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From the ridiculous to the sublime...

lreynolds
Frequent Flyer A

“From the ridiculous to the sublime...” As soon as Doug Lawson uttered those words, I know he’d just perfectly described my first day at SWA. It’s not everyday you see groups of people shamelessly gobbling, squawking, strutting, and clawing the ground—all while a festive crowd (decked out in feather headdresses and paper towel Pilgrim hats) cheered them on. Welcome to the first-ever Southwest Airlines Wild Turkey Call Contest. And welcome to the Southwest Culture, indeed.

I was more than a little impressed by the willingness of people from every department eager to sign up and literally strut their stuff. The originality, creativity, sincerity, and overall sheer volume of each performance were commendable. This being the first-ever Wild Turkey call event, the turnout was impressive as well.

As one of three judges (along with Brian Lusk and Christi Day) I felt honored, and slightly torn, about choosing a winner. We decided to have a “gobble-off” with the top four:

Josiah Beam, Customer Relations
Char Sabin, Culture
Tre Toombs, SOS
Ken Martin, Technology

We went with Josiah as the winner, as his impression of a Turkey Tom with two Jennies was undeniably original. He was awarded a 1.75L liter of Wild Turkey and a $50 Wal-Mart gift card. What more could a guy want this holiday weekend? Still, I must say, Char’s gobble was instrument-free and involved wearing a plush turkey on her head—no easy task. Tre was actually a visitor for the day, and I’m sure his wife must be very proud of his formerly secret skill. Ken wins kudos simply for "scuddling" to the ground, squawking, and scurrying over to harass the judges. It was proclaimed a resounding success by all, and we hope another Southwest tradition has begun.

 

Speaking of traditions, if I ever need to earn another brain wrinkle, I’ll be sure to visit Doug Lawson in Ground Operations. I had the opportunity my very first day to hear him speak about swarm theory, and his very own self-titled theory: Viv Engineering (VivE for short.) Swarm intelligence studies animal behavioral patterns (including ant colonies, herds, and flocks of birds) and attempts to convert these patterns into algorithms that could make large-scale operations (such as the aviation industry) more intuitive and efficient.

Sounds easy, right? To boil it down into laymen terms, his theory hopes to engineer improvements for the service industry using life system principles. As a rule, people are unpredictable, so trying to make inanimate objects as reactive as Customers can be difficult. But that’s exactly what Doug is trying to do. If you’ve ever wondered who was the brain behind Southwest’s open seating policy, this is the man himself. Doug creates the software that allows engineers to simulate situations online before actually implementing them in real life. Of course, human nature can make this a little tricky. But it’s been implemented in Southwest’s Sky Harbor Phoenix airport successfully, and Doug now has his eyes on another obstacle-ridden, traffic-heavy feature: the ticket counter. So stay tuned.

If this much zaniness could happen in only my first day at SWA, I can’t imagine what the rest of the year will hold. Here’s hoping it involves a gobble or two.

11 Comments
cday
Frequent Flyer C
SWARM theory....you make it seem so simple!! Great work!! I look forward to reading your next post!! Welcome to the team Linds (can I call you that yet?)
kim-seale
Adventurer C
Lindsey, Welcome to the SWA Family and congratulations on your first Blog post! I was honored to meet you on your first day on the job and am glad we can increase the count of Longhorn Employees by one! Best wishes to you down in E.M. -- just make sure you ignore Brian. He's only a figment of your imagination. Hook 'em, Kim CRBB 🙂
Anne2
Explorer C
If only there was a vlog with documentary footage of this wild turkey call event. Something to look forward to next year. Liked the post!
RNReynolds
Explorer C
Fantastic! It's been far too long since I read your writing. I will be hoping for many more. p.s. Can you get your hands on a giant bag of peanuts? You know where to send it.
blusk
Aviator C
Anne, You must have missed the video. It's in our Video Blog section and here is the link: http://www.blogsouthwest.com/video/southwest-airlines-thanksgiving-2008 Lindsey, It's great to have you on the Team, and I think I finally understand what Doug has been trying to teach us. That's the incredible thing about Southwest, you meet incredible talent like Doug around every hallway. Blog Boy
lreynolds
Frequent Flyer A
Thanks to everyone for their encouraging comments. I hope I did Doug Lawson's theory justice--I tried my best to put it into layman's (layperson's?) terms. And, yes, feel free to call me Linds! Or Lindz. Whichever.
kim-seale
Adventurer C
Hey Linds/Lindz -- Brian is equally open about what he's called, his only request is that you DON'T call him late for dinner. Kim Who Also Answers to Hey You :) CRBB
blusk
Aviator C
Linds/Lindz/or to be British, Lind Zed, Be sure never to reveal to Hey You any personal likes dislikes, or they will be famous Brian
kim-seale
Adventurer C
Linds/z, Don't worry, I'm not the gossip BL makes me out to be. Notice that I've never yet mentioned that weekend he spent in Bora Bora. Oops. Pretend you didn't read that. HY CRBB
Foodnetworkstar
Explorer C
Kudos to the kid. May you lift SW ever higher!
Anonymous3593
Explorer C
Dad and I loved your post! We're SO excited about your new career with the airline we LUV! We look forward to lots more!!