Oh hear them roar! We heard them off in the distance. We wondered if some of them were suffering severe gastrointestinal distress. But when they turned the corner, we then knew it was the latest New Hire class announcing to all, mid-day Friday, that they had just completed their 4 weeks of training.


How ironic that this class was nicknamed the “quietest class” and they then had the loudest parade - ever.
They were kinda light on the props and costumes too. See how I ambushed poor Mayen at the end. I am a bad person who is lucky he did not get "MAYced."

Wendi B, Office Assistant at Zappos.com shaves her head has part of an annual team
building event. Her hair was donated to Locks of Love, a charity
organization that uses human hair to produce wigs for children with
cancer. www.locksoflove.org

Tony and Alfred can also be seen having their heads shaved, but I think we can all agree, Wendi's move was pretty admirable!

Whoa, what a group of ladies, what a night! Oh let me tell you about it. Yeah I saw “Sex in the City” the movie at just after midnight this morning. If you had asked me about going to see this movie on Thursday afternoon, I’m pretty sure I would have given you a “dumb looks are free” expression. I’ve seen several episodes (voluntarily) but I’m not really a fan.

So how did I end up attending this seminal, cinematographic event? Well, alcohol was definitely a contributing factor. See earlier in the evening I had the bitter sweet opportunity to attend the farewell parties for two very highly regarded Zapponians, Tara B. from Content and Alana L. from Active Performance. Tara is moving West and Alana is moving East. They will be missed.

It was toward the end of these farewell parties that I heard about the group viewing of Sex in the City at midnight. Jason from the Fashion team arranged a last minute ticket for me and the rest was history. Not to belabor the obvious, but the female to male ratio at the theater was out of sight! It was more gender lopsided that even shoot em up/sci-fi geek movies. Many of the ladies were quite dressed up. So, about the movie (never fear, no spoilers here) you figure, if a non-fan like me enjoyed the movie, laughed dozens of times and could feel some connection to the characters, the movie was pretty good.

Of course it didn’t hurt that I managed to score a seat right between our Director of Fashion Strategy, Eileen L. and Alicia T. one of the newest members of the fashion team. We had a nice chat before the movie and I also got some whispered fashion and female insight during the movie. Very educational! I’m on an estrogen high today, baby! I will confess that ultimately the message I received was that there is a lot (aka too much) of gender dysfunction in modern urban living and that, Samantha aside, that women are still ultimately validated by being married rather than by other achievements.

We had 23 brands for running, eye projection, apparel, gear & equipment and more at the Athletic Expo yesterday. I was pretty ignorant about both rollerblades and bowling shoes and I learned quite a bit about both of them yesterday. For instance I did not know that bowling shoes had a different sole for each foot. One foot slides so that shoe has a relatively slick sole (I knew that) and the other grips or "plants" so that sole is not slippery. And for rollerblades I learned that high end, high speed roller blades have special fins built into the wheels to cool the axle bearing.

Chris W., a graphic designer and the youngest member of Creative Services, celebrates his birthday today. He also passed his New Hire Training test yesterday and to commemorate both occasions some unnamed p-1745 draped his desk last night. Yup, it takes quite a bit of ceiling tile tucking to do the job right – as exemplified in the pictures below. So how old is Young Squire? Well let’s just say 365 days from now, he will be barely legal. And ladies, he is single!

!http://blogs.zappos.com/servlet/JiveServlet/downloadImage/38-1833-1953/P1110825b.jpg!It's Expo Mania at Zappos this week! Yesterday we had the Health Awareness Fair – the topic of this blog post. Today we are having an Athletic Expo and tomorrow is the Housewares Expo – more on those later this week.

Oh where do I begin? The Health Awareness Expo was unique in 2 aspects. First, we weren’t directly learning about products that we carry on the site. Second, it was spread across five conference rooms in our second building, the one “up the hill.” There were 6 themes – Social, Financial, Intellectual, Emotional, Physical & Nutritional.

I’ll be a shallow boy and first mention that there were free smoothies and a very nice colorful t-shirt! Moving on, perhaps the most notorious freebees were from “Social” room – I believe the technical term is “prophylactic.” Over in the Financial room we had a bank, a credit union, a credit counselor and the financial aid part of our Employee Assistance Program or EAP. In Intellectual we had our two largest institutions of higher education, UNLV and the newly renamed College of Southern Nevada, along with EAP legal. The Emotional room had several counseling and therapy services.

