Speaker Information: Born in Houston, Texas, Burton and his family moved to Williamsburg, Virginia and then to St. Louis, Missouri where he graduated from high school before returning to Texas for college at Southern Methodist University.  After earning his degrees in business and philosophy, Burton went on to work for a major consulting company before moving to the internet industry where he became the VP of Marketing and PR for a national Internet Service Provider.  Focused on learning more about business and earning his MBA, Burton attended the Kellogg Graduate School of Business and graduated in 2000 when he moved west to San Francisco so he could work in the heart of Silicon Valley.  After three years working in technology there, he moved to Los Angeles where he is currently residing.    With family in Texas, Burton spends a significant amount of time there and enjoys being on the family ranch and catching up with his friends on the lakes.  An avid hunter, Burton has hunted everything from birds such as dove, duck, quail, and turkey, to larger animals including white tail deer, hogs, and nilgai.  Fishing has also been a passion of his and he has caught everything from rainbow and golden trout while fly fishing to marlin and tuna hundreds of miles off shore while deep sea fishing.  Spear fishing in the waters from Mexico to Hawaii has always been a favorite sport also. Due to his love of the outdoors, Burton enjoys just about every adventurous activity out there, including mountain biking, hiking, kayaking, SCUBA diving (advanced certification), swimming (swam from Alcatraz Island to San Francisco 4 times), sky diving, bungee jumping (300 ft bridge in New Zealand), snowboarding/skiing, horseback riding, and mountain climbing (Kilimanjaro, Base Camp of Everest, Mt. Rainier).  After years of triathlons, he decided to combine many of these disciplines to participate in adventure races ranging from 3-48 hours and ultimately achieved a long time goal by racing in the Eco-Challenge Fiji in 2002.  When not in the outdoors, he enjoys painting and drawing as well as amateur photography. Having been fortunate to travel while growing up, this passion has led him to over 30 countries around the world and an unlimited number of memories.  Ranging from backpacking around the south pacific (Fiji, Tahiti, New Zealand, and Australia) to living and studying in both Thailand and Oxford, England, he has seen many different parts of the world.  Realizing there is so much more out there, his strong desire to travel and experience new and exciting places/people/adventures continues to lead him on journeys everywhere around the globe.  In the summer of 2003, Burton was chosen to be on SURVIVOR Pearl Islands which was a dream come true.  While the majority of the contestants were uncomfortable and unhappy much of the time, Burton was in his element – being one of the only two food providers living off the land, participating and winning more challenges than anyone else in the game, and having his own personal lagoon to swim around and fish in all day long.  He ultimately finished in fifth place in this competition and had an amazing time.  Moving ahead, Burton realizes that his true passions in life are adventure and travel and hopes to combine these passions with work.  With so many experiences under his belt and such a strong desire to try new and different things, his ideal job would be starting an adventure travel company or hosting a show focused on travel and/or adventure.