The Pipeline Team is offering a NEW series of classes based on books from the Zappos library!

We take the most important concepts from one or two books, and give you some practical ways to apply them at Zappos. These classes aren’t boring ol’ book discussions. You’ll leave class with loads of new ideas to take back to your team and fun activities for your next team meeting!

The first class in the series covers two books: Made to Stick and Peak. Upcoming classes will cover Tribal Leadership, The Happiness Hypothesis, FISH!, and The Fred Factor.

Check out the Pipeline Team’s own Vanessa, Hope & Devlyn in a commercial for these new classes.

By Devlyn

Pat discovers a pair of abandoned sneakers meandering outside of the office, and attempts to tame them with his Shoe Whispering skills. His love for Shoes is his only weakness.

Jo likes to say she's a rebel, which she is, but with a fun, crazy, intellectual twist. She likes books like twilight, good music and sports. Check out all the things on her desk. Go Dodgers!

The everyday machines that we use here at Zappos are starting to show their true personalities. First Rosie, our beloved coffee machine in the 2280 building and now, thanks to Richard D. on the facilities team, we have Robocow in the lunch room.

Reaching for the milk lever has never felt so . . . AWKWARD. Way to take the milk machine to a new level of fun and a little weird.

Oh, and rumor has it we might have a little calf in the office soon, so stay tuned.

Paul works in the Athletic Performance Department and has an Affinity for Soups, Jogging and even Stair Climbing. We welcome you to view the Video below and Check out our Newest Conference Room, as well as Paul's "Special Office".

I just couldn't let this week pass us by without sharing the wonderful pancake art brought to us my the one and only Jamie N. Jamie really bumped the art of making pancakes on International Pancake Day up a few notches.

The Resource Desk team in CLT has officially won the Mardi Gras Float Contest for their Pirate Ship entry!!! Their attention to detail on their Float, as well as the exceptional Team Participation rocketed them to the top of the list. Great Job to Everyone who Participated, and we had a blast Judging the Competition. Check out this video to see all of the Fantastic Floats we Judged Yesterday!!

Today the Help Desk got into the Mardis Gras spirit & built our float!! Woo hoo for fun & weirdness!! We decided to use our float as our theme for our row...and also; Woo hoo for Do more with less!!

Being that we are the help desk team we decided to go with none other than those 4 guys from Liverpool & use the song Help by the Beatles! In going with that song, we made our very own hippie bus, complete with The Mayor at the helm!! We had a blasty blast putting this thing together. We had a casualty along the way.. Dory was hopscotching & hopscotched her Iphone right into a bucket of paint! Our very chivalrous Donavon fished it out with his hands!! What a guy :)

At any rate, we had a lot of fun bonding & putting this together, stop by our row to check out the bus!!

Zappos employees are always looking for a reason to eat pancakes all day, and since yesterday was International Pancake Day, you bet we took full advantage of it.

Thanks flook team for all the hard work, and the great pancakes!

Brett H. Prides himself on being very knowledgeable on the subject of Film, so naturally he entered the Oscar Contest. Our Cruise Ship Director, Jamie N. Hosted the First Annual Oscar contest at Zappos.com, and had over 30 entries! We encouraged Brett to enter the Contest, but also Encouraged him to be Humble in Doing so. Check out the Video to see How Brett Did!!!

So how many cupcakes do you think you can eat in 3 minutes? Do you really think you can eat more than 20? If so, then you will have to talk to the champion Logan R., from our Maintenance department in KY!

He ate 20 cupcakes in 3 minutes!! All challengers were not allowed to use their hand and had to have an assistant feed them the cupcakes, or shove them in their face is more like it! Logan's assistant was April. This was held in Photo Studio 1 and it was for one of the ten culture batons. The Create fun and a Little Weirdness baton was passed to Maintenance. Basically we have ten batons and each have a Core Value. The trick is you have to do something that pertains to that core value in order to pass it to another department. And Maintenance rose to the challenged and crushed all competitors!

We had a second round that was up for anyone who wanted to join in just for fun. And Kyle S. won that one by eating 16 cupcakes!! Everyone had a blast, and was very entertained to say the least! Thanks to everyone from the KY Content Team for making and bringing in all those cupcakes!!



Picture collage and blog by Lisa M!

Here at Zappos, people use their desks to show everyone their personality, as well as things they are interested in. Andrea likes, or I should say loves, Hello Kitty. Check out her Hello Kitty collection, and see if you can count them all!

Welcome to the all new Customer Loyalty “The Interview”. In an effort to showcase our wonderful Zapponians up here in Customer Loyalty, we will be posting a weekly blog interviewing a new person from CLT. The Interviews will be chosen randomly, and the questions will also be random, generated from a list of 100 questions that are both Zappos and non-Zappos related. This will give us all a good all around peak into the lives of our fantastic CLT team members.

For our first installment of “The Interview” our very own Alicia Lo Chirco was chosen. Alicia has been in CLT since January of 2007, so she is a grizzled veteran (don't tell her I called her grizzled). Alicia has been a shade of scallywag and a bit of landlubber at the Resource Desk for the better part of the past year. We love Alicia.

