As someone who spends a lot of time traveling for work I am no stranger to the world of airports and airlines. We all know that the airline industry has taken some big hits in the last few years. They’ve downsized their fleet, staff and crew and upsized the charges for luggage and even seat selection. But no matter what it’s still the main mode of transportation for me. Just ask the TSA agents and airline folks at my home base airport, they know me by name.

We all have our favorite airlines. I know I do. And it’s not because my home airport has only three choices, but more because of where they go, the flexibility of the airline, what their prices are and what I can expect as a frequent flyer member. If I had to rank the ones I enjoy flying the most are Southwest, Air-Tran, Continental and American. They all offer great things from in-flight internet, to first class upgrades, to short TSA lines to free flights and beverages.

I am proud to say I am a SWA A-List member. I love no lines, early boarding and most of all I can check in an hour before a flight and still get a good boarding number. Many of you will say SWA is a cattle call, but I like picking my seat even if I booked last minute. I’m usually one of the first 30 people on the plane and I never get stuck with a middle seat. Within the next few months I will have acquired the prestigious Companion Pass. Yes my husband will be able to go with me anywhere I plan on going (if he can get off work). And of course there is the bags fly free. Who doesn’t love that? I don’t usually check luggage, but it’s a perk I’ll take anyways.

There are other things I love about SWA, but most of all I live for their customer service. No matter how bad the weather, how irate the other customers get or how crazy my travel gets I always have the best people taking care of me. They reach out to me via text, phone calls, email and even on Facebook to let me know what the travel issues are. I never feel out of the loop.

In the world of marketing today you can promote any product, service or event but what really matters in the end is the customer service that surrounds it. My goal in 2010 for M2W and all the Market Managers and team members I work with is to instill the highest level of customer service with every person they engage with. It’s amazing how much of a company’s reputation is based on their customer service.

I can’t do toilet paper roll races or sing a cute jingle song or rap like SWA crew members do on their flights. I can however ensure you that no matter how much turbulence we have or how late the flight is or what mechanical delays we may encounter in this journey of 2010 will all our clients and events I will be there along with my crew to ensure that we make your journey and travels as smooth as possible. And to make sure you are never out of the loop.

So please return your tray tables and seat backs to the full most upright position. Sit back, relax and prepare for takeoff into 2010.

So here’s my dog…I mean my blog…and by the way What is it with all those dogs on our M2W site?

So you might say at M2W we’ve taken the working with your dog thing a little too far…but I don’t think so. You see if I didn’t have M2W I would be on the Pet Police Squad and you’d see me on Animal Planet… and who knows that still may happen….but for now we are aggressive guerilla marketers who use our doggies to de-stress our day.

And the way a dog de-stresses you is through unconditional love. You are in your in-home office…you get a phone call, the dog looks up at you from his nap and says…”that’s OK even if the phone did wake me up”; the UPS guy comes to the door “ oh boy, oh boy another person to play with because YOU are certainly boring on that computer all day, but that’s OK I love you anyway.”; you are up at 5am banging away and sometimes at 2am you finally turn that crazy machine off and the dog has not moved from under your desk…now that’s unconditional love.

When we exited Corporate America as we know it back in 2007 and decided to go virtual, having our dogs under our desks was nothing new…we had been bringing our dogs to the office since 1999, when M2W first opened its doors. Talk about being on top of the trends this was the same year that the TYDTWD started in the U.S., that’s the acronym for Take Your Dog to Work Day. Created by Pet Sitters International this day celebrates the great companions dogs make (which at M2W we already knew) and encourages adoptions from local shelters, rescue groups and humane societies. The day offers a fun, summer Friday for U.S. employees to introduce their four-legged "best friend" to co-workers and PSI believes that dog-less co-workers will be encouraged to adopt when they witness the human-animal bond. There is also now an increasing participation in TYDTWD in Canada, Australia, United Kingdom, and New Zealand.

At M2W, we put our pets first even before the kids, I mean,let’s face it humans are certainly not capable of giving unconditional love like your dog!