Press Releases

Washington DC Area IT Services Provider and New Visual Mining Value Added Reseller Provides Unprecedented Value to Customers in Government and High Technology

ROCKVILLE, Md., Nov. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Visual Mining, a leader in business intelligence (BI) dashboard and data visualization solutions, today announced that Xetsa, a leading Washington, DC area information technology services provider, joined the Visual Mining Partner Program as a value-added reseller for NetCharts Performance Dashboards (NCPD).

"With our personal approach and diverse client list, we needed a way to provide intuitive, comprehensive dashboards. With NetCharts Performance Dashboards, we are able to deliver immediate value to our clients -- enabling them to gain unprecedented insight and make more informed decisions," said Lisa Bodine, President and CEO, Xetsa. "One of the key benefits is the sheer value NCPD delivers -- we can quickly create and deploy dashboards for our customers that allow them to interact with their data as they prefer. It's an incredibly powerful product in our portfolio."

NetCharts Performance Dashboards enables Agile Performance Dashboarding, where the power of business intelligence is immediately placed into the hands of the end-user. Numerous benefits for partners include:

    --  Short implementation cycles
    --  Support for a wide variety of data sources
    --  Ability to connect to multiple data sources simultaneously
    --  Powerful BI functionality combined with unprecedented ease-of use

    --  Cost effective; Leads to broad adoption and use throughout an
        organization

"We are pleased Xetsa joined the Visual Mining Partner Program as a Value Added Reseller. Like Xetsa, Visual Mining's headquarters is located in the Washington, DC area. We are proud to add Xetsa to the growing list of organizations that use NetCharts Performance Dashboards to help drive business growth and solve customer problems," said Tristan Ziegler, President & CEO, Visual Mining.

About Xetsa, Inc.

Xetsa is a leading IT consultancy that provides principled, focused attention to each client. The Xetsa team brings decades of experience offering proven expertise to ensure solution quality and reliability. Based in Northern Virginia, Xetsa is a SBA Certified 8(a), SDB (Small Disadvantaged Business), WOB (Woman Owned Business) company, whose clients include, but are not limited to: US Customs and Border Protection, the Transportation Safety Authority (TSA), the Security Biometric Clearing Network (SBCN), Lynx Communications, and Bjorn Technologies. www.xetsa.com

About Visual Mining

Visual Mining provides dashboard and data visualization software that instantly transforms data into actionable business information. For more than a decade, Visual Mining's NetCharts products continue to be the defacto standard for providing comprehensive, intuitive and effective insight to both developers and business end-users. A full, complimentary trial of each NetCharts product, including NetCharts Performance Dashboards, is available directly via http://www.visualmining.com/resource_library/download_NetCharts_software.php.

Visual Mining: Visualize. Analyze. Capitalize. www.visualmining.com

Visual Mining, Inc. All rights reserved. Visual Mining, NetCharts, and NetCharts Performance Dashboards are trademarks of Visual Mining, Inc. Other names used herein may be trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Visual Mining, Inc.

BETHESDA, Md., Nov. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- Marriott International, Inc. (NYSE: MAR) launched today The Autograph Collection, a new brand within the company's global portfolio comprised of upper upscale and luxury, independent, hotels with distinctive personalities in major cities and desired destinations worldwide.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090217/MARRIOTTINTLLOGO )

"The Autograph Collection will take the innovative approach of grouping these iconic hotels according to the unique experience that guests are seeking whether it's a resort, historic hotel, boutique arts, or urban edge hotel in a dynamic gateway city," said Don Semmler, executive vice president of brand management for Marriott International. "Each hotel will be highly unique and distinct with its own identity, appealing to a growing segment of our customers who are looking for an experience that an independent hotel can deliver."

There are currently plans to add approximately 25 hotels through 2010 with locations throughout the world. The Autograph Collection provides Marriott with another attractive platform for future global growth. The benefit to member properties includes tapping into Marriott's industry-leading global reservations system, and powerful consumer outreach through its leading technology, and sales and marketing platforms which have helped build Marriott into one of the world's leading hotel operators.

Marriott has been successful in developing brands across a wide spectrum of customer segments and each is uniquely positioned against a specific target segment. While there may be some cross selling opportunities, The Autograph Collection gives Marriott the ability to capture a broad audience that would not have typically considered a branded concept - appealing to guests who want to stay in independent hotels.

Each hotel will be required not only to meet Autograph's discriminating product standards, but will also need to demonstrate continued high guest satisfaction and quality assurance scores to remain part of The Autograph Collection. In addition, each hotel will go through the same hotel and operator approval processes as other Marriott full-service hotels.

The Autograph Collection will be featured on Marriott.com and affiliated with Marriott Rewards, Marriott International's award-winning guest loyalty program, where guests can earn points at more than 3,000 hotels in 68 countries.