1. Boxers or briefs?
Ummm . . . boxer briefs?

2. What do you do when you lose your passion for something?
If it's like a hobbie, I just stop doing it for a while and usually after some time I will get back into it.

3. Who are your heroes?
My grandma. She is amazing, patient, sweet, and an amazing cook. All the things I aspire to be.

4. What is your favorite piece of clothing?
My new dress. I love it because I bought it while shopping with Jamie N. from HR. I never shop and somehow she managed to convince me to go and I actually had fun, lol!

5. What is your biggest success and why?
My Zappos career is so far my biggest success. I feel challenged every day and because of that I never get bored, which is awesome.

6. Do you have any phobias?
Oh. . . this is a fun list. I am afraid of penguins, heights, falling, driving at night...etc...etc.

7. Do you believe in aliens? Why or why not?
Of course. It would be pretty conceited to think we are the only ones out there.

8. Do you always smile for pictures?
No.. I try to look very metal in pictures. It usually doesn't work. lol.

9. Ranch or blue cheese?
Ranch. Blue cheese smells of feet.

10. If I looked into your refrigerator, what would I find?
Right now, lots and lots of beer (it was just my boyfriend's 21st birthday). There is also some leftovers, eggs, cheese, milk, water, mixers (cranberry juice, cola), and lots of condiments.

11. What was the last book you read?
Last book I finished was Breaking Dawn (the last Twilight book). Right now I am reading A Collection of Demons (and other mythical creatures).

12. Do you think the human race will make it another 200 years?
Eh . . . it's hard to say. Hopefully we will start treating our environment better and stop taking so much for granted. Then, maybe it's possible.

13. If you were approached to come up with a new benefit for Zappos and cost was not a factor, what benefit would you like to see us have?
Discount tattoos...for sure.

14. If you were given the chance to travel to any place and time in the past / present / future when and where would you go and why?
I would probably go back to ancient Rome. I'd want to see the art and sport. What a beautiful time it must have been.

15. Do you miss anyone right now?
I always miss my babes!

Thanks for hanging with us on this inaugural installment of “The Interview”. Visit us again next week for another interview with one of our Customer Loyalty Zapponians!

Zappos employees rely on the 10 core values to guide them on the way they work and do business each day. Last week the Zappos customer loyalty team participated in a core value challenge to celebrate the three year anniversary of the start of Zappos core values.

Every month, CLT has different fun contests to promote the core values, and help the employees continue to live them as much as possible.

You may have heard the news, but our beloved benefits goddess, Sarah, is officially off the "market". She married her man, Brandon, a picking lead here in the Kentucky Fulfillment Center. Naturally, I had to get to the bottom of this... so I asked her a few nosey, but imporant questions. Please read on as I uncovered this mystery.

How did you and your husband meet?

We actually met through mutual friends a very long time ago. He dated one of my good friends when we were 14 and I even chaperoned a date for him with another girl during the first 3 or 4 years that we were friends. i was asked out on a date with him on a note on a white board by my room-mate, who he had asked to ask me out for him. ( are you confused yet? )

Where did you get married, and why didn't you have it at Zappos so we could all attend?

We got married in Shelbyville, only because we can't have alcohol on the premisis here, the dress code AND you can't have a shotgun wedding without a shot-gun, and guns are also a no-no at our warehouse. However, I will totally consider having our anniversary party here next year for everyone.

Was your cake shaped like a shoe?

Actually no, it was a 3 tier white cake with black branches and cherry blossoms on it.

If you had to wear a brand from Zappos to be married in, what would you have chosen?

He would probably wear Affliction, and I would choose Betsy Johnson.

If you and your husband were animals, what do you think you would be?

I would want to be a basset hound, they are so cute and lovable, and he would definitely be a cat. I could see him being perfectly happy sleeping all day and just getting up to eat and poop.

Do you guys have nicknames for each other, and what are they?

His is, baba and mine is booger bear.

What were your something "new, old, borrowed & blue" items?

The oldest thing I had on was my underwear. I had new shoes. I borrowed make-up because I forgot mine, and I wore my Zappos sweatsuit to set up and break down the whole wedding AND I wore it for my rehearsal dinner.

So as you can see by these answers, it looks like the rumors are true. They really are headed for happily ever after. Another Zappos union for the history books. The picture is truly worth a million words.

It's that time again kids – time to cheer someone up that's been down lately. Rena, don't worry, everything is gonna be fine! We made this video for you just to lighten your day a little!

If you know someone that needs cheering up, email us at zapposcheerup@zappos.com, or DM on Twitter, @insidezappos.

Kazoos make her laugh, she dresses in camouflage, and has been with us for ten months. That's why Marqurita L. in our CLT department is our Zapponian of the Day!

Zappos is know for doing whatever it takes to help the customer. The Customer Loyalty Team is trained to take the time to make sure the customer's needs are met - no matter how much time it takes.

Jennifer talks about her record for the longest customer call here at Zappos.

