After a ten day road trip through the fjords, banking gravel roads along cliff sides and moss covered lava rock formations, I’ve returned from Iceland. I have not returned a Viking warrior, to my dismay, but I have returned nonetheless.

What a breathtaking place. It’s no wonder that tourism is on the rise on the island. The food, the burgeoning craft beer scene, the people, and the scenery were downright incredible. Iceland will hit your wallet pretty hard, but it will hit your heart in the same fashion. I implore you to consider this wonderful country when looking at your next vacation!

But as vacations end, it’s time to get back to work! I’m glad to be back, sleeping in a comfy bed aside from a cramped tent and excited to keep churning out results for PR/PR’s clients. Russell did a bang-up job assuming the helm of the blog in my absence, so kudos to the boss.

We’ve got some exciting events coming up—specifically the International Management Consultants Conference in Washington D.C. which takes place October 21^st-23^rd. As always, Russell will be manning our booth and ready to talk all things publicity, public speaking and Cadillac’s. Make sure you stop by and say hello!

I’m glad to be back, and glad to be continuing the great work we do here at PR/PR.

The Land of Fire and Ice awaits! This week I will be embarking on another international journey, heading to Iceland for 10 days of camping and hiking. It’s going to be cold, it’s going to be windy, and it’s going to be awesome.

One of my favorite quotes that I’ve seen on Iceland is that you can liken it to “God beta-testing another planet on Earth.” You can be gazing into a glacial lagoon one minute, and twenty minutes later walking on a black sand beach. One minute on mossy cliffs, another on hills of craggy volcanic rock. It’s a definite bucket list item for me, and I’m thrilled that it’s finally happening.

The Captain of the PR/PR ship, Mister Trahan himself, will be actively monitoring all of my clients’ accounts in my absence. I will return from this adventure Wednesday, September 28^th—with plenty of tales to tell, I’m sure—so please do not hesitate to contact Russell while I’m away!

Happy Tuesday, everybody! I hope you had a nice, long, relaxing Labor Day weekend. Labor Day is a signpost for many things. If you’re wearing white: go home and change. If you enjoy Pumpkin Spice Everything: head to the store and stock up. NFL fan? Better reserve your spot to belly-up to the bar on Sunday. Political sign enthusiast? Your neighborhood is about to become a red & blue minefield.

But if you’re Elon Musk, you’re thinking of none of these things. It’s quite possible you’re decked out head-to-toe in ivory, staring bleakly at a wall in a poorly-lit room. No Pumpkin Spice Latte. Certainly no office NFL pick ‘em pool to ponder over.

That’s because your company blew up a rocket on Thursday. A rocket carrying Facebook’s $200 million satellite designed to bring enhanced internet access to Africa.

Zuckerberg v. Musk in a street fight: who you got?

Snark aside: while SpaceX does have a history of failed launches and catastrophic losses to its rockets, these events are pretty par-for-the-course when experimenting with new and revolutionary technology. You try, you fail, you adjust, and you try again. But unlike Elon Musk, Nikola Tesla didn’t have a buddy’s multi-million dollar investment along for the ride when testing the Alternating Current.

Basically? SpaceX is experiencing a wave of bad PR that won’t impact its long-term viability, but will influence an ongoing storyline and boost intrigue every time its vehicles are on the Launchpad.

So we’ve got a bit of a Zuck/Musk dustup going on, and while a Billionaire Battle is always fun to watch—see Bloomberg v. Trump—this will blow over, and these two innovators will be back to working together to better the world that we live in.

Let’s get this out of the way right off the bat: Ryan Lochte is a big time bozo. A gold medal bozo, if you will.

With a gray dye-job, looking somewhat like a Millennial Mike Pence, Lochte, accompanied by other members of the United States swim team, decided to hit the town in Rio de Janeiro. The usual sequence of events on a “guys’ night out” involves a series of bars, a late night food stop and a bed or floor to sleep it off.

It usually doesn’t involve trashing gas station bathrooms in Olympic host countries.

So it went with Lochte and Co, and after claims of being robbed at gunpoint—and subsequent recounts of the events varying wildly from the original statement—Lochte finally owned up to “exaggerating” the story and issued a lukewarm apology for his behavior.

Attention, World: We’re sorry, too.

It’s one thing to make a fool of yourself in a foreign country, but it’s another to embarrass your entire nation—and compound that embarrassment by concocting a false story to cover your own immature and illegal actions.

In a Saturday interview with NBC’s Matt Lauer, Lochte—with a toned-down hairstyle and hue—again expressed his regret for his actions, but the disgrace he’s brought his nation will never fade. When you set foot in another country you are a default ambassador—especially as an Olympian—and the damage Lochte has done to his reputation and the United States will cost far more than repairs in a gas station bathroom. It will taint his legacy forever.

I’ve written a couple of blogs about Mark Zuckerberg’s seeming obsession with Snapchat—possibly stemming from his rejected buyout offer—and now that Instagram is under the Facebook umbrella, it’s clear that the Zuckerberg grudge has not abated.

Instagram recently unveiled “stories”—a not so subtle jab at Snapchat, who also refers to its users photos and videos as “stories”—and it’s essentially Instagram’s version of Snapchat. Users upload photos or videos that form an evolving thread and expire over time. There are also options for a variety of edits a user can make, such as scribbled text and typed captions.

Instagram has already become a necessity for many visually-based businesses and promotional opportunities, so “stories” is adding another dimension to its successful model.

No filters yet, however, which seems to be one of Snapchat’s biggest draws.

It’s fascinating watching two social media heavyweights trade blows—even if it appears that it’s always Facebook on the offensive.