Marriott on the Move

I've found in all these years that the most important thing in success in life and in business is communication. Marriott is a very diverse company and our employees speak a lot of languages. Having hotels in almost 70 countries means our guests speak many languages too.

As you all know, fuel prices have been on the rise for many months, and many Americans are feeling the squeeze on their family budgets.   However, if any of you tried to make holiday travel plans lately, you know the rising cost of fuel is hitting the airlines hard also.

The other night, NBC Nightly News did an interesting report about corporate blogging.  My blog, Marriott on the Move, and Coca-Cola's were featured as a way to communicate openly and honestly with our customers and stakeholders.

In the story, they showed that I sometimes handwrite my blogs because I don't know how to type.  But they didn't show how the rest of the process works, so I thought you might be interested in learning a little bit more behind the scenes.

For over 60 years, our family's been spending our summers at a lake house in New Hampshire and we've always taken a dog with us. The past few years, we've taken our favorite golden retriever named Murphy. Murphy's eight years old now - he's getting a little gray in the face.

I know the daily headlines about the economy are causing some jitters. I'm as concerned as you are about the declining stock market, distress at mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and all the turbulence in the airline industry.

I recently visited Charlotte, North Carolina, to celebrate the 100th birthday of Bill Werber. Bill is the oldest living ex-Major League Baseball player and the last remaining ex-teammate of Babe Ruth.

Boy, what a guy he is. When I was 13 and 14 years old, he took me hunting here in Washington, D.C., around the Eastern Shore of Maryland and out in Virginia. We shot quail and we went duck hunting on the Chesapeake Bay. He was a real friend and mentor and a hero of mine for many, many years.

When I first started blogging, I told you the story about how I started doing Pilates after my wife told me I was shrinking and needed to do stretching exercises.  That was over a year ago.  I'm still doing Pilates and it's great.  It's wonderful for my flexibility and makes me feel stronger and healthier - and a little bit taller!