One indicator that Zappos is becoming a larger company is the number of health clubs and gyms that are offering us discounts. We had 6 gyms along with an eye care center, 2 dental services, 4 medical outfits and a smoke-cessation program. For nutrition, we had a couple of weight loss clincs and 3 nutritional vendors. All in all, a great and comprehensive job by our Human Resources Department!

Welcome to the first posting of a new blog series from Zappos.com and the Merchandising Department. The series, titled: Buyer’s Diary, will give readers a glimpse into the life of a buyer at Zappos.com.

Each buyer profiled has volunteered to jot down exactly what they’re doing and thinking as often as they can throughout the course of a buying trip.

This week, Eric Y., an Assistant Buyer on our Fashion team travels to sunny L.A. to visit Diesel.

Dates: May 19, 2008 to May 20, 2008
Brand: Diesel – Holiday/Pre-Spring Buyer
Location: Los Angeles
Buyer: Eric Y.

May 19, 2008

4:00 AM – Woke Up. Monday’s are usually rough but 4am came way too soon! Heading to L.A. with Scott J. to
meet with Diesel.

5:00 AM – Just arrived at the McCarran Intl. Airport, surprisingly it is extremely crowded. Thankfully, I am carrying my luggage on so all I had to do was print my boarding pass.

6:00 AM – Emergency exit row = more leg room. Flight taking off.

6:50 AM – Just enough time to down a glass of OJ, Landed at LAX.

7:00 AM – In a cab, lap top open and wireless card in.

7:30 AM – Traffic was minimal, checked into Standard Downtown.

8:00 AM – Grabbing a quick breakfast at the Café.

8:30 AM – Sitting through traffic on the way to the Diesel showroom on Robertson.

9:00 AM – Waiting in the Lobby of Diesel, meeting women’s Rep to view Women’s Apparel.

10:00 AM – Deep into Women’s clothing. The Holiday/Pre-Spring line looks amazing! With some bright pieces that will have you craving warm weather.

11:00 AM – Moved onto Women’s Denim and accessories- belts and hats. Drinking a Red Bull.

12:00 PM – Now meeting with the Hand Bag Rep. Viewing the Men’s and Women’s bags and small leather goods.

1:00 PM – Lunch is delivered to the showroom. Take a break to eat and chat.

1:30 PM – Start viewing Resort swimwear for Men.

2:00 PM – More banana hammocks and board shorts…

3:00 PM – Now looking at the sleepwear and men’s underwear.

4:00 PM – Leaving Diesel. Walking down Robertson, checking out trends, trying to catch a cab.

4:50 PM – Arrive back at The Standard.

5:00 PM – Call the office to check in with my Merchandise Assistant, get the 411 on what’s happening in the office, catching up on e-mails in the room on laptop.

6:00 PM – Take a 20 minute power nap.

7:00 PM – Met Mikey (Taryn Rose Rep) - Roof top at the Standard for cocktails before dinner.

8:00 PM – Still at the bar enjoying drinks and great people watching.

9:00 PM –Just got to Little Tokyo for a Sushi Dinner. I think we ordered more Saki then we did Sushi.

10:00 PM – Green Tea Ice Cream- the perfect ending to an amazing dinner.

11:00 PM – Back at the Standard and calling it a night…long day!

May 20, 2008

7:00 AM – Wake Up Call

8:00 AM – Finally woke up, packing, getting ready.

8:30 AM – Crazy traffic today. Trying to hack away at some e-mails on my BlackBerry.

9:00 AM – Arrived at Diesel. Working Men’s Apparel.

10:00 AM – Just sifted through sample’s (majority tops, T-shits, jackets, wovens, hoodies, ect.) now detailing color ways and delivery dates.

11:00 AM – Still detailing men’s.

12:00 PM – Working Men’s Denim. Awesome treatments!

1:00 PM – Working Women’s intimates and resort bathing suits.

2:30 PM – Finished up Diesel Holiday/Pre-Spring Buy.

3:00 PM – Came to Mexican Restaurant to eat prior to our flight.

3:45 PM – On the way to LAX.

4:00 PM – Arrived at the airport, working on laptop before flight.

5:00 PM – Flight taking off – have my own row, am exhausted.

6:00 PM – Landed back in Las Vegas!

