I know I am not alone when I say we have the most awesome Employee Handbook ever, yessir.

From the interviews of our Fulfillment Center and Monkey Row, to the breakdown of benefits and "How to Play Nice", the staff really outdid themselves. I would like to thank everyone who contributed to this amazing extension of our culture!

On Wednesday, July 8, 2009, it was a time for play. For those of you that missed out, our managers took the time to put together an employee appreciation day just for us. The managers not only participated in the activities on their shift, but also took the time to participate in the festivities of the opposite shift as well.

We were called to the zafe area a little after start-up, where Anthony V. announced we were going to have two hours of fun and games for the first employee appreciation day held at the new warehouse. We were then herded to the side door and greeted with chicken and pork chops. This was not only wonderful because it was such great food, but also because it was soup, salad and sandwich day.

There were plenty of activities to participate in. We had our blow-up obstacle course along with a blow-up rock wall. If you didn't want to play in either of them, you could participate in karaoke, dodge ball, limbo, sack races, shoe toss or the money box.

This was the first time I have witnessed an event held at Zappos in which everyone got together and got paid to play and have fun. It was a pretty amazing day at the fulfillment center. I definitely felt the positive team and family spirit. I, along with the rest of our team, would like to give a BIG thank you to all of our managers here at Zappos!

-Erin S.

Here at Zappos, our KY Content coordinates monthly team-building activities to Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit. We are quite the large group, but we go above and beyond to try to stay close to one another despite this fact! Events have included cupcake-eating contests, water balloon fights, cornhole tournaments, extreme Jenga and cream-pie Supervisor target practice...among many others.

When my turn came up to coordinate a team building exercise, I decided to try and do something a little different. I have played guitar for many years, so, with that in mind, I decided to serenade my co-workers and grace them with the gift of song.

So we decided to have a sing-along with the entire department. Basically, I picked a few songs that I think everyone knows (plus a couple of my personal favorites), put together a set list - ranging from Johnny Cash to The Smiths - brought in my acoustic guitar, handed out lyric sheets and gave it a go.

The audience was receptive and sang the words right back at me...so, all in all, this was a success! If anything, I think I did manage to do something that was memorable considering all of the random, amusing things that occur here pretty much on a daily basis.



written by: Alex M.
photos by: Lynn G.

In order to keep Zappos a great place to work, employees continue to find ways to live our core values.One of our 10 core values is #7: "Build a positive team and family spirit." The Kentucky Fulfillment Center came up with a culture baton to represent this.

The objective of passing this CV #7 culture baton was to get to know some of our co-workers a little better. Split Shift was given the opportunity to invite another group in the KYFC to enjoy some good ol' hospitality! When you think of a family gathering, what comes to mind - FOOD! That's always my favorite part about 'em!

So, in the passing of our baton, and building a Team and Family Spirit, the group decided to bring in desserts to enjoy with the PM Part-timers. Cakes, cookies and more. Boy, they were super delicious, too!

We ended the gathering by inviting them into our family portrait, which is now posted on our "Important Stuff" board for all to see!



written by: Amber L.

In the Photo Dept in KYFC we have a team meeting once a month. It was my turn to shine and make a team building exercise and do something extraordinarily awesome. For my first time at a team building exercise, it went well. The best part was shoving some pies into a few of our supervisor’s faces. That alone, made everyone very happy.

It all started with a game I created called “Chain Letter.” The objective: Good communication. How it starts- Two supervisors on each end of a line with team members in between. The first supervisor relays a message down the line of people that had to be acted out by the supervisor at the end of that line. Out of four teams, only one was victorious. That team was the Queens. The winning team took a pie and put in the faces of all the supervisors that were on the not so lucky remaining teams. This was where the fun began!

We gave our Supervisors their attire, including shower caps and garbage bags, sat them down in a chair and took turns smashing whip cream pies in their faces. Everyone had a blast, even the ones who received the onslaught of warm whip cream gooeyness.

This just goes to show that no matter the situation, either winning or losing, it’s all about making it a fun and everlasting experience here at Zappos.

written by: Steven T.

"Lacy is a Production Coordinator in the Photo Department at the KY Fulfillment Center in Shepherdsville, KY. Over the past 2 years, she has built a vast collection of various items that sets her desk apart from everyone around her (including a Spider Man Mr. Potato Head that I gave her). Take a minute out of your day and check it out.

blog and video by: Jordan S.