Do you have unwanted books or music that you haven't listened to since snap bracelets and trapper keepers were in? ... Well, look no further!! I

The Zappos Book & CD exchange is here!! In the spirit of Core Values 5 & 8 ( Pursue Growth & Learning and Do More With Less) We have put bookshelves in the lunchroom & loaded them up with used books and music. The exchange works like this: bring in any books or music that you don't want anymore, put them on the shelves and if you see a book or disc that interests you, go ahead & take it! It's that simple. I'm a very avid reader & will often buy paperback books, only to have them pile up in my room after reading, here is the perfect outlet for those read books. It's a great way to save some many as well as pursue your musical & literary interest. So stop by the lunchroom & check out the shelves!!

Zappos is know for creating a little fun and weirdness around the office, and today was no exception. As a tribute to Oscar season, Zappos set up their very own Zappos Oscar. The lunchroom was decked out with a red carpet and bronze statues. All the employees were able walk the red carpet and take pictures just as if they were part of the Oscars.

Our very own Pink Gorilla worked the red carpet, discussing the event with everyone.

Ranked 23rd best company to work for by Fortune Magazine, where can we go next? Well, other than that number one spot! Zappos is slowly making a effort to green this company.

You have to start somewhere when changing a company, and I think Zappos is off to a good start. Just yesterday, with a mere $30 zollars, I purchased a stainless steel water bottle and Utensil set from the Zappos Zollar Store.

Taking it to the next level, Zappos is encouraging its employees to stop using plastic water bottles and plastic forks and spoons. It seems like yesterday when Zappos announced they would no longer provide the water bottle service that came almost once a week to fill our lunchroom with cases and cases of plastic water bottles. (I feel that was a huge step in the right direction, Kudos Zappos!!!!)

To encourage saving on plastics, Zappos provided free Zappos logo water bottles to every employee.

So, as part of the green tip of the day, I will keep you posted on all of Zappos's Green Efforts!

STAY GREEN, YO!

We have started a monthly dress up theme for each department in the warehouse. This month, the Content team chose to wear as much Zappos stuff as possible. We had some pretty creative ideas. Some people wore as many Zappos shirts as they could get their hands on. We had a pair of binoculars made from Zappos shot glasses. We had a lot of Zappos hats, some strategically placed Zappos ducks, some hand made creations including a zollar headband and artisically altered Zappos shirts. I took the Zappos card deck and pinned the cards on my jeans and put the Zappos car visor around my neck like a cape. We all had a great time creating some fun and weirdness in the Photo Studio!



Written By Jessica A!

The Lovely and Talented Angela and Vanessa Simmons visited our headquarters this week to talk about their sweet Shoe Line "Pastry". After talking Footwear all day we decided to give them a break and ask them some other questions. Check out the Video below!!

Linda shows us all the full things she has collected on her desk. How many purple items can you count?

The Content Team here at Zappos.com is gung ho about being Gung Ho, so now you're in the know, Joe! Sure, Zappos has their own set of core values, but the Content Team decided to come up with their own. It is important to have company wide core values, but they thought it was also important to have a more intimate set of values that related directly to the Content Team.

Here is what they came up with:

1. Bridge the gap through communication
2. Work with a sense of urgency
3. Take ownership and pride with integrity
4. Be committed to personal and company growth through continuous improvement
5. Work as a team with honesty and trust
6. Push the envelope and work towards the bigger picture
7. Exercise patience and empathy when dealing with others
8. Take your job seriously, not yourself
9. Encourage group growth through continuous education and sharing of knowledge
10. Strive to become your personal best by trying something new each day

Pretty cool, huh? What can be cooler than that, you ask? Well, they have been doing some pretty creative presentations on the different core values. Here is one that Miranda W., Kenny L., Vanessa S., Ash S., Dana B. and Jason Lee presented at the last Content meeting. Fear not, it's just the Zwilight Zone, but what if....

Not only is Rosie the Robot easy to use, she also talks and Brews coffee fresh for me and you!! If you're ever in the Zappos offices and need a quick pick me up, Rosie will be more than happy to help you out! She's located in the front lobby of 2280.

Check out these bloopers from the video description shoots!!!

Her shoes aren't tight because they're lace-up boots. They're tight because they need to be loosened up out on the dance floor.


You heard the man Casey, get these shoes to a club right away!

That's right, Tony and Aaron have been practicing their finger dancing skills for years now and well, they're pretty confident that they're the BEST finger dancers EVER!!!

If you think you can out finger dance Tony Hsieh, then post your video response on our YouTube channel.

My Mythology - Creating our own living legacy at Zappos.

One of the joys about working at Zappos is the freedom to be ourselves through our own personal style. Style shouts! Individuals identify themselves through their personal style. Taking the chaos out of the closet and using clothing as a celebration to create personal mythology or legend is something I have been fascinated by.

What is someone trying to say through their style?

Join me in the discovery. Each week I will take an employee from Zappos and find out their personal psychology through their favorite outfits.

Today we study the mythology of Mike F. : Merchandising Assistant 2 for Athletic Performance at Zappos.com.

Today, the magnificent Mike F. is rocking a vintage ski vest, Y-3 sneakers and his trademark tight jeans.

How would you define your look?
Classy yet crazy. Funky and frank.

What inspires your style?
I’d say mainly my friends. I like to take bits and pieces of what I see change it up a bit and make it my own.

