00:01I'm truly delighted to be with you all this afternoon. It's been an inspiring day in many ways.

00:09You might have guessed, it's my pleasure today to talk about the weather. Always a safe topic for small talk.

00:16A guaranteed conversation starter. We all talk about the weather.

00:22Why do we discuss and check the weather so frequently? Because the weather's always changing.

00:30It's dynamic. It's providing fresh content 24/365.

00:36It is real time, constantly presenting new opportunities and new threats.

00:44These opportunities and threats affect us as consumers, but dramatically affect business interests in business operations.

00:53That's what I'm talking about today, commercial-grade weather.

00:59Of course, there's a dark side of mother nature, severe and damaging weather.

01:06I will just quickly move through a few examples.

01:10As pictured here, the effects of high winds, hurricanes…

01:14…and tornadoes claim 30,000 lives per year worldwide, and disrupt critical infrastructure.

01:25Flash flooding is one of the leading causes of weather-related death…

01:30…in the United States, and can cripple transportation networks.

01:38This is what remained of a manufacturing facility destroyed by a tornado in Mississippi.

01:46Thankfully, all the people at this plant were saved…

01:50…because of an AccuWeather SkyGuard warning, the only warning they received.

01:59In addition, the financial consequences of weather are real and huge.

02:07Fifty-five billion total cost of damages in 2011 alone.

02:13One point five trillion, trillion with a "t," or 10 percent of US GDP, is directly affected by the weather.

02:24Weather is big business, and the stakes are high. So we have a challenge.

02:30Managing severe weather to save lives, property, and the profitability of business interests.

02:39We meet this challenge every day through collaboration.

02:44We can prepare, plan, and respond to mother nature better than ever before…

02:51…and everyone in this room can be part of that solution.

02:56This is how we're doing it in making a difference in the world with our partners.

03:04First, everything always begins with Esri, Esri ArcGIS Server, the Esri platform.

03:11Second, our business partners and client asset systems.

03:16Assets can be people, railways, manufacturing plants, retail stores, utility lines, health care facilities, et cetera.

03:27Then AccuWeather provides the real-time weather data layers, highly accurate, site and asset specific…

03:36…customized to the weather threats and hazards of that particular client.

03:42The result? Through collaboration, it all comes together to create meaning.

03:49Actionable, meaningful insight. A common operating picture providing real-time situational awareness…

03:59…for better decision making. And that's revolutionary.

04:06This is an example of what we can do with partners.

04:10CSX is a large railroad system in the eastern part of the United States.

04:15And the situation depicted in the next few slides actually occurred last Friday, March 16, outside Memphis, Tennessee.

04:24AccuWeather monitors about 18,000 miles of CSX track, including their stationary and moving assets.

04:34We drop in high-resolution radar to see weather in relationship to their assets in real time.

04:43Please note the three locomotives inside the geofence in the middle of the screen just outside Memphis.

04:55Now here's the payoff. This is why we do what we do.

05:00We issued a SkyGuard flash-flood warning for this track segment, potentially preventing a train derailment.

05:09Bottom line, collaboration with our partners lives at the intersection of our clients' assets in weather in real time.

05:19Obviously, a huge savings of life, property, and profits, creating a massive ROI on many levels.

05:30This is the perfect time for AccuWeather to team up with your asset management system…

05:37…business intelligence solution, or situational awareness tool.

05:43And so I invite all the Esri business partners to join us…

05:47…and leverage this perfect storm of opportunity to save lives, protect property, and profits.

05:55As Jack noted in his comments this morning, this really is an opportunity to do well by doing good.

06:03On behalf of AccuWeather, thank you Linda and Esri for the opportunity to speak today.