Note: The statement about the number of new hotels to be added in 2010 and their locations is a "forward looking statement" within the meaning of federal securities laws, not a historical fact, and is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including the depth and duration of the current recession; supply and demand changes for hotel rooms; competitive conditions in the lodging industry; relationships with clients and property owners; the availability of capital to finance hotel growth and refurbishment; and other risk factors identified in our most recent quarterly report on Form 10-Q; any of which could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in or implied by our statement. This statement is made as of the date of this press release, and we undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise

MARRIOTT INTERNATIONAL, INC. (NYSE: MAR) is a leading lodging company with more than 3,300 lodging properties in 68 countries and territories. Marriott International operates and franchises hotels under the Marriott, JW Marriott, The Ritz-Carlton, Renaissance, Residence Inn, Courtyard, TownePlace Suites, Fairfield Inn, SpringHill Suites and Bulgari brand names; develops and operates vacation ownership resorts under the Marriott Vacation Club, The Ritz-Carlton Destination Club, The Ritz-Carlton Residences and Grand Residences by Marriott brands; operates Marriott Executive Apartments; provides furnished corporate housing through its Marriott ExecuStay division; and operates conference centers. The company is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, USA and had approximately 146,000 employees at 2008 year-end. It is recognized by FORTUNE® as one of the best companies to work for, and by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as Partner of the Year since 2004. In fiscal year 2008, Marriott International reported sales from continuing operations of nearly $13 billion. For more information or reservations, please visit our web site at www.marriott.com. For an interactive online version of Marriott's 2008 Annual Report, which includes a short video message from Chairman and CEO J.W. Marriott, Jr., visit www.marriott.com/investor.

SOURCE Marriott International, Inc.

EAST MOLINE, Ill., Nov. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- 4CS, the leading provider of Service Lifecycle Management Solutions, announces that America's Preferred Home Warranty, Inc., a leading provider of Home Warranty services, has selected the 4CS iWarranty ServiceOn solution to streamline warranty claims management

Since 1999, America's Preferred Home Warranty has been revolutionizing the home warranty industry by allowing homeowners the freedom to choose the contractor of their choice when they need to make costly repairs or replacements to their most valued possession. For almost 15 years, 4CS has been providing best-in-class software solutions that offer the flexibility and capabilities required for companies like America's Preferred Home Warranty to deliver world-class warranty claims processing and customer support services. The iWarranty ServiceOn application, an on-demand application, is the ideal solution to support APHW's continuing commitment of providing their customers the autonomy when it comes to working with known and trusted contractors while delivering the industry's premier home warranty services.

Randy Caltrider, President of APHW, states, "America's Preferred Home Warranty provides a vital and unique service. We support the home owner as well as Real Estate Professionals who partner with APHW to provide Home Warranty Services to help promote sales. Our policies are highly tailored to the needs of the market. iWarranty ServiceOn provides the capabilities and flexibility to manage every aspect of the markets and services that we provide. Our customers have come to expect world class services and with iWarranty ServiceOn, we will continue to deliver on our promise."

America's Preferred Home Warranty is known for product quality and outstanding customer service and support. A web application delivered in a SaaS model, the 4CS iWarranty ServiceOn solution was selected to enhance their already sterling reputation by delivering an easy-to-use, intuitive warranty claims processing system. APHW will use the ServiceOn solution to create and track all the necessary information required to accelerate home warranty claims. This includes creating and managing multiple policies, capturing all in-bound home-owner requests for repair services, ensuring the expedient delivery of the required home repair services, adjudicating all claims, and reporting and analytic capabilities.

Randy Caltrider said, "APHW is experiencing explosive growth, and it was critical that the solution we selected enables us to quickly and easily access the information necessary to report on the business. The ServiceOn reporting capabilities was exactly what we, or any business, needs." He continued, "Our existing application has served us well for many years, but through the evolution of new technologies and the lower cost of ownership they provide, we felt it to be an ideal time for us to invest in a new, more technologically robust solution. The 4CS platform will meet, and in some cases surpass, all of our requirements. Their focus, experience, and knowledge of the warranty industry were an important factor in partnering with 4CS.

"We are delighted that an industry leader like America's Preferred Home Warranty has found significant value in our iWarranty solution," said Ashok Kartham, 4CS CEO. "Home owners want the freedom to choose their service provider and America's Preferred Home provides them that peace of mind."

About 4C Solutions, Inc.:

4CS is a leading provider of intelligent service software solutions. 4CS iWarranty software helps to significantly reduce product warranty costs by improving quality and reliability, sharing cost and information with suppliers and partners, and automating the warranty management processes.

The iWarranty product suite consists of multiple solutions to support any industry that requires the ability to enhance customer satisfaction through support services, warranty claims processing, and reporting and analysis.

For more information, www.4CS.com or call 800.709.8773

America's Preferred Home Warranty is a proud Christian-based company founded in 1999 on biblical principles. Our mission is to treat each homeowner with respect, dignity and with empathy during the claims process. We work every day with the thought of always doing the right thing when protecting our homeowner's best interests, and to operate our daily business under Godly principles. We follow "The Golden Rule", to do onto others as we would have done onto ourselves. With this mission in mind, it is our hope to help protect homeowners nationwide as we are continuously expanding our operations of business throughout the United States.

For more information, www.aphw.org or call 800.648.5006

SOURCE 4C Solutions, Inc.