Oh yeah, my first Zappos Pool Party this weekend. Fun times with multiple “pushed into pool” incidents. And of course, the vast quantity of adult beverages in no way, shape or form contributed to these dunkings. And it's not a real Zappos Party without all kinds of yummy foods including crab cakes (by Thor!) and chicken wings made on site! Sorry we got some water into the fat fryer Keith. And hey, I was there trying out a Flip Video encased in a snazzy underwater housing. <cough pushing merchandise alert cough sorry my boss makes me do this cough>

The first video clip is me coming up out of the water and then 3 Zappos children turn loose with the water guns. Oy! Kids nowadays!

This video clip starts off with Brian K performing some syncro swimming with his green floaty noodle. What, no Argyle? And then Sarah gets some water gun practice in on the Flip Video.

And this video clip shows Mr. Keith, our host, being escorted into his pool by Mark G. aka Zu Keeper. Of course, Mr. Keith doesn’t miss any opportunity to show off the buff bod.

Hey pool season is just starting so look forward to more underwater antics <cough swimwear modeling cough> captured on both video and film.

Urk! Look, this post is the followup to the rather greasy situation on Friday. If you found that post disturbing or otherwise unpleasant, you really shouldn't view the video below. (However you might find this link tolerable) Yep, toward the end of the day, someone stepped up and drank a bacon fat shot.

Derek, you are the man! And thank you Angela for the lovely pep dance!

Okay I don’t pretend to understand everything that is going on in this video taken earlier this week. I just know that Chris Peake loves to dress up in funny outfits. Not sure how Jeanne got talked into doing this? Rumor is it was her idea.

Anyway, Chris and Jeanne organized the Zating Game for the Merchandising Assistant I (MA1) class. While the content, the roles and responsibilities of several Zappos departments - Help Desk, Marketing, and Development, could have been presented in a more standard corporate presentation format, isn’t this a bit more memorable? And a side benefit was that many people who are not in the MA1 class also got to see it and learn something. Hey, it’s the Zappos way! Here’s a link to the exciting conclusion!

The Safety and Risk Management team were recently in LV. Besides from enjoying the GORGEOUS weather, (it's still a bit chilly in KY!) we held trainings for members of the management team. The training gave insight into what OSHA is, steps to take when handling a work related incident, types of incidents, and of course, HOOPLA!!!

The class was composed of a wonderfully created slide show, some bogus incident forms and scenarios that involved role playing. The scenarios were a great way to get everyone involved. We had great performances by Fred Mossler, Galen Hardy, Jerry Tidmore, Pat Warren, Lakshan Fernando and Lisa Grossano. The crowd enjoyed the antics of the supposed injured individuals!

These training sessions were a "fun way" to pursue growth and learning". We want to make sure that everyone at Zappos is safe. It's all about the HOOPLA, baby!!

Yep, here’s a hidden camera video clip of the Asset Tag Police bustin down doors and takin' names. Oh yes, these pretty ladies are classic examples of velvet gloves over iron fists – the p-1695 of finance. Can you imagine how intimidating it must be to have these 3 sirens descend upon your workspace? See how p-1721 is diffidently standing back. He knows danger when he sees it. D.A.N.G.E.R.

Seriously, this (asset tags) is one of the indicators that Zappos is becoming a mature company. The asset tags came out within the past year. The first person in the video is Amy. She is the Asset Tag Architect. Man, you should see her eyes light up when an entire workgroup’s assets have been verified. Amy and I started on the same day at Zappos about a year ago. I would not have guessed she would turn out to be so strict!

Next is Erika in the green, she works undercover so that’s why she avoids the camera. Thanks for not tasering me, Erika! Then there is Chrissie, she had a pretty tough prank pulled on her this past April 1st. I’m helping her plan revenge. It’s going to be sweet, simple and spectacular. I’d say we’ll have video when it happens, but then it could be used as evidence against us. So hey, you’ll believe whatever we tell you right? Everything in the Zappos Blogs are 100% true!

Last Saturday a group of us from the images content team decided to go on a team outing. Newport, KY was the place to be! Newport, which is on the levee, has the one and only Newport Aquarium! It's about an hour and 40 minute drive from Louisville, but it's worth the drive, especially if its as beautiful as it was on Saturday!

