I am passionate about sharks and diving with them, if you don’t believe me have a look at: www.oceanicdreams.com, www.flickr.com/photos/oceanicdreams and http://fleander.blogspot.com.  Did I have fear of sharks before – sure, do I respect them – absolutely.   But the more I have been able to interact with them and learn from these encounters the more I enjoy being in the water with them – a guest in their domain.

Wolfgang Leander and Tiger shark (Photo by: Felix Leander)

Over the past 10 years my father and I have had some (minimal) close calls – actually, my dad was bitten in the arm by a 5ft Caribbean reef shark that required over 50 stitches.  I should mention that this incident (as well as the others) was completely his fault – he was teasing the shark with bait to get a better photo and it nipped him in the forearm.  Three months later my dad was back in the water with his friends with fins – he no longer teases them – now he hugs them.

So imagine for a moment that the influencers online you want to reach out to (be it bloggers, forum administrators, twitterers, etc. or communities) are sharks – and I do not mean that in any negative way – remember, I love sharks and think they are absolutely beautiful animals.  Now imagine that you are the overzealous diver who has never dove with sharks before, you may not even get into the water because you are so frightened by sharks and what they represent (thanks to Jaws and the media), or so nervous that you do not know how to behave in their environment.

Freediver and Tiger Shark (Photo by: Wolfgang Leander)

One of three things will happen: 1. sharks are shy and sense your nervous being - they will not come close to you, 2. you will chase them away by bodly approaching them without having observed them, 3.you aggravate them so much that they might give you a love bite.

Freediver and Tiger Shark (Photo by: Felix Leander)

My recommendation…first of all GET IN THE WATER…RELAX, sharks are not out to get you…WATCH, OBSERVE, and LEARN how they behave.  Eventually sharks will become comfortable with you being in their space and will approach you for the winning National Geographic shot…and when a REAL CONNECTION is made – you may even find yourself riding on the back of a tiger shark and feeling like you are part of the pack! (disclaimer – sharks, not bloggers, are still consider wild animals and should be respected at all times – respect bloggers too)

With Brazil being (one of) the most dominant Internet player South of the United States, it only makes sense that Google reportedly has made it their homebase for all LATAM operations.  While there are no official numbers, it is estimated that Google Brazil is making about $500 million in revenues each year.

Orkut, Google’s social network that is predominantely used by Brazilians, has already moved all its operations to Belo Horizonte.  Interestingly enough, Brazil has the second most Gmail account - the social network and email service go hand-in-hand.

Brazil will definitely continue to drive anything and everything that is Internet related in Latin America - but countries like Chile, Argentina, Mexico, and Colombia are getting their groove on as well…

I wrote a couple of weeks ago about having the digital jitters before a trip where I expected to be completely disconnected for close to two weeks. I was prepared for sweats and shakes as my blackberry remained silent, and figured I’d be howling at the moon when my iPhone didn’t ring. Wrong.

My trip was great. Me and one of my BFFs (am I 12?) fished with bears, kayaked with whales, slept on the beach and hugged a glacier. I also made some new friends the old fashioned way - in person. From a digital perspective, I had more connectivity than I expected on the front and back ends when I was in Juneau and then Gustavus, Alaska. In between I camped and kayaked in Glacier Bay and there was no service. None. Even the guide’s satellite phone was sketchy. But guess what? My team and our clients did just fine without me. And I did just fine without an Internet connection.

I confess, I was a little nervous the first day - I’m just so used to checking in that it was odd not to be able to. But by the time I got into the kayak I was ready to forget about work and focus on vacation. There were a few important meetings I missed during the week, and I gave them a fleeting thought, but overall I found being disconnected quite valuable. It made me appreciate my time a little more, and when I got reconnected at the end of the week I appreciated my clients, my colleagues, my connections all the more.

My trip to Alaska was a “ten-years at Burson” gift to myself. And I loved every minute of it. But I love my job, and my company, and I was happy to get back and get connected again. I didn’t get the jitters, but luckily I didn’t lose my enthusiasm and excitement for the business either.