The Imaging team in KY is always trying to come up with ways to make the day even more fun than it already is! So with all of our Photoshop skills, I decided to start having Photoshop Challenges. The first one was in October and had a Halloween theme. We had such a great response that I decided to do another one this month for Christmas. I give the Imaging team and a few fellow Photo folks 2-3 days to make an 11” x 17’’ poster using 10 out of 20 images that I provide them, only using Photoshop and having at least one word of text. Then I have 10-12 random Photo team members pick their favorite design and the winner gets 100 Zollars and their poster printed for all to see. These challenges help us keep up on our skills and give us a creative way to showcase our talents and believe me we have a lot of them. Check out our December Photoshop Challenge winner below!



Photoshop Challenge Winner is Lisa M.

Written By Erin R.

Nothing puts a smile on your face or a chill down your spine like a Jack-O-Lantern. In the spirit of Halloween, our Creative Service and Couture team took a field trip to the "pumpkin patch" then brought their prized pumpkins back to the office for the carvin'!

Thanks CS for bumping the festivity level up a notch and for bringing the wonderful, yet strange, smell of pumpkin to the office!

Yesterday, one of our Facilities heroes, Richard D., came to me and informed me that he had a Mardi-Gras parade-type head thing that was in his garage, and he needed to get rid of it. He warned me that it's very, very big, but, of course, I accepted this fine offer. (We are quite the scavengers in this department)

This thing is awesome beyond belief. It is huge, yellow and made of Fiberglass, with a baseball helmet mounted inside to allow you to wear it around. We believe that it needs to be a nice Zappos blue, but we're still trying to come up with a game plan for it's future incarnations. John F. in CS is on it, he is the creative genius behind many of our projects.

Below, Sean C. models this fine machine for us.

Zapponians are real people with real appetites and they sometimes venture out of the office to feed on many a delicious dish.

Even though Zappos spoils their employees with a free salad and sandwich bar daily along with soup and snacks beyond belief, some days eating outside of the office is great too!


What ever would we do without the wonderful strip mall across the street from the Zappos.com Headquarters!?!

(Editor's note: Brett H. has been trying to win a rubber bouncy ball with tentacles in the claw machine in the grocery store for 1.5 years now. He's beginning to get discouraged.

Lynn S., our User Experience Manager, also know as 'Gumbi', has come up with a new method to vent frustration at the office at week's end. She builds clay respresentations of things, and then smashes them. Seems reasonable.


(Important to note: We date ourselves very badly with all of the Mr. Bill references.)

Is it a bird, is it a plane? No Wait...it's WALKEN! ..And he's here to save the day!?

So, it isn't as exciting as Bigfoot, but come on already! It's still awesome!

He came in flashing his smooth moves with his Zappos super hero gear on! I think he was having somewhat of a bad hair day as well? Maybe? The new super hero theme we got going on here at Zappos is pretty fun! We all get to pick a Super Hero name to get on our badges. Since the employees are the heroes, the supervisors and managers are our sidekicks! Being a sidekick here at Zappos, means your employees get to pick your new name! Muhahaahahah! I love it!



Super Heroes are so sophisticated.

Written by Christina Y. AKA Monster Yammo

For those of you who didn't notice the new wraps on our company cars you need to take a field trip to the parking lot outside 2280 and check 'em out! There's only one word to describe these new whimsical graphics, and that is WOW! The new graphics are a wonderful display of the overall light-hearted spirit that is Zappos.com.

Thanks to our Creative Service Design Team!

Oh Kelly girl, are friend and commadre, has moved on down the line. Kelly's last day at Zappos.com was on Friday, and she will be missed! Kelly singlehandedly held Creative Services together, booking meetings, hotels, flights, ordered office supplies and everything else you can imagine. We are not sure how we are going to exist without her, but she was very helpful and, without her, holding down calendars and and meetings might get challenging. But she instructed us well!

On her last day, we had quite a celebration in her honor! Four huge 30' pizzas from Napoli's, cupcakes from the CupCakery, flowers and a few drinks at our constant hang out, Claim Jumpers, on Green Valley Parkway.

Kelly has been an amazing help for the entire department, and we wish her the best in the future!

It all started one day when:

Erin R. of Sheboygan Wisconsin, claimed she had never tasted fried bologna. Being a friend to her, I knew this was a shame. Her fanatical love for hot dogs was well known to all, and being that this landed in the same mystery meat class, I knew she'd love it.

The following day happened to be a Friday. I made sure to bring enough sandwiches for everyone, cut in small triangles for convenience. I wasn't in the least bit nervous about how the first-timers feel about it.

The food was a BIG hit. Thus, creating the bi-weekly tradition of Fried Bologna Friday.

Written by Jessica T.

Kyle loves him some fried bologna Friday's! Even the heartburn that comes with it!