It was really windy, but it was on the sunny/warm side. Newport Aquarium is right on the Ohio river across from Cincinnati, so you get a beautiful view as well. Once you're inside they have 70 exhibits and 14 galleries featuring an amazing variety of aquatic life from around the world. They have five tunnels you can walk through, surrounded by marine life. And of course....the shark tunnel! All the sharks, beautiful colored fish and sea turtles wind their way all around you when you walk through. The floors are even transparent so you can see them swim under your feet. It was amazing, really!

The Jellyfish exhibit was also very beautiful! We walked into a low lit room with soft music, huge chandelier and big, round, red, velvet seating. The jellyfish were stunning; drifting back and forth, up and down, just like they were at sea. With the lights so low, they were super bright! We saw alligators, lots of turtles, frogs, tons of fish, eels and so much more!

On the way out they have an area where you can pet sand sharks! Erin, Jessie and Kyle were getting their clothes wet because the sharks looked closer than they appeared, so they were leaning in really far not realizing their sleeves were already wet!

After the aquarium, we went to the Hofrauhaus and had some tasty tasty drinks! They were really crowded with parties and Cincinnati was having a baseball game, so it was going to be a long wait before we could eat. We were really hungry, so after we tried some great beer, we walked down the Levee to find some food and found the awesome Claddagh Irish Pub! We ate lots:Cabbage rolls, meatloaf melts, Irish Monte Cristo, and much, much more. It was great tasting food! I will absolutely go there again!

If you ever visit KY, I highly recommend you to go to Newport on the Levee. You will not be let down! I promise!

This is the second installment of Q&A with the CLT business units. The first post happened last week when I picked the brains of the Kids team CLT group. This week features the candid responses of our Outdoor CLT business unit!

Read on to live vicariously through the exciting experiences of William B, Lacy J, and Max M!

From left: William B, Max M, Lacy J

Question: What is the most exhilarating outdoor activity you have done?

William: "Scuba diving."

Lacy: "Rock climbing. There is no comparison."

Max: “There are too many times that I could mention and go on and on... but basically anything outdoors.”

Question: Our customers do a lot of shopping in preparation for upcoming trips. Have they ever shared a trip with you that you were totally jealous of? If so, where were they going?

William: “To Patagonia for four weeks. I was way jealous of that.”

Lacy: “This actually happens everyday. Yesterday I spoke to a mountaineer that's climbing Grand Cathedral in the Tetons this summer. I was born a couple miles from there, so I'm a little biased, but they're some of the most beautiful mountains in the world! I'm not usually the alpine mountaineering type, glaciers scare me, but even I would like to see the world from the top of Grand Cathedral. I've talked to people going to Kilimanjaro, the Alps, and even a couple to Everest and some of the other Seven Summits. I've also talked to rock climbers going to Thailand, South Africa, Madagascar, South America, Europe, etc. I can't go a day without wishing a customer could take me along with them!”

Max: “Some customers taking trips overseas, to Italy, or the one guy who was going to hike across Europe for 2 months.”

Question: What is the craziest animal you have come across in your outdoor journeys?

William: “A giant eagle ray while I was scuba diving. The thing had to be three times my size, it was HUGE. I was both terribly scared and excited at the same time.”

Lacy: “I seem to be a wildlife magnet, so this is hard. But there is a refuge in Jackson, WY where the buffalo can roam and graze freely. You can also drive through this refuge and take a look. I have a picture of a 3-4 year old bull crossing the road, 10 feet from the front bumper of my car. No matter how many times I go see the herd, being that close to such a giant wild animal is a major thrill. And when your little car is surrounded my a hundred of them snorting and grunting and doing their buffalo business...well... let’s just say it's crazy.”

Max: “I saw a panther on the beach in Guam. While on vacation, I was walking on the beach, just as the sun was setting, and I saw what looked like a large dog on the beach. He was with his trainers. So it wasn't exactly a wild animal, but I was walking very close before I realized what it was.”

Question: What 5 items would you pack if you were going to be stranded in the desert for a month?

William: “Flint/Clothing /Jerky /Fresh Water /A signaling device”

Lacy: "Nutrogena Full Spectrum SPF 85/Therm-a Rest mattress/Gerber multi-tool with a decent blade and a shovel attachment/Topo map of the area/Snake tongs or a .22 rifle.”

Max: “Enoughwater/Shelter/Food/Map/Compass.”

Question: Would you rather be stranded on a remote island or lost in the mountains?

William: “I would rather be lost in the mountains because you can - eventually - find your way out of the mountains. On an island you can’t get past the ocean. There is also more potential food and fresh water in the mountains.”

