Lunch with a Legend

yesterday I was fortunate enough to be a guest at a luncheon that featured Arnold Palmer. Representing Marriott I was one of about 100 of the cities most influential people gathered at the Bay Hill Club and Lodge in Orlando to network and enjoy a lunch with Arnie himself.

the experience was so wonderful that I wanted to share it with the world.

the ballroom was set and the curtains opened up overlooking the Bay Hill practice tee. As we inched closer to the start of the lunch and people made their way to the tables where they were to have lunch, you could see Arnie approaching - walking across the putting green in his tan pans, blue Bay Hill golf shirt, navy jacket and while golf shoes. yes he was coming to the luncheon in his golf shoes. these shoes had spikes. the lunch begin and they covered his illustrious career on and off the course. when he was finally introduced he got up on stage and sat in his chair to have the conversation with the audience. he opened by saying that he had to make it quick, because he was teeing off at 1pm. It was 12:15pm when he said those words. one of the first questions that was asked, Why Orlando? consider it was an Orlando Economic development commission luncheon it only made sense. Why Orlando....his response, because I wanted a place where I could show up to events like this in my golf spikes and no socks. sure as we are home to Mickey, he wasn't wearing socks. A legend this man is.

He went on to talk about his relationship with his long time attorney Mark McCormack. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_McCormack thru a story that he tells so well. He was a young up and coming golfer with lots of celebrity and endorsement potential, when it become obvious that he would need an attorney to represent him Mark approached him. Arnie simply said, I will let you represent me, but you will ONLY represent me. You must drop the others. After a day or so to think about it, Mark returned to Arnie with a contract. he said, Arnie I have decided to only represent you....and here in this contract it outlines our exclusivity to each other. Arnie says he looked at Mark and said, i am not signing any contracts. he said, all I need is you to look me in the eye give me a handshake and do what you say you are going to do and I am fine with it all. Mark said, but Arnie that isn't good business. Arnie said lets try it.....and they did, and it lasted 40 years until his recent death. As Arnie said, it worked pretty good.

This made me think - because so recently in my business and my job I have been so dilgent and focused on agreements, what is on paper that I had losts sight of this very important characteristic. Trust honsesty and a good will of a mans word....

We are in the hospitality business, a business where in the early years agreements did not exists, if Marriott told you it was going to happen, it did....In 2009, how times have changed and Arnies lesson was so perfect as there is a need for balance in everything we do.

He continued to talk about his life and his passion for children and their health and well being. He talked about his involvement in the Arnold and Winnie Palmer childrens hospitals based right here in Orlando....how forunate are we to have Arnie call Orlando home.

As he was speaking a cell phone rang from somewhere near him....but he did not hesitate, just reached into his pocket, noticed who it was and told the audience that he would call his daughter back later- the intruption brought back a memory which he shared- a time when he was speaking to a group like this one that day and a phone rang in the audience. as he made a snide remark about the rude interruption he noticed it was his phone- he said he felt like he was standing on stage with his (as he begin to say pants, he realized that was not gentlemenly like in front of the ladies in the audience) he stopped himself and rather said, I felt like I got caught with my socks off...raising his leg in the air showing off the fact he did not have socks on as he earlier commented. It was real, he is real and wow what an opportunity to be in the same room with the legend.

As he finished up about 10 till 1pm.....he got up from his seat the room gave him a standing applause and he walked out of the ballroom door, onto the practice green. As Meg Crofton, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meg_Crofton president of Walt Disney world said her words to the group, in the back ground for the audience to see, was Arnie hoping in his golf cart and off to tee #1 for his 1pm. Something else...what a day.

Thank you Marriott for giving me the opportunity to represent and share this special day with a legend.

bb

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A great day on the golf course

Who: David, Patrick, Bryan and Chris
What: Golf head to head
Where: West Orange Country Club
When: June 12, 2009 @ 2pm
Why: To say goodbye to Patty Lascell (Precious P) as he heads off for his new promotion

El dog was a last minute scratch we hope you are blessed with some better days ahead. we all had a great day out there and we missed you. recapping the day...

Nabavi was a little sloppy first and foremost.

a question still remains out there- why did we not know Nabavi was playing Metro earlier in the day. Interesting mind.

Patty was up several on the front and Bryan came back to finish the front up three (follow score card below)

Dave switched carts and began harrassing me at the turn. I lost 3 straight strokes and now we are tied.

After several missed puts and an arrant tee shot here and there, Patrick took over until he ran into a bit of trouble on the par 3 17th.

There he found himself in the sand and at one point after several bunker shots on that hole was heard saying, "the pressure is mounting."