Who is your favorite designer?
The late YSL designs have always caught my eye, if only I could afford it…

What fashion item would you never leave the house without? .
Bike, facial hair and a set of fingerless gloves.

Who are your fashion/style icons?
Brandon Boyd and Mr. Depp.

What are your favorite labels?
Corpus, American Apparel, Insight, Ted Baker and Marc Jacobs. I recently became obsessed with the Swedish style and their labels like Cheap Monday, Acne, and Uniformsforthededicated.

How would you define your mythology that you portray through your style?
I like to change up my style every now and then. I don’t like to feel one dimensional, I believe I can pull off any style, any piece. I often wipe my closet clean, keep the keepers and get rid of everything else and get a whole new look. My clothes often express how feel.

What is your favorite decade for style?
Most definitely the 80s

Fixed gear or free wheel?
I am a risky fella… Fixed!

What is your favorite fabric?
Is it wrong to say the good cotton?

Which watch?
I use to rock a watch I got from a lucky charms box for awhile… and them someone stole it!

What brand of denim do you prefer?
Cheap Monday!

What is your favorite color?
Red!

What item do you allow yourself to splurge on?
Shoes and socks.

Delirium Tremens or Pabst Blue Ribbon?
Even though I drink PBR 90% of the time I would much rather drink Delirium… if only it was a cheap as PBR :-/

Alexander McQueen or Vivienne Westwood?
Is this a trick question? I think I better say Vivienne…

Black tie, bow tie, skinny tie or bolo tie?
If I had more of them, I would wear a bow tie everyday!

Sunglasses?
I like them but I always lose/break them so I have completely lost hope with sunglasses.

Alexander McQueen or Vivienne Westwood?
I knew it was a trick question!

What are your fashion rules?
I try not to match. I do tend to break this often because it very easy to believe that you should match but I really don’t like to.

Man bags or man jewelry?
Man bags.

Cats or dogs?
Meow.

Argyles or paisleys?
Argyle.

Briefs or boxers?
I was boxer-briefs for awhile but I have recently switched to briefs for reasons not to be stated

Would set foot in a thrift store?
I’d have to say yes since it is basically the only stores I do shop in.

What is the best thing you’ve ever found at a thrift store?
Oh there is so many… The best stuff I have found has been furniture like my lamp on my nightstand, I can only describe it as amazing! Oh, just the other weekend I found some little bikes made out of beer cans.

What is the most you’ve ever spent on fashion and for what item?
I cannot recall a single item but I did spend over a $800.00 in my favorite store once.

Today we had a guest as Zapponian of the Day. Brett H. has not been around to do blogs lately, and now we know why. Apparently he has decided to take on a second career.

Love was in the air February 12th and 13th at the Zappos fulfillment center! The week before Valentine's day HR sold Candy Grams at $2 each. For only two dollars, you could have had a candy gram delivered to anyone in the warehouse by our very own cupids! The best part, besides everyone feeling loved, was the $407 dollars raised by the candy grams for the American Heart Association! Now that's Love Zappos! Special thanks to our cupids! You did an awesome job!

Grace likes to try to fill up every square inch of her wall space. Check out all her great pictures around her desk.

When people hear we work for Zappos, the most often asked question is "How may pairs of shoes do you own?" We decided to go around the office and see what we could find out.

Last week Zappos.com employees were able to participate in resistance training classes at the Las Vegas Headquarters! Resistance Training makes you less prone to Low-back injuries and decreases your resting blood pressure.

Along with resistance training, Other classes such as "Fit Fast Food" , "Stress Management" and "Holiday Eating" are being offered in the future. Here's a video of me "Rocking Out" with my band!!

You Heard right, Our 2280 office building has a Generator capable of powering the entire building in case of a power outage! Our very own Facilities team inspects it daily and runs it for 30 minutes once a week to ensure it is ready in case of an Emergency. Not only does this allow us to work if the electricity goes out, it also allows our customers to continue to place orders! If you're a fan of Chocolate Milk, you will also be happy to know that it will stay fresh and cold in the cooler if we happen to lose power! Bottoms up!

We let it flow at The Spoken Word . . .

One thing you can count on the second week following every Zappos Idol is The Spoken Word, where we invite you to be adventerous and creative, ignore those stage fright jitters, and let that voice and imagination shine. These chances to step on stage and be the people that we are, no mask, no wall, as we lay ourselves bare, demonstrate the mutual gifts that are passed between Zapponian and Zappos. Whether it was a story of sadness, reminding us of life’s fragility, or a famous piece advocating the virtues of our life and world, it was at The Spoken Word.

Someone once said that we represent the evolution of this company. More than that, this company represents an evolution within ourselves as these words transform from co-worker to friend to family. The Spoken Word and everyone representing the Book Club are proud to be a part of this evolution.

This week's Spoken Word saw a total of 16 performers filling out a time just shy of two hours. We are proud to announce, as we near the one year anniversary of The Spoken Word, that this week’s event saw two records. This was the first Spoken Word that saw no cancellations or last minute cases of the unbearable jitterbugs :^). We also saw, for the first time, three impromptu readers who, while on their lunch or break, were suddenly inspired to spring up and share with us on the spot! So, here’s a shout out to Marjorie L., Adrienne C., and Sean Paul, those audience members turned performers who did us proud and performed like they’d been signed up all along.