Lacy: “That would depend entirely on the specific island or the mountains I had to choose from. I've seen examples of both that I would be perfectly happy on and could survive on easily enough, and I've also seen examples of each that would kill me in a day. Tropical Islands are okay, Desert Islands are not. The Northern Sierras I could handle, but I would freeze to death in the Himalayas in the first 24 hours. I'd pick whichever one had more stable, temperate weather conditions, lots of available food and fresh water, and potential shelter.”

Max: “I would rather be stranded in the mountains. I don't think I'm that good at building boats... yet! But I sure can hike!”

Question: What is the most common question asked by our customers?

William: “How does this shoe run?”

Lacy: “It varies by season and also by degree of activity. We have hard core customers and casual customers. Right now a lot of casual customers are looking for hydrophobic shoes and sandals, while the hard core folks are looking for backpacking and mountaineering boots. In the winter we get lots of calls for Sorel bootliners and "fashionable" winter boots that will keep your feet warm in -60 degree weather. Haha.”

Max: “Most customers want to know how different shoes, boots, or sandals fit.”

Question: What was your favorite outdoor activity as a kid?

William: “Riding my bicycle and seeing the ocean.”

Lacy: “Horse Camping. It basically involves riding your horse out to the most remote location you can find, and camping there. You can fish and hunt at the same time. It's like backpacking, but with a horse to help carry stuff.”

Max: “Riding bikes.”

Question: What do you love most about your job?

William: “That it happens to be at Zappos.com!”

Lacy: “Product testing! I feel so fortunate to work for the lifestyle department that embodies my lifestyle. I shop on Outdoor.zappos.com constantly! Because I love the lifestyle, I also love the product, buying it and using it. A few minutes ago a lady called for help finding rock shoes for her son, who is just learning. I was able to make several recommendations based on actual hands-on experience. I am also a beginner and have tried several of the styles on our site. I was able to give her real life evaluations and personal experience to help her decide. Customers really appreciate it when I can relate to their situation and they enjoy talking about the activities they love with someone who understands and relates. It makes their experience and mine much more enjoyable. Instead of work, it's just a nice day talking to people about the activities, places and products we love.”

Max: “Being able to help our customers!”

Ever since Jeff Spicoli sported those Vans checkerboard shoes in Fast Times at Ridgemont High, footwear has played cameo roles in pop culture. Probably even before that, but my general frame of reference starts with 80's movies.

Continuing with the movie theme, shoes were featured in two early Chevy Chase films, National Lampoon's Vacation and Fletch. In Vacation, Cousin Eddie bought Clark a shiny new pair of white patent leather shoes with a buckle. When presented with these pimp-inspired shoes, all Clark could say is: "Eddie..you shouldn't have..you REALLY shouldn't have." In Chase's other film, Fletch (this author's favorite movie), Chevy is often times seen with a pair of classic LA Lakers inspired Converse Weapons. Moving from the big screen to the small screen, Carrie Bradshaw in Sex in the City is often heard talking about her shoe fetish, especially her love for Manolo Blanik shoes.

Besides movies and television, shoes have also played bit parts, or in some cases been spotlighted, in music and in real life dramas. Run DMCs early success was due in part to their ode to their sneakers in "My Adidas". In fact, adidas probably owes most of their early success to Run DMC, as they not only had songs about their shoes, but the guys in the group were pretty much outfitted from head to toe in their product.

In 1994, the OJ Simpson case was everywhere in the national headlines. One of the most incriminating pieces of evidence that the prosecution had were the shoe footprints found near the crime scene. It was discovered that these footprints were tied to a pair of size 12 Bruno Magli shoes. OJ just happened to be photographed a year earlier with those exact shoes. Coincidence, maybe?

There are of course lots of other iconic shoes/brands that have attained lofty status. Nike owes much of its success on their Michael Jordan inspired Air Jordan series. And where would British Knights be without Derrick Coleman endorsing their shoes? Well..maybe that one wasn't too memorable. But you get the idea?.

Seriously, the mannequins in our Images room outnumber the humans by far! I'm sure the photo department is much more involved in the mannequins lives than we are, but we are becoming fond of them, in a bizarre way. We just want to fit in with this mysterious society. Is that so wrong? We hang out with them from time to time. We like to make casual conversations, play charades, and sing at night time. It's easier to sing at night, because it's usually just you and them, and it gets very quiet. They don't judge the way you sing either! You're always on key when singing to them. We like to know how their day is going and how many outfits they put on that day. Kyle is super excited about Abby, the soon to be mother mannequin. He likes to feel the baby kick! He's hoping for a baby mannequin soon. We'll just keep telling him what we always do. "Any day now Kyle, any day now."

