35,000 Employees LUV'ing Drupal
Very recently we helped re-launch SWALife, the Corporate Intranet for the Employees of Southwest Airlines. This is exciting for 35,000 reasons - which is roughly the number of Employees who have access to the new and improved Southwest SWALife! Working with Southwest Airlines as we have, they are an extended family. This is a company who carries a passion for its Employees like very few companies do. There are so many vital roles at Southwest Airlines and it was a massive…
PR News Best Corporate Blog Award - Southwest Airlines
PR News Best Corporate Blog Award - Southwest Airlines, originally uploaded by christopher_ronan. A couple of days ago we were at Southwest Airlines working with the team and Christi Day pointed out the Best Blog awards they have received three years in a row. One seemed to be missing from the bunch and we were speculating where it may have gone... I took a quick snapshot for the rest of the team at RD2 to see the awards. Since it has been a big deal to those involved I felt it worthy…
On this day in RD2 History...
Back in 2006 on February 12th, our team launched two great websites: the Southwest Airlines Adopt-A-Pilot Blog and the Rough Creek Lodge website. Both websites are special memories in our history. The Southwest Airlines Adopt-A-Pilot blog was our first opportunity to work with the amazing team at Southwest Airlines. The website served as a new tool for the Adopt-A-Pilot program and was created to bring the pilots closer to the classrooms. The Adopt-A-Pilot Blog launch created a buzz locally…
Congratulations Southwest Airlines.. Again!
We were so happy to hear that Southwest Airline's Blog, Nuts About Southwest was awarded Best Corporate Blog by PR News’ Platinum PR Awards three years straight! It is incredible how far the Emerging Media Team has taken this since the original launch in 2006. It’s amazing watching these pros at work in how they are engaging their community in ways that are touching, serious, revealing, and often humorous. Their recognition is well deserved and we are lucky to have partnered up…
Southwest
Southwest Airlines was recently featured on 33 News. This is a really nice interview of some of our pals at Southwest. The story starts by talking about how Southwest is using Twitter and gives an overview of how Southwest Airlines is using social tools to connect with Customers. Every day people ask me how Twitter can be used in any meaningful way for business. This story gives some ideas in the context of how Southwest's Emerging Media Team is using these tools as an extension of their…
Congratulations Southwest!
We are thrilled to congratulate Nuts About Southwest for being named the Best Corporate Blog by PR News' Platinum PR Awards for the second year in a row! SWA and RD2 launched the original Blog Southwest in 2006, and in 2008 upgraded the blog with a new design and included additional features such as a video blog, podcasts, news, flickr integration, and media galleries. As usual, the expectations were extremely high, and the competition was fierce - with firms such as Weber Shandwick…
SWA podcasts on iTunes
We've been posting screencasts on Nuts About Southwest, our latest project with Southwest Airlines. When building the site, it was important for us that users be able to access as much content as they wanted on the site, or view each piece separately in various forms. This way more users could interact with more content in more ways, fitting various life styles and preferences. The last few screencasts have been focused around how to interact with Southwest content off the actual site - so…
On RSS - Screencast Part 4
For some people, RSS (Really Simple Syndication) is a way of life. For others, it's just another acronym that they kind of/mostly/pretty much understand. In part 4 of our screencast series on Nuts About Southwest 2.0, Eric discusses RSS basics using examples from the various feeds on the Nuts About Southwest site. And don't worry, I'll be back around next time. Enjoy! Nuts About Southwest part 4 - RSS Feeds Other screencasts in this series: Nuts About Southwest 2.0 - An Introduction Nuts…
Screencast #3 - The Southwest flickr Feed
We've added a lot of functionality to Nuts About Southwest (Airlines), and we're filming this screencast series to be sure that none of the cool new features get lost in the excitement of a new site. The following screencast is "a behind the scenes look" at the flickr images you see on the Nuts About Southwest site. It presents a basic step by step look at how to post images on flickr and to the Southwest Airlines group. Presenting, part 3: Nuts About Southwest part 3 - The Southwest flickr…
LUV Links
Southwest Airlines Takes Corporate Blogging to the Next Level: Financial News - Yahoo! Finance Yahoo Finance on Southwest Launch (tags: southwest) AIRLINE BIZ Blog | The Dallas Morning News AviationBlog on Southwest Launch (tags: southwest) Southwest Airlines Takes Corporate Blogging to the Next Level Fox Business on BlogSouthwest (tags: southwest)
Nuts 2.0 (including screencasts 1 & 2)
It's the same Nuts About Southwest, but of a slightly different variety. Some like their peanuts dry roasted, some like them salty. Even if honey-roasted is your flavor of choice, there's something for you at BlogSouthwest.com. The blog for Southwest Airlines just turned two, and we are celebrating by bringing the conversation to a wider audience. We know that people engage websites in different ways. While I might prefer to spend my time reading Brian Lusk's blog posts, others may prefer…
