.......until two crazy fools break their hands. In the picture above, you'll see two of our Zappos employees who shared a department until a month ago and who miraculously managed to break bones in their hands within hours of each other in unrelated incidents. Brett H., from our Creative Services team, learned the hard way about horseplay while out with his friend, Pat W., from our Zappos Outlet Stores.

The details are murky, but we have been told that it involved a ketchup and mustard fight and some rough-housing at Brett's birthday party at a local bar. It appears Pat must have gotten the upper hand.

Brett has a tendency to fall prey to condiments, actually..... tune into ZapposTV next week to see an additional incident involving the negligent use of Hot Sauce. Brett Gets revenge this time, make no mistake about that. (I'm looking at you, Brian K.)

Ryan A., from our FEZ team, also managed to break a bone in his hand within two days of Brett, only, the story of the event is shrouded in mystery. It's been told that he was attacked by a wild burrow while hiking at Red Rock Canyon, a local landmark here in Las Vegas. Burrows rarely attack, but when provoked, they actually fight people style.....really, not joking. They are born equipped with expertise in at least 12 different sorts of martial arts.

Ryan has been known to provoke animals.....this is why he hangs out with Brett H. in the first place.

Be careful out there, ladies and gentlemen, we are fragile.

"Fra-Gi-Le. Must be Italian."

On Thursday, Zappos was invaded by an army of Kids' Clothing companies for our first ever.....drum roll.... Kids' Clothing Expo!

Brands that attended were:

• cachcach
• Corky & Company
• LeTop
• Biscotti (coming soon!)
• Kate Mack (coming soon!)
• Kaiya Eve
• City Threads
• Ben Sherman
• Disney Couture
• Me & Mind
• Mountain Sprouts
• Columbia
• Spyder
• Sara Prints
• Hatley
• Outside Baby
• JB Originals
• Hartstrings
• Kids Ink
• Sister Sam
• No Sugar Added

The brands were here to show off their current product lines and show Zappos a great time for the day! Large groups of Zappos peeps made the long and treacherous journey to the 2300 building in the training room to play around in the Enchanted Forest, which the kids' team began constructing on Tuesday. Everyone was blown away by what an awesome job that they did!

Christina E., makes her Zappos directing debut in this video starring the always amazing Sarah W., giving us a tour of the forest.


Thanks Kids' Team, you rule!

Ok...not exactly, but my fashion-forward neighbor Jonathan showed up to work today with the most pimp-ish jacket I've seen within these Zappos walls. Keep in mind that we are located in Las Vegas and it's the middle of a scorching hot summer! That doesn't stop the fashionably-adventurous Jonathan from breaking out his pimp-blue "faux" snake blazer. Note to self: animal prints are going to be hot trend this fall! Must stock up now!

Meet Megan G. She works in our awesome Bowling Green, KY Outlet Store. Thanks to her and a couple more of her outlet store gal pals, we got to go visit one of the Las Vegas outlet stores as part as our Las Vegas Encounter experience! I love how passionate she was for her department here in Kentucky, and wanted to see the Las Vegas side of it as well!



What Dept. Do you work in and what is your position?

I work in the Bowling Green Outlet Store in KY. I love my position as a Sales Rep. at our store!

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

I am an avid shopper and love scrapbooking. Along with my amazing job at Zappos, I am in my last year at WKU. Once I graduate I hope to move on to a job in Human Resources with Zappos. I have the most beautiful 2 year old Pekepom puppy name Bella, who is the love of my life! I have lived in KY since I was in 1994 and I moved to Bowling Green in 2003 when I began college.

What's the best thing ever about working for Zappos.com?!

I honestly don't think I can only list one thing about Zappos that I love. First of all, I love our culture. I have never felt like my personality meshed so well with a company. If I had to pick one thing that I love about Zappos, it would have to be the amazing family spirit. Even in the few days we were out in Las Vegas, I could feel the family spirit from every person I met.

Does Everyone In Bowling Green Love the Zappos Outlet store?!