Anyways, they have become a part of our family in imaging, even though they are creepy.

Every summer Zappos puts together an event to celebrate the warm weather and enjoy each other's company outside of a work environment. This event is not just for our Zappos family, but the rest of our families are invited to share in the activities as well. This year, our picnic was at the Louisville Zoo! We had our own roped off area with all kinds of activities for all ages.

There were artists drawing caricatures, face painting, a strong man game, jumping bouncy structures, clown competitions, even wacky, waving inflatable arm flailing tube men! We had cotton candy, popcorn, hot dogs, burgers and plenty of sides to eat! We were also able to walk to the Zoo and see the animals free of charge if we wanted to. It was a beautiful day and it looked like everyone, and their children were having a really great time. All I can tell you, is if you forgot your sunscreen, you were regretting it!

May is a special time of year for many reasons I'm sure, but I'm pointing out one special thing amongst many: Graduation! This year, we are helping Derek Carder celebrate his graduation from UNLV where he studied his fingers to the bone in Psychology. Leads, supervisors, and managers of CLT came to help Derek celebrate this glorious time.

Everyone dressed up in custom graduation caps and made their way to Derek's desk where he was surprised with music and hearty applause and job well done. He even got cake!

Good job, sir....good job. Congratulations, Derek!

Hey what ever happened to that plun guy? Well I still don’t know what a plun is but this post is the official baddest pun blog so far at Zappos. Why you ask? Well read on and see!

Here’s the back story - late last Winter, I was walking into Zappos and I saw Melody on a balcony taking a break. She was wearing her signature cat ear hoodie. <meow> She waved to me, I waved back and then pulled a child-sized velour cap with lil ears out of my bag and put it on. She cracks up. I head up to the 2nd floor and she showed me her cat mittens. We talked about doing a group picture of cat people sometime. The project went into hibernation but now with the warmer weather here in Vegas (expected to go triple digits this
weekend) it was back on the front burner.

So this morning I padded up to Duke’s row and this “eary” sight greeted me.

Going from the left, we have Duke the Bunny, Danny the Reindeer, Derek the Koala (when he is not the pink gorilla) Jenna Cat, Lucas the Elephant, Megan cat, Melody with mittens, Toni the Tiger (behind Melody), Stacey cat, Shannon Reindeer and Augusta bunny. Click >HERE< to see a video clip.

Here’s a closing Cattitude quote from Melody - /Humans: No fur, no paws, no tail. They run away from mice. They never get enough sleep. How can you help but love such an absurd animal?/

At Zappos we have a very unique culture where each team and/or department is responsible for creating their own environment. By environment, we mean our surroundings…our home away from home…the place that we live and breathe Zappos.

While it's unheard of in most companies, at Zappos we tend to think it breathes a little life into what could otherwise be very drab and dreary office walls. Plus, it’s kinda fun!

So, what’s the marketing theme? Hint: Save the Customer, Save the World.

Okay, you’ve got it! Heroes! Here’s a quick introduction to a few of the heroes in the marketing department and what they think their superpowers are:

Fletch, the Investigative Reporter (aka Andy)
Super Shopping Woman (aka Ashley)
Guitar Hero (aka Brian)
Ultimate Multi-Tasker (aka Britni)
Search Sensei (aka Darrin)
Fairy Godmother (aka Holly)
Kristaman, does what the Kristaman can do (aka Krista)
Rapid Reader/ Predicting the Future (aka Libby)
Bionic Woman (aka Linda)
Keeper of Time (aka Michelle)
Donatello’s Voice of Reason (aka Mig)
Mandal Man (aka Ned)
Flying Wonder Woman (aka Rachel)
El Sonador - The Dreamer (aka Robert)
Spreadsheet Surfer (aka Vegas)

If you had to pick what kind of hero you’d be or superpower you’d have, who/what would you be? Comments welcome! Oh and by the way, we're always looking for more heroes to join us in the good fight!

Here at Zappos.com, our new CLT reps have many hurdles to go through to becoming full time employees, and today we are going to discussing Incubation.