CLEVELAND, Nov. 11 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- One of the most important benefits of greeting cards is that they are able to take our thoughts and reflect them with the right words to convey the perfect sentiment. Now this benefit is even more fun at AmericanGreetings.com, the online division of American Greetings Corp. (NYSE: AM) where all new talking e-cards are available to share with anyone.

The latest everyday collection features six new designs, with more on the way, that offer multiple voices to choose from, as well as the opportunity to add your own voice. The entertaining options are thanks to a partnership with Oddcast Inc., a leading viral and social marketing company, which provides the technology that enables the fun characters to speak the words that visitors type.

Shoppers looking to add a fun accent to their e-card can choose from a variety of male and female voices and simply type in the dialogue they want to be read. For an even more personalized greeting, visitors can call the Oddcast powered 1-800 number, available with every talking e-card, and easily record their own voice to include with the greeting.

Obviously these words are only as strong as the characters speaking them, and the latest cast is just as fun as the innovation. Shoppers can choose from the always popular tandem of dogs and cats to more offbeat selections like a monkey, gnome, sock puppet and even a walrus to act out their message. All of the greetings are enhanced by animations and graphics that make every e-card look as great as it sounds.

These new designs of talking e-cards are one example of the continued effort from the online greetings site to constantly offer innovative ways to celebrate any occasion.

"Our visitors really enjoy the quirkiness of these talking e-cards and now they are even more fun and personalized," said Jane Carpenter, vice president, brand marketing, AmericanGreetings.com. "Whether they add their own sentiment and accent it with one of multiple voices at their disposal, or easily include their own voice, shoppers love being able to help craft the actual greeting they are sending."

You can find all of the new talking e-cards now at AmericanGreetings.com

About American Greetings Corporation

For more than 100 years, American Greetings Corporation (NYSE: AM) has been a manufacturer and retailer of innovative social expression products that assist consumers in enhancing their relationships. The Company's major greeting card brands are American Greetings, Carlton Cards, Gibson, Recycled Paper Greetings and Papyrus, and other paper product offerings include DesignWare party goods, American Greetings and Plus Mark gift-wrap and boxed cards. American Greetings also has the largest collection of electronic greetings on the Web, including cards available at AmericanGreetings.com through AG Interactive, Inc. (the Company's online division). AG Interactive also offers digital photo sharing and personal publishing at PhotoWorks.com and Webshots.com and a one-stop source for online graphics and animations at Kiwee.com. In addition to its product lines, American Greetings also creates and licenses popular character brands through the American Greetings Properties group. Headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, American Greetings generates annual revenue of approximately $1.7 billion, and its products can be found in retail outlets domestically and worldwide. For more information on the Company, visit http://corporate.americangreetings.com.

About Oddcast Inc.

Oddcast is the leader in user-personalized viral marketing. The New York-based company provides end-to-end solutions powered by proprietary video, photo, voice and avatar platforms, enabling brands to amplify customer engagement throughout the social net. Oddcast has powered some of the Internet's biggest viral hits. The company's products serve millions of customers monthly via a hosted web service. Oddcast's clients include many of the most recognizable consumer brands. For more information, log on to www.oddcast.com or call (212) 375-6290.

SOURCE American Greetings Corporation

DETROIT, Nov. 11 /PRNewswire/ -- The newly merged Detroit Area and Clinton Valley Boy Scout Councils have announced the official name for their combined organization: the Great Lakes Council.

"More than 300 Scouts and Scouting volunteers suggested names for our new council," said Thom Linn, Board President of the Great Lakes Council. "After a task force narrowed the list to five, the board voted on the final choice. We felt that Great Lakes Council best represented our region because it reflects the natural resources of our region as well as our geographic location."

Formed on October 1 by the merger of the Detroit Area and Clinton Valley Boy Scout Councils, the Great Lakes Council covers Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties. In all, the new council will serve a total of 32,000 Scouts and operate four camps from offices in Detroit and Waterford.

"By working together we will be able to serve our Scouts and our community more effectively and efficiently," said Linn. "The combined council will improve program delivery, enhance our retention and recruiting efforts, and provide new funding opportunities as well as significant cost savings."

John Reesor will serve as Scout Executive for the Great Lakes Council. Reesor was previously the deputy regional director of operations at the Boy Scouts of America western region office. Reesor assumed his duties in September.

The Great Lakes Council's first service project will be a food drive. With the council's combined size, the Scouting for Food project will be the largest food drive in the organization's history: Scouts are expected to collect 600,000 pounds of food for Gleaners Community Food Bank.

"This will be Southeastern Michigan's biggest fall food drive," said Reesor. "With winter coming on and unemployment still high, we think it couldn't come at a better time."

Bags for the Scouting for Food project were distributed by Scouts on Saturday, November 7. Food will be collected on November 14. In addition to cooperating with Gleaners Community Food Bank, the project is sponsored by The Kroger Company.

For more information and photos of the event please visit www.bsadetroit.org or www.cvc-bsa.org.

SOURCE Great Lakes Council Boy Scouts of America