SWA Press Release on money.cnn.com
UPDATE: The CNN URL has changed, but you can also check out the press release on Yahoo business here: http://biz.yahoo.com/iw/080506/0394111.html == We're thrilled to see this press release on CNN Money on the Nuts About Southwest launch. If you scroll down, you'll see a quote from our very own Chris Ronan: "Southwest took a big step when it launched Nuts About Southwest two years ago, and they've proven their ability to conquer the most difficult challenge our clients face -- consistently…
"You look like you fly Southwest" - an experience in branding
I was traveling last weekend - a short trip to visit my college roommate in San Diego (my instant love for the baby panda at the zoo is another story). On Sunday evening, as I was about to land in Dallas, the (Continental) flight attendant man told me that I had to get rid of my cup of ice before descent (I asked him if I could keep it and he said no). I thought he was kidding, and must have looked shocked when he said "who do you think we are, Southwest Airlines?" ... I must have…
Happy Valentine's Day from RD2
So it's been a really busy couple of weeks here in the West End, but that hasn't dampened our enthusiasm for blogging. And we couldn't be happier that one of our favorite clients still LUVs to blog. Here's wishing you more candy than you should be allowed to eat at once for Valentine's Day.
Southwest Holiday Greetings
Are you traveling this holiday season? Be sure to check out the Southwest Airlines Blog for some Holiday Travel Tips, including a humorous, but very useful, holiday packing video. There are some great tips here: Do you know the 3-1-1 rule? Did you know you’re not supposed to wrap gifts you plan to take with you? What’s the best way to breeze through security? Southwest Airlines Blog Holiday Travel Tips Holiday Travel Tips–The Video
Cruising BlogWorld with Southwest Airlines
Southwest Airlines had a booth at the BlogWorld Expo in Vegas, and I was lucky enough to hang out with them for the show. There was a lot to learn and a myriad of vendors showing off their technologies and services. For the show, I had my MacBook Pro with iMovie and Final Cut Studio. Pairing my computer with a handy little Sanyo cam, and we were able to fire off a few clips (also seen on blogsouthwest.com). For these videos, Christi and I put together some "on-the-fly, up close and…
Southwest Halloween Candy LUV
There's way too much candy here in the office. Before eating every last piece of candy corn, out came the camera and we took a few shots. Elizabeth finessed the image in photoshop to turn out some Halloween candy LUV. Southwest Airlines is all about Halloween! Check out Gary Kelly's costume.
Nuts About Southwest Turns 1
We didn't want to let the week go by without wishing the Southwest blog a very happy first birthday. The day after the launch was one of my most memorable here at RD2. We had a pretty slow work load that afternoon which gave us a chance to watch as hundreds of people poured onto the site we built for the first time. We also began checking the Google results as several sites began to review and comment on the new blog and its design. Much to my relief, the design critics loved it. One year…
Southwest Nominated By Blogger's Choice
We received an email from Angela today at Southwest Airlines. Apparently Nuts About Southwest has been nominated for "Best Corporate Blog" in the Blogger's Choice awards. How cool is that? It's been a while, but Angela Vargo, Andy Lark and the RD2 team launched this site some time ago and it has been full of surprises ever since!
Test or Die
Ok, I don't mean to be so harsh, but the fact is many businesses have drifted away from testing new things over the last few years because of budget cuts a fewer dollars to allocate to new programs and fewer people to manage new initiatives. And this is happening at a time when there are so many new trends to test and participate in. Well companies like Southwest Airlines have still found a way to test the waters. Check out SouthwestWannaGetAway.com their video promotion site (a collaboration…
LUV is in the Air
After the process of making the sugary Valentine Treat for Nuts About Southwest, I decided to give in to temptation and try a couple of the traditional Valentine candies. After popping a couple in my mouth, I realized how deceptive the cute little hearts really are. The pastel colors and sweet sayings give the appearance that they would break apart peacefully in your mouth. After almost chipping my tooth on the first bite and realizing they tasted more like chalky chewable vitamins, I decided…
Showing the LUV
A year ago, I was at Southwest Headquarters on Valentine's Day presenting concepts for "Nuts About Southwest". Most people don't know this, but those Southwest folks are crazy for Valentine's Day. Every employee I saw was wearing red or pink, several cubicles where decorated with construction paper cards and stickers, and the entrance was covered in red and pink balloons. Turns out Southwest is "the love airline". It's a slogan they came up with when they were starting out. Their stock…
Hey, It's Angela!
