Marriott on the Move

I'm sure a lot of you have seen that commercial for Apple with the silhouettes dancing around, listening to their iPods. One of the dancing guys is a man named David Elsewhere and he's been quite an Internet sensation.

His style of dance is very unique. It's all very fluid and he moves around in ways I didn't even know were possible for a human. He is very popular on websites like YouTube and MySpace and has even appeared in TV commercials.

His latest dance moves can be seen in an online video he filmed for our TownePlace Suites hotels. These hotels recently . . .

Ernest Hemingway and Graham Greene are two great authors who write often about the ex-pat experience. That's the target for one of our lesser known brands. It's called Marriott Executive Apartments, or MEA, and it's designed for so-called executive ex-patriates. These are people whose companies are relocating them for a long period of time to complete different work assignments. These "super-travelers" are away from home an average of 100-170 nights and some even stay away for years!

With the expanding global economy, we're seeing demand grow rapidly. In the next three years, we'll . . .

As you all have seen on television, our upper Midwest region has been struck by a terrible natural disaster. Huge rains have fallen in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, Michigan and Wisconsin. The rivers have been overflowing their banks and the levees are breaking. There's been massive flooding and thousands of people in the region have been evacuated from their homes.

Marriott has a lot of properties in these areas but, fortunately, none were damaged. It was a near miss for our Coralville Marriott Hotel and Conference Center, right near Iowa City, but the actions of the associates . . .

I'm a movie buff. Donna and I recently went to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. What great fun and wonderful entertainment. As we sat together in the movie, chewing on our popcorn and holding hands, it was great to hear that wonderful soundtrack come back from Indiana Jones of the past.

It was wonderful to see an older performer do gymnastics, jump through the air and go on chases through the jungle. He's a humble guy, this Harrison Ford, but he's taking risks and enjoying . . .

We're all aware that there was a terrible earthquake in China on the 12th of May. My heart goes out to the victims and the families. But I'm so proud of how our hotels responded. True to our Spirit To Serve, our associates, owners and franchisees rushed to action to help the community and their peers affected by the quake.

Forty-eight Marriott associates were directly affected. They either lost their homes or they were damaged, or their family members were injured. They have been given paid leave days, transportation to temporary shelters and medical subsidies for those who had been injured. Many of our hotels and regional offices have also held . . .

I want to tell you what I learned when I visited our Salt Lake City Downtown Marriott Hotel. You know, I just love to hear stories like this.

Back in March, Pamela Daley took her four year old daughter Sahara to Salt Lake City, Utah, for tests at Primary Children's Hospital. They stayed in our Salt Lake City Marriott Downtown Hotel. To get Sahara excited about the trip, Pamela told her daughter she'd get to see some real snow in Salt Lake City. Since she was from warm, sunny Arizona, Sahara was thrilled she was going to see snow and immediately thought about Santa Claus.

However, when they arrived . . .