Bryan did not capitalize missing a short put on that hole that would have put in down 1 going to 18th. didn't happen and patty took a 2 strokes lead onto 18th.

Bryan lost his drive on the 18th and Patty started to savor the victory.

Good way to say goodbye to Patrick, a man I share a middle name. Congrats to him for achieving his goal as store manager, now he must readjust his sites on the Regional Managers Position so that he can find himself back in Orlando one day.

Thanks for the day guys, lets do it again sometime soon.

Nabavi, card below for your records.
Patty, there will be a day a rematch will occur. Keep that in mind.

breaking a sweat

on saturday my family and I went to the Winter Garden YMCA here in Orlando for some fitness. daughter swim lessons followed by playtime while mom, dad and mother-in-law run around and get fit. wife and her mother on the treadmill while I played basketball in the gym. taking it easy as it was the first physcial activity since my pinched nerve in my neck several months go. It was so nice to be on the gym floor, the smell brought me back to my days trying to be a baskeball player as a 9th grader. I made the team on pure hustle, cause I was the whitest basketball player in America.

as I was running layups back and forth by myself trying to break a sweat, I could see a professional athlete over in the corner working out. there was no mistaken this guy from a professional athlete- they way he walked, the way he carried himself, the clothes he wore and the headphones on his head.

he finished his workout and made his way to the basketball court where I was...that is when several kids approached him for autographs and I immediately recognized him as Gilbert Arenas.

for the next hour he and I shared the half court, shooting hoops and having a good time, but the thing that had the biggest impression on me was the way he worked at his game.

for the first 30 mins he used a YMCA ball.....but out of nowhere his buddy rolled him his NBA ball and that is when the guy lit up. It was like someone just turned on the sun. His pace picked up and he got noticably aggressively, dunking the basketball 3 seconds after having it in his hands.

I wasn't impressed with his long shot or his dribble as much as I was his passion for his ball, his tool. I was also very focused on the amount of time he spent with the little things, like passing the ball against the wall for 30 mins, taking 3 foot shot off the glass, making layups. it was obvious that he was staying sharp by doing the little things.

like the day I watched tiger woods practice 3 foot putts before Bay Hill for about an hour.

it was a good morning, running up and down the court with Gilbert Arenas, we traded sides of the court staying out of each others way. It isn't every day that you share the stage with a professional working on his game.

Rust and a beer

sitting down for a beer and smoke
my very important client points to the rust
we both acknowlege how bad
we notify operations
in no time the sign is posted
the 2 good men spring into action
when the client speaks, we listen
in no time the rust is gone
and in time for my next beer and smoke with this client
cheers.

richard, thanks for the opportunity
see you soon.

Read Bill Marriott's Letter to More Than 8,000 Top Customers Urging Continued Support for Travel.

J. Willard Marriott, Jr.
Chairman of the Board
and Chief Executive Officer

Dear Valued Customer: During challenging times, it’s important to review your business practices and thank the people who helped you succeed. That’s why I’m writing you today—to thank you for your continued loyalty to the Marriott family of brands and our 150,000 associates worldwide.

We understand that businesses have to make difficult decisions about business travel and holding larger meetings, events, and incentive trips. At Marriott, we’re making those same decisions ourselves. While we’ve postponed or scaled back certain events, we’ve also invested in meetings that we know grow our corporate culture, enhance our sales profitability, and allow us to emerge from this downturn stronger than our competition. And it turns out, the Kellogg Business School agrees. In a recent study, 82% of executives surveyed believe that business travel is important to achieving their business results and 72% find that increasing travel while others are cutting back gives them an advantage over their competitors.

The travel industry—particularly the sector of the industry that facilitates business meetings, events, and incentive travel—has recently been under assault. A handful of bad decisions by TARP recipients gave Washington politicians the impetus to portray business travel and events as excessive and unnecessary. Our industry has been fighting back by launching the Meetings Mean Business campaign, and I’ve written an op-ed, done media interviews, and personally met with many Senators, Governors, and the President to explain the unintended consequences of the rhetoric. I believed it was important to raise awareness about the real victims of declining travel—the housekeepers, taxi drivers, bellman, and banquet servers who could lose their jobs.

Following our recent meeting with President Obama, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said, “The President believes it’s important to have a strong tourism industry and that we shouldn’t retrench. He would encourage people to travel.”
At Marriott, we’ve launched a new promotion called “Meetings Matter” which can help our customers hold their events by offering unprecedented incentives for group bookings. We’d be happy to host your next meeting or event.
Our associates join me in appreciating committed customers like you. So thank you for doing business with us and keep doing what you do best!
Warm regards,

J.W. Marriott, Jr.

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