Since we hired our eight Culture Ambassadors last May, these talented and creative folks have been hard at work spreading the famous Southwest LUV to Employees across the country.  They have been traveling from coast to coast planning Employee appreciations; helping with Local Culture Committee meetings; hosting Frito chili pie fundraisers; and everything in between. In conjunction with the countless visits they've made to many of our Southwest Airlines cities, our Culture Ambassadors have been hard at work with their "Get Hooked" get-hooked-doc.pdfcampaign, which encourages Employees to become involved in the Local Culture Committees at their locations.   

The life of a Culture Ambassador is never dull, and the variety of projects they work on is vast.  I've included just one example from each Ambassador to show you the wide array of projects these folks work on!

Valerie, Dee Dee, & Davern, our Ground Operations Culture Ambassadors, along with Mallory, our Provisioning Ambassador, spearheaded an effort to show all of our Ground Ops and Provisioning Station Employees a little extra LUV this past Holiday season.  With the help of several volunteers from HDQ Ground Operations, Central Baggage Services, Ground Ops Training, Provisioning, Culture Services, Marketing, and the Corporate Culture Committee, these Ambassadors assembled over 12,300 goodies bags for our Employees at our 64 cities.  Now that's a lot of LUV! 

Shelly, our Maintenance & Engineering Culture Ambassador, helped plan the annual Christmas Party for Maintenance Employees' children and grandchildren.  This year's event took place on December 8, in Dallas, and there were approximately 1,000 people in attendance.  The party was every child's dream come true, complete with fire truck rides; a petting zoo; pony rides; bounce houses; train rides; and, of course, Santa himself!   

Lacey, our Inflight Culture Ambassador, along with our Las Vegas Inflight Base, participated in a Share the Spirit event with the Mayor's Office on December 17.  Several of our SWA Flight Attendants spent the day playing host/hostess during the Mayor's Holiday Dinner for Senior Citizens. Over 400 People attended the event, and our Employees spread the Holiday cheer during dinner by singing with Flight Ops and Station Employees.

Char, our Flight Operations Culture Ambassador, helped orchestrate a "Cutting Edge" event in Baltimore/Washington, in which our Pilots work side by side with the Ramp Agents to better understand their daily duties.  Southwest Airlines' Cutting Edge program has been in place for many years and provides a terrific opportunity for our Pilots and Ramp Agents to work together and better appreciate each other's jobs.  Of course, every Southwest Airlines event includes food, and Cutting Edge is no exception...the Pilots also typically provide a great spread for their Coworkers! 

Mallory, our Provisioning Culture Ambassador, along with Brody, our Reservations Culture Ambassador, created a virtual scavenger hunt for all Provisioning and Reservations Employees.  The mission was to watch the "Tail of Southwest" history DVD and answer questions about the colorful history of Southwest Airlines.  Winners received a trip to the San Diego Spirit Party in August!  Not only was it a great way for Employees to learn about SWA's rich history and Culture, but it was also FUN!

Brody, our Reservations Culture Ambassador, helped his Department organize a charitable effort in lieu of exchanging gifts for the Holidays.  The Reservations Department "adopted" two needy families for the Holidays, and provided them with gifts for all members of the families.  After asking the families for a list of their needs and wants, our Reservations Employees donated a variety of items over the course of a month.  Gifts given to the families included cash, gift cards, clothes, toys, MP3 players, a TV, a refrigerator, a queen sized bed frame with mattress set, and much more.  Now that's what we call Living the Southwest Way.

As you can see, no two days are ever the same in the life of a Southwest Airlines Culture Ambassador.  Whether it involves community service, Southwest Airlines history, appreciating our Coworkers, or just plane FUN, the "Great Eight" stay busy spreading the Southwest LUV to Employees and Customers across the nation.  Thank you, Culture Ambassadors, for the terrific work you do each and every day.  We LUV and appreciate you more than you know!