This week’s performances included:

• Pam G. read the lyrics to Mac Davis' “Biff, the Friendly Purple Bear”.
• Lauren C. read “The One Flaw in Women”, author unknown.
• Theresa S. shared a short moral tale about the fragility of life.
• Gina W. read “Phenomenal Woman” by Maya Angelou.
• Letha M. read “Friendship” by Khalil Gebron.
• Susi P. read “A Dream within a Dream” by Edgar Allen Poe.
• Tara M. read both “Forgiveness” by Barry Matlese and a poem she wrote herself.
• William B. read the “Desiderata” by Max Erhmann.
• Dave L. read the contents of an ice cream bar.
• Marjorie L. read “To Have and Too Old” by Richard Armour.
• Linda H. read three of her own poems, “Confessions”, “History in the Making,” (which was dedicated to her high school crush and another unknown.
• Sean Paul recited the song “Garden Grove” from Sublime.
• Pedro Dos S. read “Just Another Day Working with Will at the Rdesk” written by himself.
• Adrienne C. read “Perseverance” by Anne Stortz.
• Jarry “the Mayor” Tidmore read “Coming Home” by Mary Oliver and “Don't Quit” by an unknown author.
• Anastasia P. read “Caring Makes Us Human” by Troy Chapman.

Augusta is one of our most Loyal Team Members, and also has some very special plans for Valentines Day! She also has a couple questions of her own, which we will get to later. Hey Augusta, What do you have in that Vision Planner???

The Zappettes definitely spread the love on Thursday They were booked for 17 Valentine's inspirted rendetions dedicated to Zapponian's special friends, spouses, partners, co-workers, bosses and secret admirers. Love Songs included Mr. Sandman, Life Could Be a Dream and L-O-V-E. Sean M., from merchandise planning, was especially happy to have three lovely ladies singing to him!

The Zappettes sing for a donation of $5 to Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation. Love the Zappettes, they are powered by Singing!

Embrace And Drive Change, which is core value #2 here at Zappos.com, is very understood by Zappos employees, especially lately; There has been a lot of movin' & shakin' goin on around here lately!

The entire Merchandising area has made a move, and not to be outdone, the Delp Desk has moved as well! Throughout the past we were always located upstairs in 2280, and at the beginning of this week, we made the transition to the 'burbs by moving downstairs next to monkey row! The travel & services teams of the Help Desk are now all in one spot with our managers..... yipee!!

You can still locate our reception team at the front desks of both buildings, but should you need to find us at any time, look no further than monkey row! We look forward to seeing everyone soon :)

On Tuesday, February 10, we had our ice cream social for the whole KY content department. We as a team were challenged to each write an entry for the company culture book. Everyone had to write an entry in order to have the party. We all went around encouraging those who were unsure and helped them out if they needed it. At the end, almost everyone did do it. It was a great "building team and family spirit" experiment.

Luckily, because the turn out was SO CLOSE to 100%, we still had our parties!! B-shift had theirs after lunch time. The girls all sat around in a circle to have an "ice cream slumber party".

Theresa came up with that idea and she asked everyone to tell about their first real kiss. We found out some juicy stuff. Did you all know that Laura's lasted five hours?? And that Theresa can't stand to hear the word saliva?

We had great laughs while the boys of the group watched us from a distance, laughing and commenting to each other about the things we were talking about. Eventually some of them joined the girls group. We ended the party with everyone talking about astronomy and how to read our astrological birth charts. We went back to work with a sugar high that quickly crashed, causing us all to feel very sleepy.

Thanks to our managers who put this party together! What a great time!

Plush peeps! I couldn't work with those on my desk because I would constantly be wishing that they were the real things. Sugar covered marshmallows... mmmmmmm. Could it get any better than that? I think not. But then again I'm a peeps fan for life. But rumor has it that either you love 'em or you hate 'em, there's no in-between.

Thanks Jessica for sharing your desk with us today!

Jerry and Liz always try to create a little fun around the office for all their fellow Zapponians, as well as the guests that visit Zappos on a daily basis.

They recently brought their new pets to the office to share with everyone.

Today at the office we held our Zappos Spoken Word performances. This forum allows Zappos employees to show some of their own individual personality and interests by reading some of their own work, someone else's work, poetry, lyrics, monologues, improv, song, dance or any other art form they want to display for their peers.

The Spoken Word is held every two months, after Zappos Idol. Thank you for everyone who participated. Check out the clip from this months featured performer, Zappos very own "Mayor", Jerry T.

Hi Lovebirds!

Can’t think of a way to tell your special someone that you care for them? Have a friend that you think is the Cat’s Pajamas, but you haven’t been able to express it? All your problems will be solved by emailing Zappettes@zappos.com. The Zappettes will sing a song to your special friend, spouse, partner, coworker, boss, or secret admirer on Thursday, 2/12.

Love Songs to pick from:
Mr. Sandman
Life Could be a dream (sha boom)
L-O-V-E

They will be available to Zappos Employees tomorrow, Thursday, 2/12, to sing for a donation of $5 to Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation.