Jeremiah pointed me to his web strategy section tonight. As I was cruising through, I saw this pic of Angela holding a print of the "Nuts About Southwest" site. Andy Lark, Angela Vargo and our team worked together on the launch of the Nuts About Southwest site. It's been a really great community effort. Out team stays up with all of the posts and comments.....it's a wonder they get any work done, there's so much to keep up with!
Southwest Wanna Get Away
With the holiday spirit abound and many people planning winter vacations, the thought of getting the heck out of Dodge is almost palpable. Not bad timing for Southwest Airlines' newest addition to the online community: a brand new video blog inviting all to post their versions of the popular "Wanna Get Away" ad campaign. The site was launched yesterday, and has had well over 1,000 unique visitors already. The idea behind SouthwestWannaGetAway.com reflects one of the main components of…
Shout out from Wordpress.com
Last night, as I was attempting to convince a friend to set up a Wordpress blog, I noticed under the Wordpress "Notable Users" page sat our very own Nuts About Southwest Blog! From Wordpress.com, under "Why Blog?" there is a link titled "All the cool kids are," which leads straight to the Notable Wordpress Users page. The Southwest Blog is Under "Big Companies," among the likes of About.com, The New York Times, and the Wall Street Journal. It's very exciting to see all the buzz surrounding…
Southwest and RD2 Get Rave Reviews!
It has been great watching the success of Southest Airline's corporate blog, Nuts About Southwest since launch two months ago. Last week, Easton Ellsworth reviewed the blog on BusinessBlogWire.com. From Ellsworth: "Yes! Finally! A corporate blog that emphasizes its visitors! I'm impressed." "Now this is the way corporate blogs should be - conversational, friendly, open and even fun. Way to go Southwest!" Read BusinessBlogWire's full review This acclaim from such an…
RD2 and Southwest in the News
So, this is pretty cool: Southwest Airlines sent out the company's latest press release Wednesday on working with RD2 on the Southwest corporate blog. A quick Google search for the title of the press release yielded over 11,000 results. That number fluctuates depending on search preferences, but it seems this thing is all over the place. Read the press release from Yahoo! Finance: "RD2 Helps Southwest Airlines Launch First Airline Weblog"
Designing "Nuts About Southwest"
So, the best airline on earth and hometown hero Southwest Airlines asks you to design a blog to be the face of their online community. What’s going to be the theme? Big powerful 737 airplanes*? Corporate colors? Pilots typing on laptops with a toothy grin? Thankfully, no. After reading everything I could about Southwest, looking over their advertising history and talking with their marketing department, I found a company with a history of Internet firsts and a history…
Southwest Experience - Thanks and Kudos To All!
For the past couple of days I have been out in San Jose, California. I have been watching the stats, reading my e-mails, listening to the exciting voice mail messages and watching the press. Only today have I been able to really let this one soak in. This is truly one of the coolest and most unique stories we have in our portfolio. I just cannot wait to see how the rest of this unfolds. The real purpose for my post is simply to congratulate the team and thank them for the support. Thank…
Nuts About Southwest
Last week I wrote about having the opportunity to teach some talented people about blogging. Now, we can talk about our project. Presenting: Nuts About Southwest, the airline industry’s first corporate blog. The people at Southwest have been dreaming up the blog for quite a while now, and brought RD2 in a few months ago to share our experience in blogging, web design, and development. One of our recommendations was the use of WordPress to run the blog. It was an easy recommendation…
Southwest Airlines: Adopt-A-Pilot Blog
This week we launched the Southwest Airlines Adopt-A-Pilot blog. The blog is a new tool for the Adopt-A-Pilot program that is intended to bring the pilots closer to the classrooms. RD2 is proud to have been a part of the project and is delighted to see so much publicity around this in local media coverage. "The Southwest Airlines Adopt-A-Pilot program is a four-week program that packs math, science, geography, history and creative writing into a sky-high educational adventure for hundreds…