We have so many people coming in our store ecstatic that we have a Zappos Outlet Store here. I never realized how many people are avid shoppers of our website. We have even attracted many out-of-towners that are just passing through*.*

If we come to visit you in Bowling Green, is there somewhere we MUST go and check out?

I personally would tell everyone to visit the Lost River Cave or Beech Bend.

What was your favorite thing about the Las Vegas Encounter, or just Las Vegas in general?

My favorite thing about the Las Vegas Encounter was being able to see the offices and learn so much more about our culture. After the first day of the encounter, I knew I wanted to work in Las Vegas after I graduate college.

It is difficult to fully express the intensity of the relationships formed between co-workers in this fast-paced, ever changing environment. Occasionally, though, that intensity manifests itself in moments of dramatic, theatrical declaration. It was indeed a heart sweeping moment when supervisor Dan C. appeared in the Live Studio, draped with pink plumage, calling out to photographer Jeremy I. The lights dimmed, the music ("What is Love" by Haddaway) filled the room, and we all stared as Dan and Jeremy embraced and danced in perfect unison. It was a beautiful beautiful expression of creative teamwork. And, as the photographs prove, Jeremy and Dan make a beautiful team.



Written by Beth H.

The Performance Merchandise Planning Team held it's second event in the cube: THUMB WAR! The team has started a new tradition of hosting an event before the quarterly recognition meetings.

The competition was done bracket style and was very competitive. Winner, Chris B. received zollars, a sombrero and a hand made thumb cozy created by Kathleen J. What will next quarters special event be?

During Spirit Week, departments were challenged to create a Zappos Cheer. Human Resources spent some time getting schooled in the ways of stomping.
Our very own Human Resources Coordinator, Altovise, did double duty as our team
captain and choreographer. GO HR!

Nevada Zappos.com employees got together to collect new kids shoes for the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation. We collected 400 pairs of new shoes with the help of Nike, Zappos Outlets, and of course our amazing Zapponians. Below is a picture of the shoes with Jeff and Stephanie from the NCCF and Tony and Alfred. In addition to picking up the shoes the NCCF presented Zappos with a plaque thanking us for the donation. You can read more about Zappos’ community involvement here.

Yes, we have no, bananas!! Working here at Zappos, you just never know what you may encounter. One thing is for sure, if you are a night worker, and something is left on your desk with your name on it, (so everyone will know that it belongs to you and you alone, otherwise everyone thinks all things are common) you never know what may be there to greet you when you return the next night. You can definitely be assured though, it won't look like what it did when you left!

Ahh!! Such a lonely looking banana. Jimmy must really think that this is a treat that he wants to enjoy tomorrow. Or, Wait!! Was he actually starting something that he was testing all the rest of us daytimers with? Well, Jimmy, we daytime members are a little more educated than what you give us credit for. Yeah! I guess we showed you!

So, next time you leave something behind, be prepared to have everyone get their hands on your banana! This was fun for most, but was not "appealing" to all of the others. But this is for you, Jimmy M.........


Written by Mark S.

Everyone must know some Jeff! He really is fantastic guy to talk to and work with! He works C-shift receving, even though I have been seeing him all day during the day! He must really LOVE Zappos to be here all hours of the day! But who doesn't? His beard seems to keep keep getting longer each time I see him. Maybe its me?

What Dept. Do you work in and what is your position?

Lead receiving C-shift 1 each. Receiving is broken up into 3 parts Unload, Receiving, and Put away. We have a lead for each and generally rotate out duties about every 3 months. Currently I am over the unload team. I handle issues that may arise with merchandise as it comes off the Truck-o-saurus Rex. And sign various paper work. Also making sure the incoming freight stays organized so we can keep FIFO alive.

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

I have a 3yr old son (ornery), a 1yr old daughter (more ornery), 1 dog (80 lbs of ornery) and a girlfriend. I have worked at Zappos since AUG 22 of 2006 been full time since Dec 2 2006, Live in KY since 2004. Come from Lubbock TX, home of nothing impressive. My hobbies include keeping the kids happy, playing video games, riding my motorcycle, and sleeping at any point I can.

