Scott's Two Weeks at Southwest Airlines

This is Soxx himself this post.. Laura has been working very hard on the last ones and thought I should try a run at this blogging.

As some of you have heard I started an internship with Southwest Airlines this September and it has been a blast! It was a long road of sleepless nights, phone calls, emails, interviews, and prayers before we found out we were coming here.

Southwest Airlines (www.southwest.com) has called Dallas, Texas home for over 40 years. It was started in 1967 by Rollin King and Herb Kelleher. Like all great companies the idea for Southwest was written on a cocktail napkin when Herb told Rollin of his idea of an airline that should fly between Dallas, Houston, and San Antonio.

It was a long fight between other states and other airlines but Southwest always found a way to prevail and win over more and more customers. One of my favorite stories that I never knew before was the Malice in Dallas. It a nutshell the dispute was between Southwest and an airline called Stevens Aviation.  Steven's claimed that Southwest had copied one of their ad slogans and instead of filing a law suit and waging millions in legal fees they decided to settle it like real men... with an arm wrestle! The two CEO's agreed and the winner would be allowed to continue to use the rights of the slogan. For the final results and what happened with the whole disagreement check out the entire story on YouTube.

That's the kind of company I now work for... it's great!! Herb served as Southwest Airlines CEO for many years before Gary Kelly was named the new CEO. Southwest has an amazing history and a bright future. It has a fun-LUVing spirit and shares that with it's customers and expects it's employees to do the same. I've only been here two weeks but I LUV it!

They hired me on as a Customer Engagement Intern in the Marketing department. The jist of my job is engaging with customers and making sure they see our brand and have a positive experience. Meaning I get to go to concerts, sporting events, food events, etc. and interact with our everyday customer. It is a dream job! This past week Southwest opened it's 3rd porch here is Dallas (http://www.blogsouthwest.com/blog/southwest-porch-strauss-square) and Citizen Cope was the opening show. Laura came with me and we handed out key chains in the shape of a guitar that also serves as a bottle opener. After we handed out all 1,500 key chains with the other interns we got to stay watch the show for free!! The night before was the private opening with Gary Kelly and the local news. Both nights were great and made me feel very lucky to have the job I do.

Next week we are off to Chicago to work the Ryder Cup and work on Navy Pier with Sports Illustrated. I cannot wait!! Neither of us have been there and we are very excited to see what the windy city is all about. 

My desk when I first arrived. They decorated it with Southwest and BYU-Idaho swag (see above)

We won two tickets the Ranger game at an intern party 

Pool table for free play at the Southwest Porch at Strauss Square

The view from the porch

Gary Kelly, CEO of Southwest, giving the opening day speech

Fellow interns handing out blankets

Citizen Cope warming up for the show

The team getting ready to hand out key chains and welcome customers

Citizen Cope 

Every Monday after work they have a Deck Party with free food and drinks

Some of the props from the new Southwest Rapid Rewards commercial that is airing right now, we helped unload them at the warehouse. If you haven't seen the commercial, here is one of the spots...

Stay tuned for more updates over the next couple months. We LUV Dallas and I am LUVing Southwest Airlines even more!!! Below are some of the photos from my first two weeks here...