Google results are populated with information about other guys called exactly like me, homonymous human beings that are either more famous and prestigious, which is not much, or simply have higher Internet exposure and perform better with the mystic PageRank search algorithm and the sophisticated text-matching technologies that made Larry and Sergey a fortune.
So at the top of the ranks, you can find Daniel Serra the Economics and Business Professor at the Universitat Pompeu Fabra, who seems to have a good sense of humor because he wrote things like “Since I do not have too much work to do, I am also the vice-chancellor of my university, UPF”. Hey! I might have said that too!! It looks like there are even more commonalities! Is good to share the name with a PhD, it would be great to meet him one day. I wish I were a PhD too…this is a pending project for the years to come.
Then, Daniel Serra the film-maker (photo), apparently, from Barcelona too. Gustavo Martinez was the first person to tell me that my last name is from Catalunya. That fact was really surprising to me because my grand grandfather’s boat came from north Italy, not Spain. Actually, I’m a proud holder of an Italian passport. My father always said that all Italian descendants named Serra that live in Argentina, should be relatives to us, and my experience showed me that the vast majority are from Spain. Therefore, there should have been a previous migration of a group of Serras from Gaudi lands to Piamonte, but wait a minute…who cares about that?
Coming in third position, Daniel Serra the brazilian car racer (got the joke?), son of three-time Stock Car champ and also ex-F1 driver Chico Serra. But it looks that he’s built his own credits, he belongs to the Red Bull Racing Team (ups, that’s a competitive brand to the company I work for, but lawyers beware: there’s no conflict of interest!, he’s not part of my family!) and ended Vice-Champion of Car Light in 2006 (??).
And then, Daniel Serra the argentinean writer, who defines himself as a “warrior of peace” (…). He lives in town (Buenos Aires), which makes him somehow special to me vs. the others. The other day I met a friend of him, who told me he’s a great guy, and I tell you…it’s tough to hear someone talking about someone else called exactly like you, that it’s not you. Fortunately, he has good friends that say good things about him. Imagine the opposite…
Then Daniel Serra the Information Systems Manager, Dani Serra the world champion swimmer and I think enough said about tocayos.
And in January 1st 2008, Seth Godin wrote a post that really made me think about all this...
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