimism we felt on January 1st is now competing with real life. If you’ve ever set a goal with the best of intentions—and then quietly watched it fade—you’re not alone. Today, on the Perception Podcas...

Small Business Featured on the Perception Podcast This episode of the Perception Podcast will focus on small business and major business corporations. In addition to sharing insights on how New Mexico residents view small business and major business corporations, we are going to hear from Chrystal Trykoski of Enchanting Soap Collections.  This is a small business that providing a path forward for...

This episode of the Perception Podcast will focus on trust in the election process—a topic that shapes how we view democracy itself. Our conversation spotlights one of our clients Observe New Mexico Elections. Observe New Mexico Elections is a nonpartisan group working to build confidence through independent election observation across 11 municipalities statewide. The organization’s immediate focu...

The Garrity Group does a deep dive into the 2025 Garrity Perception Survey related to New Mexico Stress Levels.  New Mexico residents are feeling a bit more stressed today than they did 10 years ago, according to the 2025 Garrity Perception Survey (GPS ’25). The findings show that 31% of New Mexico residents have a great deal of stress, an increase from 24% in the 2015 Garrity Perception Survey. T...

This is a presentation providing insight to the full 2025 Garrity Perception Survey (GPS) The survey addresses New Mexico resident’s trust of 15 people/professions, favorability of 17 industries/institutions, access of news and information, role of government and corporations to do the right thing, level of stress being experienced by residents, and the role of personal faith.  The presentation is...

This is a presentation providing insight to the 2025 Garrity Perception Survey (GPS) on the topic of oil / gas and solar / wind favorability in New Mexico.  The presentation is provided by Tom Garrity who was the keynote speaker to the Albuquerque Business First Energy Summit on June 12, 2025. ================== Thank you to Sandia Pueblo and also to Albuquerque Business First for putting on today...

Welcome to a view from Lift Off Lane, the podcast where you can get an insider's perspective of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta powered by ExxonMobil. In this episode, Tom Garrity speaks with Tracey Hawkins to learn more about being a Balloon Fiesta volunteer, as well as the difference between a navigator and a member of the Chase crew. 

Welcome to a view from Lift Off Lane, the podcast where you can get an insider's perspective of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta powered by ExxonMobil. In this episode, Tom Garrity speaks with Tracey Hawkins to learn more about a popular attraction at Balloon Fiesta, The Balloon Discovery Center. 

Welcome to a view from Lift Off Lane, the podcast where you can get an insider's perspective of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta powered by ExxonMobil. In this episode, we will learn more about the different ways you can experience this year's event. Tom Garrity speaks with Shamaine Giannini who overseas, the popular Gondola Club, Camp 505, skyboxes and more. 

Welcome to a view from Lift Off Lane. The podcast where you can get an insider's perspective of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta powered by ExxonMobil. In addition to hot air balloons. What else is there to do at Balloon Fiesta Park? Well, in this episode, Tom Garrity speaks with Erica to learn more about the great entertainment at Balloon Fiesta and attractions along Main Street....

Welcome to a view from Lift Off Left the podcast where you can get an insider's perspective of the Albuquerque International Balloon Fiesta powered by ExxonMobil.  Each year, Balloon Fiesta hosts thousands of travelers from around the country who attend the event each year. In this episode, Tom Garrity speaks with Balloon Fiesta RV manager Jennifer Schurman to talk about RV's at this yea...

In this episode of the Perception podcast, we're going to focus on a program that was announced on July 31st, with the main goal of providing more confidence in the integrity and security of New Mexico's election system. The national presidential election and the state's general election occur this November 5th, 2024. Joining me today on the Perception podcast is Carmen J. Lopez, th...

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 A...

Welcome to the Perception Podcast, this is Tom Garrity with The Garrity Group Public Relations, we help small businesses to heard and large organizations to be understood. It is Perception season!  What does that mean?  It is when we shares insights from its 2023 Garrity Perception Survey. It all started in 2010, when the firm engaged Albuquerque-based Research and Polling to query New Mexico resi...

In today’s podcast we are going to dive into one aspect of the 2023 Garrity Perception Survey.  Specifically, the level of Trust New Mexico residents have of State Government Officials.  The Garrity Group helps small businesses to be heard and large organizations to be understood. To help support our mission, we commissioned Albuquerque’s Research & Polling to measure New Mexico adult resident...

Tom Garrity, Andie Mercer and Makayla Roberts continue the conversation by talking about the iPhone upgrades we like.  Android users should only listen to hear what you are missing out on ;-) TGG Perception iPhone Tom Garrity [00:00:03] All right. Welcome to the Perception podcast. This is Tom Garrity with the Garrity Group Public Relations. Joining me today is Vice President Andie Mercer and an a...

Meta's new Threads app has been generating a lot of buzz!  The Garrity Group team provides their insights about this new social media channel.  On this episode Tom Garrity (Threads @TomGarrity) , Andie Mercer (Threads @andie.mercer) and Makayla Roberts (Threads @makayla3_) provide their insights on the new app. TGG Perception Threads Tom Garrity [00:00:06]  Welcome back to the Perception podc...

Welcome to the Perception Podcast, this is Tom Garrity.  We’ve had a lot going on here at The Garrity Group, but I wanted to share with you something that is off the beaten path … literally and figuratively.  Some of you know I am training to run the Black Hills Ultra Marathon 50 mile race with Team World Vision.  It is in South Dakota at the end of June.  As a part of the training and encourageme...

The Farm and Ranching industry is one of the most favored industries and institutions in New Mexico.  According to the 2020 Garrity Perception Survey (GPS), 77% of New Mexico residents favor the industry with 46% of that group giving it a “very favorable” rating on a five-point scale. Among the 17 industries surveyed, the Farm and Ranching Industry is the second most favorable slightly behind Smal...

New Mexico’s national laboratories rank 5th among 17 industries and institutions included in the 2020 Garrity Perception Survey New Mexico’s national laboratories, Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories have a high level of favorability among the state’s residents. According to the 2020 Garrity Perception Survey, the national labs rank 5th among the 17 industries and insti...

State Universities Fair Well Among Favorability of New Mexico Residents   Universities boast 61% favorability, ranking 8th among 17 industries and institutions included in the 2020 Garrity Perception Survey New Mexico residents have a favorable opinion of state universities according to the 2020 Garrity Perception Survey (GPS). Among the 17 industries surveyed, the state universities are the eight...

New Mexico residents have unique perspectives about favorability and trust of public schools and educators. The 2020 Garrity Perception Survey reveals confidence in educators is strong, 69 percent of New Mexico residents trust teachers, ranking second out of fifteen professions. When the focus is on K-12 institutions, 41 percent of New Mexicans have a favorable impression of public schools; rankin...

Favorability of Financial Institutions Vary Based on Local versus National Banks    New Mexico Residents Favor Local Banks (67%) over National Banks (39%) in the 2020 Garrity Perception Survey New Mexico residents are more favorable towards local banks than they are national banks. According to the 2020 Garrity Perception Survey, Local Banks are viewed as the sixth most favorable of the 17 industr...