What's the best thing ever about working for Zappos.com?!

EVERYTHING. I never have been good at playing favorites but the top of my list I guess goes the peeps, free lunches, great benefits, the peeps and I bet the chiller system and super heroism when they arrive.

Favorite food served at Zappos?

TACO BAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! MMMMMHHHHHhhhhhhhh Taco!!!!!!!!!!!

What's your favorite thing to do outside of work?

Fight Club??? Oh no my fav is? Talking to my son really. I think 3 yr olds invented insanity. They had to have they say the craziest stuff.

Best gift you ever received?

Chicken soup. I really don't even like it but I used to always talk about chicken soup for some reason and an acquaintance bought me a case of chicken soup for my b-day one time. Though I gave most of it away it made me smile, and reminded me to watch what I wish for because I just might get it....

Many moons ago, a man was born in Germany that now is a driving force for change and departmental cohesiveness that is a model for the future. So, on the anniversary of our own Alex K.'s birthday, in our desire to show tribute to this fine humanitarian, co-worker and friend, we waited until he stepped away from his desk for a moment, and then trashed it beyond repair.

Ryan A. from the FEZ team and Eric V. organized everything. (who, as you might remember, was treated on his birthday by the Alex and the fine FEZ team.) Eric ordered six 30 inch pizzas from Napoli's here in Vegas, and they were excellent! In the video below, we bring them in true Zappos parade style.

In the photo, we and our covert team of DEV and Creative Service people are "decorating" Alex's desk. Alex, we love ya! Happy 18th birthday.

A while back, Tara B and I did some brainstorming, pinpointed some areas within the Content Team that could benefit from some special attention and created the Specialist Program. Hey, Embrace and Drive Change, right? Today, we had a little ceremony for our first ever Content Team Specialists and handed out icons that represent these new positions.



Holding the big red pencils are our Editing Specialists. Hannah E., Heather T. and Jennifer B. are responsible for reviewing all of the product descriptions and ‘about texts’ throughout the week. They send each team a report detailing the mistakes they’ve found and will be also be conducting a workshop this week, which I am excited to attend as I’ve been known to misspell a word or two wrong from time to time (wink, wink)!

Nick P., the guy with the beard holding his very own EDI gnome, is not only the Category Manager for the Kids team, but he is also our EDI Specialist. He does a great job helping out the rest of the team with document testing and troubleshooting issues that arise along the way. Trust me when I say that this is no easy task!

Jannel Veal has got our whole world in her hands as our Wiki Specialist. She has updated our Content Team page by making it totally organized, not to mention aesthetically pleasing. There are even team photos. Check out how much we’ve grown. Each team within Content has its own page with category specific information that is really informative and
useful!

Down in front with the red boxing gloves is Dana., our Training Specialist. She organized a page on our Wiki with extensive training information for new hires and pros alike. She will also be helping the management team create some standardized tests for our progression plan.

Look closely and you will see that Kenny Lucas has in his possession a framed picture of the infamous Tila Tequila. No, we did not create a So Bad it’s Good Reality TV Specialist, but we do have our very own TEQUILA/MTPA Specialist. These are the two different tools that our Detailers use to create products in our system. Kenny has done a great job creating a ‘how to’ guide on the Wiki and keeps the team updated on changes.

Hiding behind Kenny is our very own SAP Specialist, Shanda F., with a bottle of maple sap. Shanda also put together a Wiki page with a ‘how to’ section for SAP. She also communicates with Accounting regarding the new supplier set up process. She is our go-to girl for the SAP system.

And then there is Jonathan H. our Librarian Specialist! Jonathan reads at least one book a week from the Zappos Library and summarizes it for the rest of the team in his weekly email, Letters from the Librarian. In these emails, he includes fun facts about our product types and a short bio on a featured designer. Lastly, Jonathan put together a ‘Creative Content’ class for the team that inspires individuals to (in his own words) “spice up their style.”

As you can see, we have a lot of really talented people who Deliver WOW Through Service daily. Stay tuned…more Content Team Specialists are on the way!

