Inside Southwest Airlines: Where communicating is "cool"

Ragan.com’s sharing a week at the airline’s headquarters, and yes, … it’s every bit as laid-back and cool as you’ve heard

Well … we made it. For years and years we’ve been writing about Southwest Airlines. About their magical culture, their top-notch communication vehicles, their general attitude toward employee communication, and their corporate leaders—who always seem to grasp the power of employee communication. But we’ve never actually visited Southwest down in Dallas to see firsthand what all the fuss is about. Until now. We’re glad we finally made the trip.

We’re down here for a conference co-sponsored by Ragan and the folks at Southwest, titled: “Communications Roundup: A Texas-style summit of the best practices, skills and strategies for internal communicators.” Sure, the title is a little hokey. But this is Southwest … the people who long ago learned how to make hokey cool. Of course, if one more person calls us a “Buckaroo” we’re going to open up a Texas-sized can of whoop ass on them.