Back in the office on a Tuesday after Independence Day, and it feels a bit like I’ve stepped through a time warp. I get started with my normal “Monday” routine just to stop myself and double-check the calendar — yep, it’s Tuesday.

And if it’s July 4th in Florida, you can bet it’s as hot as a BBQ grill outside. The car temperature registered a solid 104 degrees yesterday as I headed over to my family’s house, so now I’m sunburned and confused about the calendar.

But burgers, hot dogs and ribs with a side of explosives is worth the temporary calendar confusion. We hope you and your families enjoyed your long Independence Day weekend and festivities, and hope you’re adjusting to Tuesday as well as can be!

It’s time! Russell is taking the PR/PR show on the road, heading out tomorrow morning to Las Vegas, Nevada, for the Lady and the Champs ’16 speakers’ conference!

Joining such stage legends as Patricia Fripp, Ed Tate and Darren LaCroix, Russell will be on-hand to talk all-things-publicity—from the impact of articles placement to the importance of establishing a fluid line of media attention. He will also be participating in a panel discussion during Thursday’s slate of events.

If you’re a speaker and looking to hone your strategies, tactics and habits, join Russell this Thursday, Friday and Saturday at Lady in the Champs in Vegas. Registration is STILL open! Reserve your spot, come ready to re-commit to your career, and make sure you stop by our table and say hello!

Click this Link to Register

With the advent of the Social Media Age came the hyperawareness to the importance of online security. Facebook continually pushes this importance non-stop, encouraging its users to check and re-check their security settings from time-to-time.

In a slightly humorous, ironic twist of fate, Facebook’s own architect fell victim to one of the perils of an online existence.

Mark Zuckerberg’s had a number of his own social media accounts hacked over the weekend, showing that even one of the most tech-savvy individuals on that planet is not immune to Internet shenanigans. It’s worth noting that his Facebook and Instagram accounts both remained secure, however—not sure his colleagues would have let him live it down had they been infiltrated.

The best part of this story, though? The fact that Zuckerberg’s password was not some unique alphanumeric combination or an intricate sequence of digits; his login to his Twitter, Pinterest and LinkedIn was…”dadada.”

That’s the password of a college freshman accessing an online course, not the key to accessing the social media accounts of a tech mogul mega-billionaire.

Cautionary tales are found around every corner, and if Mark Zuckerberg can become the victim of an online hack: so can you! Make sure you switch them up from time to time to ensure that your security measures are stout.

These past-recent and quickly coming-up months have held many milestones in my life. The 10^th anniversary of moving to Florida; the 5^th anniversary of my purchase of PR/PR Public Relations; my 50^th birthday; and Carter’s 5^th anniversary with the agency included. I’m so very privileged to have Carter on the staff.

Also, the first visit by my parents to Florida in 10 years! Through business and personal travel I make it to Palm Springs, CA (where they live) and/or the Portland, OR area (where they summer), so we’ve seen each other many times in the past 10 years. However, this is the first time they’ve been to Florida since I bought the company, their first time meeting their grand-doghter whom I adopted a month after their last visit, and get to meet my wonderful friends and colleagues.

I’d been campaigning for this visit for quite a while. Not only did it coincide with a milestone birthday, but more importantly, I wanted them to see my life. I know parents will never stop worrying about their children, no matter how old either of them get, but I was hoping by seeing firsthand the life I’ve built in Florida my parents might be able to return to Palm Springs knowing they’d done their job well and I am, personally, pleased with what I’ve built on the strong foundation they’ve given me.

Milestones tell you how far you’ve come. I can look back over the milestones my parents have planted in my life with love and affection. There are quite a few milestones ahead to be reached with them, and I’m really glad we’ve added their visit to Florida along the path.

– PR/PR President Russell Trahan

Since re-taking the reins as Twitter’s CEO, Jack Dorsey has been more like the boy at the dyke. No matter what move he makes to generate some momentum—and shareholder satisfaction—another issue seems to emerge. It’s like playing Silicon Valley Whack-A-Mole.

This week: another big shift for the social media platform.

Twitter announced that it would adjust its character-count to no longer include links and images, allowing users the freedom and flexibility to compose longer tweets. 140 characters are ubiquitous to the Twitter concept, but with still-stagnant stock numbers, it’s become blindingly apparent that a change is needed to shake-up the formula.

From a user-perspective, it feels a bit like Twitter is trying a bit of everything to see what sticks. A veritable musical chairs game in the CEO’s office. Streaming NFL games. Not quite grasping-at-straws, but certainly experimenting with options.

So for all you Twitter users, rejoice! You can now properly caption that meme you couldn’t wait to post! You can also begin using full URLs to your website in your promotional efforts! It’s another new step for Twitter—let’s see how it pans out.