Remember the game Barrel of Monkeys? Milton Bradley sold the game, which came with a toy barrel in blue, red, yellow or green with 12 tiny toy monkeys. How you played was you hooked a monkey to the barrel, then hooked another monkey to that monkey's arm, and so on and so on, creating a chain of monkeys. When a monkey falls, your turn is over.

Sounds like fun to me. If I were four years old.

But at a recent happy hour, I was reminded of the innocent game. Someone ordered a chocolate-banana drink from the bar, which comes with a plastic monkey. After throwing back a few drinks ourselves, Derek Carder and I looked at this monkey, then looked at each other, clearly thinking the same brilliant idea. We asked the bartender for extra monkeys, and after enduring a few weird looks, we played our own version of Barrel of Monkeys.



I won! Shoot...how will I drink my beer now?



An army of monkeys. Wow, look at all those empty glasses in the background...


Monkeys are delicious.

Hey, our own version of Barrel of Monkeys, employees slapping the CEO, you never know what to expect at a Zappos happy hour.

The beauty of shopping at Zappos.com is that you can buy whatever your heart desires, any time of the day. Take Jason Lee for instance; he decided one afternoon that he wanted...no, NEEDED this 3-pack of brightly colored underwear (tighty whities, as some may call them). This isn't exactly the first time Jason has purchased undies from Zappos, and he always insists on causing a scene by wearing them on his head and parading around the office. Just kidding! Although it's hard not to notice that big smile he gets whenever he opens a fresh new Zappos box filled with tighty whities...; it's like a kid on Christmas morning!

I would like everyone to meet LuAnn G! She was on the Vegas Encounter back in March. If you Vegas-ites didn't get the chance to meet her, don't fret! Here's your chance to get to know a little bit about her! She's a lead in our fabulous Kentucky warehouse! Read on to get to know her a little more!



What Dept. Do you work in and what is your position?

I am a lead in the returns department.

Tell us a little bit about yourself:

I have been at Zappos since April 15, 2004. I became full time, August 1, 2004. I also have lived in Shepherdsville for 4 years. I moved from Louisville to be closer to work. I have a daughter, who will be 30, August 30th, she is married. I have a cat named Shadow. She follows me everywhere. When I have the time I like to bake and listen to music.

What's the best thing ever about working for Zappos.com?!

The people. I like the fact that everyone treats you like their friend or family and not just a co-worker.

Favorite food served at Zappos?

Chick-Fil-A!

What's your favorite thing to do outside of work?

I like to walk, go to the mall or my home away from home, Wal-Mart.

What's the weirdest thing you have ever encountered?

The weirdest thing that I have encountered at work is the steak knives, scissors and other unusual items that people send back in their shoeboxes!

Does a chicken have lips and if he did, would he smack 'em!?

I don't really know! I have never gotten that close to a live chicken. But there is always that possibility?!

Here in the photo studio the photographers and photo assistants have an advantage others team members don't have, we get to see all the new arrivals that will be joining Zappos.com web page. During the week bothcthe A and B shift photo assistants and photographers can prep and photograph 100's of new handbags, footwear, eyewear, electronics and more. New products, we love them and they love us. So much so that it seems some products have a way of joining in the fun and creativity. I'm not sure if it's magical dust that falls off the packaging that make the products come to life... or that it's just Friday but fortunate for you I have been able to capture this strange phenomenon. This may be a case for the X-Files.



Photos Top L to R- Photo assistant Tracy P. has a little tag along as she preps the handbags, while Ki M. and photographer Sandy L. seem to have been hynotized into trying out their new products. Hey Ki, we'll take 2 Whoppers please! Sandy, you make a lovely bride.

Bottom row: L to R : Having been taken over by a pair of Pleasers USA, our sweet, mild manner senior photographer Katie B. has had a total personality change that photographer Shane R. enjoys. Behave Shane! And finally, was it a good or a bad joke, which ever the case, our photo
assistant April S. can't seem to stop laughing. I think the devil made her do it

Click on their names to view the products on our site!!