The Inside Zappos Blog team updates you on the breaking news around the office. This week, fruit loops and kittens wearing horseshoes. Oh yeah, and I hope you understand gibberish.

Account by Lynsey C.!

January 21st

5pm Touchdown, Salt Lake City, grab our bags and head to the taxi line. This taxi line has proven difficult in the past, so we’ll see this year. Last show, Andy and I received a reprimanding from the line coordinator on how to properly wait for a cab ;)

530 Checking in at Grand America; I love this hotel. Every afternoon you are greeted with warm chocolate chip cookies!! Over warm cookies we have a slight confusion on rooms and end up switching roommates to “do more with less, core value #7” and save good old Zappos an extra night hotel.

January 22nd

7am Wake up call

715 Reality check that it’s 29 degrees outside and I packed for more like 70 degrees. I knew it was cold, but just didn’t really think about it at 5am while packing the day before.. Confirm that Tara (New Yorker) totally packed for cold weather.

830 am Bump into Steve from Zappos on my way out of the hotel. Salt Lake City offers a great little tram that runs about every 10 minutes and will take you from just outside the hotel to the convention center. Well, 10 minutes in 29 degrees with a thin cotton hoodie and leggings sounds like frostbite.

9am While waiting at the booth to meet with Brad and Jerry, another Hi-Tec employee and myself get to chatting about Twitter. He follows Tony and quite a few other Zappos employees. We exchange Twitter names and are destined to Twitter to one another someday soon! Next, Meet with Hi Tec team. I’ve been asking for more pink additions to the girls offering of the kids’ line and this season they have it! We review their Magalog spot last year and discuss our options for 09’. Overall, great meeting and partnership.

10am Swing by Life is Good to grab a catalog for our apparel buyer, Holly. Jimmy Ho and I share a tear that I no longer will get to work with him on apparel and then immediately after make plans for beers later.

10:20am Check out White Sierra for apparel group. Dom schools us on the Good/Better/Great method of buying.: ) Head over to Hot Chillys booth with Dom to discover that he won Rep of the year!! Dom received a very nice plaque that he flashed off for a second as well as a glass paper weight (at least that’s what I think it was) with Chillys on it.

11am Check out Baffin and Bogs with Greg. After two years of buying cold weather boots I still can’t figure out what kid goes into 60 degrees below-zero-weather.

12pm Lunch, beat the sandwich line rush and stake out a spot on the floor. Next, Teva with Barney and Liz. WOW, fall product looks amazing! Get to talking about European exclusives and special color make ups for Zappos. End up meeting the design team and marketing team. Great people. Meet the guy that started the Teva Mt. games! Run over to Birkenstock to recap with Scott about our '09 plan. Everything is solid, so on to next appointment.

330pm Check out J-41 with Fred R. Women’s line; looks awesome, smaller kids SKU count but continues to evolve season to season.

4pm Walk the show for an hour while answering emails and recapping topics with Tara.

530pm Get ready for meeting with Fred and Steve.

6pm Recap meeting with entire Zappos team at show as well as our executive team. Great meeting!

715pm Wonderful dinner with Kamik team, shut down the Metropolitan (amazing service).

January 23rd

7am Rise and shine; wake up call

9am Kamik Team meeting. Product looks great, looking at two spots for Magalog next year. Also, talking exclusives with Dave and wide width snow boots!

12pm Keen meeting with executives and meet Tom. Great guy! Business is good and just wanted to focus on Magalog and marketing initiatives!

1pm Andy and Erika head over to Ahnu to check out kids line. I take off to say hello and thank you to some of our apparel vendors. Tag teaming!

2pm lunch!!! WAIT, Sorel and Columbia with Katie. Grab lunch and eat on the way! Columbia’s got pop colors. Love it and have been waiting for some fun colors and new shoe types.

2:45 Head over to Sorel. Line looks amazing.Logo changes and marketing initiatives are great. Toddler boots are great addition and overall, really stoked on everything we saw.

5pm Head to airport…..long story short; forget my wallet at Grand America, but soon is brought to me. All is well and on the plane home at 7:30 (delayed flight)

Our friendly help desk is always trying to come up with new ways to provide a fun atmosphere for everyone here at Zappos. In the spirit of Valentines Day, they decided to set up a "free hugs" area to brighten everyone's day.

Make sure you stop at the front lobby to pick up your free hug!

Zappos is awesome enough to provide us with free soup, salad and sandwiches every day, to which we are truly grateful!!

But, I must admit, sometimes we all get the urge to change it up and head to the nearest fast food joint.

But if your thinking of the environment, it is best to Home cook, Home Girl! (or Homeboy :) )

With fresh food, very little or no processing is involved. This minimizes the energy used to get it to your plate and reduces the cost to the environment.

In the US, it is estimated that as much as 30% of food gets wasted, adding up to 48.2 million pounds of food.

So next time you want to change it up, try home cooking and bringing your lunch to work.....and bring some for me, too!

STAY GREEN, YO!!

Each month our Customer Loyalty Team participates in activities that work on learning and living each of Zappos core values. This past month they participated in a piggy bank contest that incorporated core value #2 - "Embrace and Drive Change."

