Well, to start: Congratulations to your 2017 NCAA Football National Champs, the Clemson Tigers. What a football game (that I missed because my Monday exhaustion led to passing out at halftime)! The second half highlights were great, though. Cheers to Tiger Nation—lend some of that Southern Good Luck over to your Atlanta Falcons this Saturday. America’s Team 2017.

Slight sarcasm—but I digress.

While we’re celebrating the best month of football of the year, we’re also celebrating a major tech milestone. Yesterday, January 9^th, was the 10 year anniversary of the IPhone; the singular product that trumpeted the advent of the Internet Age. Prior to 2007, mobile online accessibility was limited to wallet-wrenching data plans, glacial loading times, and typically text-only site views. Apps were the calamari before the ribeye. Digital music players crammed your pockets next to your cellphone.

Enter IPhone, and enter a new era of interconnectedness. An era that virtually erased the Blackberry, MapQuest, and the IPod. An era that replaced clunky buttons with sleek-but-sometimes-frustrating touchscreens.

An era that put a computer in everyone’s pocket, and revolutionized our personal and professional lives.

In 2006 it was difficult to imagine the impact the IPhone would have—or if it would even succeed. In 2017, it’s hard to imagine how we got by in 2006. Apple put the world at our fingertips, and streamlined how society works.

So here’s to ten great, transformative years, Apple IPhone. We’re all eager to see what innovations you have in store for us between now and 2027.

Welcome back, everybody! I hope you enjoyed ringing in the New Year; and if you’re in the South, I hope you’ve got mountains of collard greens, cornbread and black-eyed peas leftovers.

The New Year is a time to reinvigorate, to set achievable professional benchmarks, and to harness the motivation that the turning of the calendar brings to kick off the year on the right foot. Seeking suggestions? Join Russell on January 17^th on our friend Cathy Fyock’s webinar!

Russell will discuss all the cornerstones of PR for speakers and authors, including boosting book sales, increasing speaking fees and securing speaking engagements in 2017 and beyond. What better way to set the tone for success this year?

To register, please visit the link below:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/7121796676839723009

We hope you will join us!

How was your 2016? Did you succeed in accomplishing your personal and professional goals? If you fell just short, that’s the beauty of New Year’s resolutions. Start fresh on Sunday! Make a concerted effort to write your resolution down, and make yourself accountable for your success in 2017. It’s amazing how much a simple pen-to-paper commitment can make when seeking to achieve your goals.

We here at PR/PR want to wish you and yours a safe, healthy, happy, and prosperous New Year. Reflect on your successes and shortcomings, and dedicate yourself to making 2017 your best year to date.

For the second year in a row, it doesn’t feel a lot like Christmas here in Orlando. With temperatures hovering somewhere between hot and hotter and rainstorms sweeping across the state, it feels more like a midsummer week than the holidays.

I know many would gladly trade frozen streets and bitter cold for searing blacktops and afternoon heat, but it does put a damper on the “holiday feel” a bit. It’s a little more difficult to enjoy the refrain of “White Christmas” whilst sweating.

But what the weather attempts to spoil we can make up in holiday spirit. Christmas is a time to be surrounded by friends and family, and to celebrate the blessings that the year has bestowed, regardless of the temperature.

To our friends, colleagues, and clients, we truly wish you and yours a Merry Christmas, and hope that the holidays bring you joy and happiness.

It’s hard to believe that 2016 is nearly in the rear view mirror, with 2017 just lurking around the corner. With the New Year quickly approaching, PR/PR is looking forward to attending a number of exciting conventions, conferences, and meetings—one of those being Lady and the Champs 2017.

This year’s Lady and the Champs conference will be held March 3^rd and 4^th in Las Vegas. If you’re interested in honing your speaking and business tradecraft, Lady and the Champs will teach you the ways in which you can truly become unforgettable in 2017.

Russell will be taking PR/PR on tour for this one, so please come say hello!

Take advantage of Early Bird pricing by registering before December 31^st at www.LadyandtheChamps.com.

We hope to see you there!