These walls can talk: Southwest Airlines showcases its history, employees via "scrapbook" on...

Some companies keep scrapbooks of events and other important dates. Southwest Airlines has made the walls of its headquarters a life-size scrapbook.

The Dallas, Texas-based company recently added on to its headquarters, and now the enormous 921,000-square-foot building features close

"I believe our president, Colleen Barrett, would tell you she would like these walls to be like walking into your family living room," says Melanie Jones, the Public Relations programs manager for Southwest Airlines. "Just as you have your memories on your walls at home, these are the memories of our Southwest family. It's a part of the culture to keep our memories on the walls. Our walls are our scrapbook."

The only item the walls lack, in fact, is "artwork." The company doesn't feature extensive professional artwork; instead, the items making it to the wall are ones with a link to Southwest.

The company, known for its high-spirited and relaxed culture, attracts many visitors to its headquarters. The fame of the walls has spread.

"I believe all employees, at some point, come to this building--and not because they have to. It's a great place to visit," says Jones. "They want to come here because they've heard so much about it. One of the first things they do is look for their photos. If they were at a company party or a chili cook-off, they know the photo will be on the wall somewhere. We serve 61 cities now; and for people who come into the headquarters building, it's a great way for them to see the history that happened before they came here."

Other visitors are equally entranced with the memorabilia.

"Everybody who comes in is fascinated by the walls," Jones says. "I know if I have visitors coming and I go down to get them, it takes a little while to get up here, because they want to look. We're happy to let them look, because that's who we are."

Decking the walls

The walls have a long history, and the collection has been growing since Jones joined the company nearly 20 years ago. When the headquarters underwent an addition last spring, it gave Southwest a chance to revamp the way the art was hung on the walls. Administration Manager Jon Shubert was in charge of the enormous project, which included assessing the collection, organizing it by category, and making sure each collection would fit the space. Shubert recruited employee volunteers to come in on weekends to hang the artwork, and Jones says employees spent many weekends completing the task.

"It was time to freshen up; and during the revamping, everything was taken off the walls, and the walls were repainted," says Jones. "When Jon had to figure out what grouping would go where, he also had to consider growth, as you don't want one end of the building to be full of photos and the other end to be empty."

While the remodeling gave Southwest Airlines an excuse for redoing the walls, Jones says the photos are occasionally rearranged simply to freshen up the collection.

The collection contains a wide assortment--everything from unique items such as a costume made of bags and a saber presented to Chairman and Cofounder Herb Kelleher, to proclamations from cities and photos of the officers.

"There are also lots of things made into heart shapes, such as heart quilts, heart stained glass, and a heart phone," says Jones. "Many people submit heart things because Colleen Barrett loves hearts."

Unless the items are self-explanatory, such as the proclamations, they are labeled. The collection is organized by groupings, so the historical advertising appears in sequence. One wall features the president's awards and award banquets.

"There's a wall that features nothing but employees and their pets," says Jones. "Employees are encouraged to send in photos and memorabilia of themselves growing up, so there's a wall of nothing but employees' personal history."

Southwest Airlines works exclusively with an individual who handles the flaming, and the collection is added to daily. "Across the company, people know if they have a special memory, event, or anniversary--even an employee birthday party--they send that to the president's office," from where it will be sent to be flamed if it is to be displayed on a wall. "It would not be exaggerating to say [Barrett] receives items for hanging daily."

Many employees submit items to be displayed, and even the ones who don't submit items usually end up on the wall at some point. "Chances are their mugs are going to be captured in a company event photo," Jones says.

The employee photos are popular, but other areas attract equal attention. For instance, the officers wall draws a lot of interest, says Jones. "For people who aren't lucky enough to have interaction with our officers every day, it's a great way for them to put a name with a face, and see, 'Oh, this person was a majorette in high school, and look at her now.' It adds a dimension to the person you might not know otherwise."

While Southwest Airlines has a fulltime building services staff that keeps the collection dust-free, Jones says the employees also take ownership.

"You'll be walking down the hall; and if you see something is crooked, you just walk over and straighten it," she says. "Just like you do in your own living room."

It's not only the headquarters that features Southwest memorabilia. Other airport locations and reservation centers also feature items, and Barrett has copies made of items that have meaning to a particular location so it also gets the framed art.

While the approximately 3,000 employees at the Dallas headquarters see the walls on a daily basis, Jones says most never tire of looking at the walls.

"Lots of times we'll say, 'I wonder who has added their pet photos,' and we'll walk over to that section to take a look," she says. "We call ourselves the Southwest family, and this is just one more thing that solidifies that family feeling."

Creating a scrapbook

Inspired by Southwest Airlines? While photo retailers are certainly not going to have the space to devote to an on-the-wall scrapbook Southwest Airlines does, they can create a mini version either in a back room or other location. If so, some items to include are:

* Photos of employees and their families

* Employees' pets

* Company event photos

* Historical advertising

* Owner and management photos.