After leaving our fantastic CLT training course, they head to what we call "Incubation." I visualize it as a "training outside of training." It's purpose is to fine tune the skills that you have learned in training and also get you acclimated with the general "ways of the call center floor." They move to the call center building, focus more their acquired skills and work together as
a team. With that being said, here is an account of one of our new employees, Derek Flores, who is currently in Incubation. Take it away, Derek!

"Today is the seventh day in incubation, and let me tell you, we are getting the whole Zappos experience. Our leads are awesome and have done a lot in helping us understand and overcome the various challenges that we will face once we get out onto the floor. First, we
have Jim who is the lead of the morning shift, 6:00-3:00. Then we have Derek (D-Rock) and Abbie who have the later shift, 11-8. Overall, we are very impressed with their knowledge base regarding the questions we have for them. It's kind of hard to stump them, but I am waiting for that one question that will get Jim to say, "Wow, never heard that one before!" I feel that these guys, and girl, are a great fit for our group of unique individuals.

Each day has been very interesting and fun as we are introduced into the Zappos Culture. We are all embracing the core values and are doing so through Core Value Presentations. Each person is paired up with another person within Incubation and assigned a core value to present to the entire class. So far we have had some great presentations, but these couple have stood out in my mind.

Noelle and Liz's group were assigned, Creating Fun with a Little Weirdness and they brought in pipe cleaners and clay for us to make weird little objects. Some people made unique things out of the pipe cleaners and others made really weird objects out of the clay, but it showed each and every one of us that we all can create fun and a little weirdness.

One more presentation I have to write about is Randy and Greg's group. There core value presentation was on Building an Open and Honest Relationships with Communication. They brought in bread, peanut butter and jelly and wanted us to explain to Greg how to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, as if he had never made one before. I will let you know that one of us did not tell Greg to use a knife and he stuffed his whole hand into the peanut butter....it was quite a sight. The presentations are good because each group has related the core value to something that we encounter everyday here at Zappos and how we can use them to either help better us or overcome challenges that accompany the job.

Well, so far, so good, with seven days under our belt. Tune in later for more from the wonderful world of Incubation."

Thanks Derek, hang in there!!

Last night the B shift photo department had a going away party for our beloved Jeremy I. and Travis A.

Luckily, Zappos is not losing these fine boys completely, but our shift will have some big shoes to fill now.

Jeremy has been working at with us in the photo department for around 11 months. He has been an asset to the apparel department during his 9 months on B-shift Photo. Next week he is transferring to A-shift Photo!

Travis, has been working at Zappos for almost a year. He has been working as a very helpful photo assistant in the apparel studio for the past 3 months on B-shift Photo. He will be venturing back out to the FC as a C-shift Receiving team member.

One of our apparel photographers, Abby, had an opportunity to ask them a few questions during the party:

Q: What are you going to miss the most about B-shift photo?

Jeremy: I am going to miss pranking A-shift with the annoy-a-tron. Since I will be on A-shift, I won't be able to play pranks on them with the annoy-a-tron, but I will miss working with the B-shift crew, and 11 o'clock trivia!

Travis: I will miss everyone's sense of humor and inside jokes with random people!

Q: Are you excited about your new position?

Jeremy: I'm nervous about waking up so early, but excited to have my nights free!

Travis: Yes! It presents me with new opportunities to better myself.

Q: Tell me a memory from working in B-shift photo.

Jeremy: Winning the annual photo Beard Off! (After 12 weeks Jeremy won the beard off and donated his winnings to Dreams with Wings.)

Travis: The going away party with great food, especially the awesome queso and dirty rice!

Q: Do you have any parting words of advice as you venture onto your life outside of B-shift photo?

Jeremy: In the words of our old pal Joe C. "Liquor before beer never fear. Beer before liquor never sicker."

Travis: Make sure when you are in the LS, (the apparel studio) everything is straight, steamed, and ironed or there will be heck to pay, HECK I TELL YOU!!

GOOD LUCK GUYS WE"LL MISS YOU!!

Core Value #7: Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
And thats one thing these sisters do best. Not only does Katie and Sarah work for the same awesome company they work in the same crazy department! When they arent jumping around or hanging out with random statues, you can find them working hard in our Finance Dept. I was lucky enough to catch up with them and ask them a few random questions!

What was your favorite childhood show/book?

Sarah: Popples or the Care Bears! We owned everything they made!

Katie: My Little Pony forever and ever!