Maryland Business

What do Marriott International, McCormick & Co., LifeBridge Health and W. L. Gore & Associates all have in common? They landed on the Fortune 100 Best Places to Work list.

Each is headquartered in Maryland, aside from W.L. Gore, which sits on Maryland’s list because of its large location in Elkton.

Better yet for out-of-work Marylanders, they’re all hiring.

As of last week, hotelier Marriott (#82 on Fortune’s list) had openings for about 4,700 employees worldwide, with a decent chunk of positions open in Maryland. And, they’re not all housekeeping or front desk posts — many of them are in sales, accounting or IT, with a few interior design and corporate counsel gigs, too.

What makes these places so great?

McCormick (#72), the biggest name in spices, has 14 “junior” boards, allowing employees to have a say in company business and offers domestic partner benefits to same-sex couples.

LifeBridge (#96), a Baltimore-based health system, offers tuition reimbursement of up to $5,000, entry-level employees can take computer courses to help them move up and they offer adoption assistance to employees.

At Marriott’s Bethesda HQ, the company has an on-site gym and daycare, and globally, its team is made up of 61 percent minorities. Employees also get great perks, like hotel discounts.

“Associates,” as they’re known at Gore (#13), are “in charge” and work in a pretty structure-free environment. Bosses at this innovative company, best known for its GORE-TEX fabric, are called “sponsors.” Enough said.

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Ever miss the screeching sound of your kids fighting for control of the Wii while you’re on the road?

Well, now Marriott hotel guests can indulge in a little Nintendo Wii in the comfort of their hotel rooms.

Bethesda-based Marriott International, Inc. is piloting a new specially-built Wii hotel game system in guest rooms and lounges. Guests will have 20 games to chose from, including Mario Kart, Super Mario Galaxy, Wii Sports and Wii Fit.

The six properties with the pilot game systems are:

• New York Marriott Marquis

• Renaissance New York Hotel Times Square

• Boston Marriott Cambridge

• Bethesda (Md.) Marriott Suites

• Annapolis (Md.) Marriott Waterfront

• JW Marriott Desert Ridge Resort & Spa, Phoenix (Lounge only)

The Wii guest room packages include unlimited Wii access for the entire stay, but there is a small premium for a room with Wii over the standard guest room rate. Of course.

JACKIE SAUTER, Web Editor

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One of our reporters recently wrote a story on advertisers using social networking Web sites — Facebook, MySpace and the like — to get the word out about their products. It makes sense that companies looking for new ways to expand their client base would also turn to blogging.

“Marketing moves to the blogosphere,” a story in Monday’s issue of The Washington Post, details how both big and small companies are increasingly turning to corporate blogs as public relations and customer service tools. Or, to put it more simply, as a way to give a human face to a faceless corporation.

A number of regional companies are mentioned, including Honest Tea and Marriott. Bill Marriott’s blog has brought more than $5 million in hotel booking click-thrus, making it a decent business investment, to say the least.

Also, I enjoyed the part of the article where Bill Marriott describes himself as “a human just like everybody else,” and two paragraphs later it’s stated he dictates his blog posts into a recorder and has an assistant transcribe it. If that’s the “just like everybody else” way of blogging, then I have some complaints for my boss, because I had to type this myself.

JOE BACCHUS, Web Specialist

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Marriott’s TownePlace Suites chain unveiled a new “ad” campaign this week that features a YouTube video and breakdancing self-described “phenom” David Elsewhere.

The concept: Elsewhere wiggles his way through all of the offerings TownePlace Suites have to offer, from the bathroom to the continental breakfast area. All of this is accompanied by a generic wordless electronic dance music soundtrack since no one speaks during the entire five minute commercial.

There is even the suggestion from Marriott that the dance will provide a how-to on the company’s Web site at a later date so the dance-impaired can breakdance like a pro.

I’m not so sure though how effective an attempted viral ad campaign like this will be. Fans of Elsewhere likely won’t care that he’s dancing next to a spacious bed or through the commissary options. They’ll be watching him. And, anyone else who stumbles across the video will also probably just be watching him and trying to figure out what exactly is going on.

As of 4 p.m. on Monday, I wasn’t alone. Of the four posts to the video: One was from Marriott, one thought it was hip, another liked the dancer and the fourth poster thought there should be a heavy metal song and had no idea what was being pitched.

Is this a clever way to cross-market the brand, or just Marriott trying to hard to be cool at the expense of losing the message?

BEN MOOK, Assistant Business Editor

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