Each team built a bank, and then tried to see which team could collect the most change. All the money collected was donated to the Nevada Childhood Caner Foundation. Here is Lauren C. showing how her teams bank works.

If Letha M. had a coffee table here at work it would be filled with Prince books – but she doesn't – so she'll just have to use her desk for now.

Our Tall and Talented Jason M shows you how he does More with Less, in Episode 2 of this new series. All of our Video Descriptions are done in our Las Vegas Headquarters, and this video contains a little behind the scenes action as well!

When he's not Rocking the Phones in CLT, Ryan is a Videographer in his spare time. We wanted him to see what it was like to be on the other side of the camera for once, and we have to admit, He's pretty cool! Very nice Back Scratcher by the way, where do I get one of those?

I’m sure when many of us at Zappos hear the word socks, the first thing we think of is the things that go on your feet before your shoes. However, there is another lesser know type of SOX that is very important to all of us here at Zappos.

The Sarbanes – Oxley Act (SOX) was created in 2002 to protect investors from corporate accounting fraud in public companies. This act puts accounting standards in place to assure a company's investors that everything is on the up and up.

Being that Zappos is a private company, why does this affect us? Zappos is known for being open and honest with their employees, vendors, business partners, etc. and this is just another way of doing this. Even though the Zappos executives were not required to do so, they decided to early adopt this policy and make sure we are completely compliant with SOX. This provides confidence in our practices to anyone who is working for or with Zappos.

Our wonderful TLD teacher Devlyn teaches the class, and does a great job explaining how all of this affects many jobs here at Zappos on a day to day basis. She also makes it fun and exciting with games and trivia throughout the class. Remember, this class is part of the Zappos Pipeline core classes, so check out the class schedule on the wiki and sign up today, Zapponians!

For those of you who have not noticed all the excitement around the payroll office, payroll is changing over the way we get paid. We are going to a system of direct deposits or debit cards. Don't be concerned, our super payroll manager Deb has it all under control for a smooth transition.

We sat down with Deb this week to find out exactly what everyone can do to help with this transition.

Our finance was once again showed us their fun and wild side today, selecting two Zappos employees at random to give their Random Acts of Kindness award.

Surprised with the honor this week were Crystal C. and David C...... Way to show that spirit, Finance!

What appears to be a mound of trash on Chris P.'s desk really is a collection of wonderfully strange things. You may have to dig a bit in order to find these treasures, but hey, the good things in life don't come easy.

This week we are focusing on on Ms. Dorsey T.!

Dorsey has been at Zappos since February of 2007. Since coming to work at Zappos she has worn many different hats, you may have seen her recently baking cookies at 2290, or driving the shuttle bus!! These days, Dorsey makes her home at the front desk of the 2280 building as a receptionist and also the shuttle dispatcher.

If you ever need to know where any of us are at any time of the day, Dorsey can tell you!! I tried to get some info out of Dorsey, which was the equivalent of trying to get blood from a turnip :) So I'll go with what I got!! Dorsey has a single daughter who is 21 that she's willing to give away to the highest bidder :)

She loves handbags, and when i say loves I mean LOVES handbags, she has over 100 designer bags!! She says that she's older than she looks, but I'm not buying it!! Last, but not least, she loves true life crime stories; shows like CSI & NCIS. We at the help desk are so excited to have Dorsey back home!! Make sure to stop and say hi when you see her!!

It's a new year, so why not give everyone a new office view? Well, a good amount of teams here in the Zappos office are packing up their
things and moving to a different location in the office. It's kinda like one big game of musical desks.

Below is the first 30-second spot for the Zappos 2009 Ad Campaign!

We are very excited to roll out eight new TV spots (two 30-second spots and six 15-second spots) in 2009. In all of the spots, various people in their underwear "step into" a Zappos box, and, as they lift the box up and over them, they are magically clothed in gear from Zappos.

The upbeat music, funky graphics and fun performances of the people all combine to convey the culture of Zappos. This "Zappos-y" feeling is the heart of the spots, but the spots also send a clear message that Zappos now has a much wider selection — we sell clothes, bags, accessories and, of course, shoes. The Zappos box acts as a transformative element, transforming people's moods (it always feels good to Put a Little Zappos in Your Day!) and also transforming their style. The box literally dresses them from head to toe, showing a sample of the great clothes Zappos now carries.

The "Step Into Zappos" spots are an evolution of the spirit of last year's spot, "C'mon Get Zappy!" Both are based on the idea that Zappos brings a little happiness to your doorstep, and brightens your whole day. The Zappos box itself is the hero of both spots, with the power to transform people and bring a little magic. This year's spots take the concept a step further by specifically showing what we sell.

In all the spots, you'll also see the Zappos Core Values. All ten are woven into the commercials to further underscore the Zappos experience.

Our call to action remains — "Put A Little Zappos in Your Day!" Now that we carry so much more than shoes, people have more opportunities to put more Zappos in their days than ever!

Pat, our new blogger, has been blessed with the gift of being able to talk to shoes. See how Pat gives Rudy's new shoes a new attitude.