Stay tune for more, the truth is out there!

Written by: Cameron T.

Every month the photo department gets a cake for everyone's birthday of that month, and to welcome the new comers to the department. There is so much cake going on in that department!

I guess the person making the cake didn't think that newbie was the right word or they thought it was a person? Either way, it's funny!

Welcome New Bies!

It began as a simple photograph of our new mannequins, for posterity purposes. I was uploading my image and showed it to a couple of coworkers nearby. Being the creative bunch that we are, we innocently thought of fun ways to alter the picture using photoshop. Then without hesitation Steven T. challenged me to a photoshop duel! Thus began the "Iron Photoshoper Challenge"!

The rules were very basic:

1) You must use the photograph of the new mannequins.
2) Size: 8.5x11 inches
3) Dpi: 72 - 300
4) You can manipulate the image any way as long as Photoshop was used.
5) BE CREATIVITY! Yes, creativity, which is more then just creative!

We had the whole weekend to work on our project, but both Steven and I kind of procrastinated until the last minute. I spent an hour or so working on mine with the idea of an 'Antarctica Nude Beach theme' since our mannequins were not clothed. Steven decided to take his mannequins to the dance floor! He even added a break-dancing mannequin!

On the due date, we anonymously turned in our pictures so the judges wouldn't be swayed by the artist. Our judges were Taurie M. and Jimmy M. who were both present when the challenged commenced. They decided to judge based on image quality, color consistency, technicality, creativity, angle accuracy, and overall presentation using a scale from 1 - 5. After all the points were tallied up, my picture won out. However, both pictures were rated very high for creativity which was the whole point of the challenge, so we were both winners!

'Iron Photoshoper' was a really great, friendly competition that pushed us into taking it a step further - to be more creative and think imaginatively! I hope that we can start a new trend and have more Iron Photoshoper Challenges in the future!

Written by Abby B.

Today is a fine day here at Zappos for many a reason, but mostly, because it is the anniversary of the birth of one of our finest Zapponians, Rob S.!

Rob is a Customer Loyalty Manager and he is one of our veteran employees. Rob is a Colorado native (sort of), a music fanatic and a fine guitar player and singer as well. The man's nickname is Smilin' Rob for a good reason: He has not stopped smiling since 1993....seriously, I would not lie to you. It's kind of the like the Joker situation in the first Tim Burton Batman movie, but minus the menacing overtones....just joking, Robby.

This is a beloved employee here at Zappos and he makes Zappos a great place to come to work everyday. Rob, on the day of your birth, we salute you!

Don't PANIC!!!

Upon entering Ellis Island Casino and Brewery in Las Vegas, Nevada the first thing you will hear is not the plinkity plink of the slot machines, but the crooning coming from a very famous karaoke bar inside. Upon entering we gazed at smoke filled old booths, two not so famous Elvis impersonators, and the biggest song books I've ever seen. We ended up at the Ellis Island Casino and Brewery looking for $1 beers from their very own brewery and a chance to sing in front of some serious Ellis locals.

Though they didn't have the $1 beers anymore, they did have a great list of their own brews to choose from. I brought some of my fellow Vegas Experience peeps here remembering what a great but seedy and old casino this was. Bert H. belted out, "Baby Got Back," while Kevin (Mike) M. sang, "Pretty Fly for a White Guy, " by the Offspring. The "Duets," soundtrack version of "Cruisin," was sang by me as this is the only song I've ever sang karaoke to and I couldn't believethat they had it. Amber R. sang Sheryl Crow's version of, "Sweet Child of Mine," while Pat C. gazed at us from the back booth not wanting to get up and sing but he sure gave his support to us brave fools. If you find yourself sick of the new part of the strip and you're looking for some old-fashioned karaoke fun, or want to enjoy a famous $6.99 Sirloin Steak special, or some local brew, head down to Ellis Island Casino and Brewery.



Written By: Erin R

Okay, so KIVA has been up and running for a while now and despite a few bumps along the way, everything is running great. Those little critters are working their circuits to the bone. Last time I talk