Nick V's team Nominated him for Employee of the Week for Many Reasons, one of which was for being a "Father Figure"? Not only does Nick head up the IT Department, he has also been working with Zappos since 2003. Check out the Video below for some additional Fun Facts about our Employee of the Week!

This is the first installment of our new "Do More with Less" Blog! Since Zappos introduced it's 10 Core Values to Employee's in 2006, we not only use them at work but most of us also use them in our everyday lives. The Blogs team has been going around the office to find employees that have Exuded Core Value #8, and Liz definitely Fits the Bill. Check it out Below!

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Every month the Customer Loyalty WOW team selects a new “Core Value of the Month”. For January that core value was Embrace and Drive Change. Well, befitting our witty group, we decided to take that core value quite literally and held a contest tasking each team with designing a piggy bank.

At the end of the allotted time a first, second and third place winner was chosen for the coolest and most original piggy banks. Don't think that these ultra-cool piggy banks were just for show, however, because a secondary contest was held to see who could fill up their piggy bank with the most change, to be donated to the Nevada Childhood Cancer Foundation. Thank you CLT, for showing that our generous spirit shines even in the midst of our fun. Now, on to the winners!

First Place – The Business Units (Rena Dotson's team) with the Couch Bank

Second Place – Jean Dunning's Team with the Jean's Bank (woo hoo, love the irony there)

Third Place – Noel Benoit's Team with the Ham Bank (looks yummy)

Charity Winner – Atrell Learson - Johnson's Team with a total of $26.68 donated to their piggy bank!

All of the piggy banks looked great and it was hard to pick the winners, but in the end we were all winners. Great job everyone!

So if your on your way to WSA, MAGIC, FFANY, Project, whatever show you head off to, try to use your badge holder from last year! (If you don't own a badge holder, Please save the one you do receive)

Trade Shows produce 10 MILLION pounds of waste.

I browsed a couple websites for info and found the energy consumed by trade shows is MASSIVE!!!

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, "Trade Shows and Conventions represent the second most wasteful industry in the United States".

So help the environment and Re-Use your badge this year and for the years to follow!

Stay Aware and Stay Green, YO!.

Thursday night was the 10th annual Economic Development Awards for the City of Henderson, which was held at the Lake Las Vegas Ritz Carlton. Many City Officials and Business Leaders were in attendance, as well as 20 Zappos Team members from the Henderson office.

The night spotlighted business throughout Henderson, NV that impacted the community during the year. There were three main categories that the awards were presented under: Business Excellence, Development Excellence and Personal Excellence.

Under the Personal Excellence category – Zappos was given the Private Sector Company of the year award. Henderson city manager, Mary Kay Peck and the Vice President of the Henderson Chamber of Commerce, Kirk Clausen presented the award to Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh.

In the past, the award was the Private Sector “Person” of the Year. However, as Kirk Clausen explained during the presentation, when they approached Tony a couple months ago about receiving the award, Tony said he would accept the award on the condition that it be an award that recognized the company and its employees.

If you thought you're desk had some random stuff on it, check out Mike F.'s plethora of stuff. Summer Sausage anyone?

Eleni D. in the Running Business Unit has created a sandwich that will not only Blow your Mind, but will also show you that Secret Ingredients should be shared!

This Totally Awesome Sandwich Consists of Wheat Bread, Turkey, Swiss Cheese, Lettuce, Mustard, Craisins(Secret Ingredient), Black Olives, Mayo, and Ham.
-Warm up the Meat
-Melt Cheese on top of meat
-Place Meat on top of Bread, then add Condiments
-Spread Craisins and Black Olives evenly across
Put it all together and there you have it!!

Ladies and Gentlemen……..”The Nee Nee!”

At Zappos, we not only love our customers, but we love small animals that live in the ground and predict future events. Here are a barrage of things about these delightful little beasts that you might not have known.

This past Thursday, February 28th, the City of Henderson honored Zappos at it's 10th annual Economic Development Awards. But was it the award that Zappos won or the fact that a group of us would be together, at a dinner table, having a good time, that was the real draw? To be sure, the Ritz-Carlton was beautiful, the food appetizing, and the band fantastic, but it soon became clear the real reason we were there was so we could find another reason to cut it up together. Don't we go to create fun and a little weirdness; to bring jeans to a suit party (except Alfred, of course) :) ?

The diversity of the group, names here, made for some great conversation and provided a wonderful opportunity for some of us to get to know our friends from other departments!

Gorgeous, but dangerous! Snow would be a lot more fun if it didn't also carry along with it downed power lines and trees. Tuesday was the start of it, and Wednesday might have been the worst of it. For half of the day on Wednesday the power was out here at the Zappos.com Warehouse in KY. Which left us a bit behind on orders, and people from different departments pitched in on Thursday to get orders picked and sent out to our awesome customers! :D

Getting to work was no fun; I personally wanted to give up when it took me almost 2 hours to clean my car off and get it out of my complex, but we were having the Fishery for lunch on Thursday! Who can miss that?!

Despite the danger and pain the storm caused, it leaves some beautiful sites to behold. Many people from our Photo Department took pictures. Here are a few of mine. Hope everyone is safe and warm today!

Pictures and Blog by Lisa M!