Howzit, faithful followers?!

I really hated to title this latest HR / Training pulsating post as I did, (waaaay too many ABBA references his week for some reason), but what choice did I have??? Feast your ogling ojos on this:


That’s Zappos HR’s very own ninja prom queen, Heaven “Heavenless” T. showing us what she’s got. ‘nuff said.

Oh wait, that’s not true!! I also managed to score a pic of Jamstar’s recent glittering gift from one of her joie de vivre vendors:



Perhaps coming to a Zollar Store near you!! Sweeeeeet……

Some parting notes!

Jobs@zappos! Come getcha some!

Special thanks to Tony “Gender Bender” H., Zappos CEO, for letting me post Heaven’s performance here, instead of snatching it from my archives for his own sinister purposes, and waiting ever so patiently for me to get it out. Yer the best Tony. Love ya. Mean it.

Coming Soon!
-How HR’s Monthly Outing literally rocked! (promise this one’s coming really soon)
-An update from Training! (sorry, really needed to get Heaven’s routine up!)
-Zappos.com: Powered by Hope! (and another Dancing Queen!!)
-Random Rozzy Thoughts! (building anticipation…it’ll be worth it!)
-The Benches Are Here!!!!! (or, “Why We Love Rozzy and Rebecca L.!”)
-What’s all this about Twitter, then?!!

Until we meet again, “Yes! A brain transplant!...I don’t need it; take my brain!”
~drroo
(follow me on twitter!)

Item!
Have any ideas on how this crazy, kooky thing we call a blog could evolve? They don’t even need to be good ones! Have a burning question, or a need to wax philosophical? Need some sage advice? I’m here for you, citizens of the intarweb, and my sustenance is your comments!!!

Eric is with our Human Resources team and he is the recruiter for my department, Creative Services. Today was his birthday and our Web Producers, the people who code the webpages that you see and hopefully buy stuff from, surprised him by wearing special t-shirts that had his picture centered in a star and the faces of all the web producers around him. Eric was right in the middle of working with an interviewee and oh boy, we must have certainly made an impression on him! Several of us joked to him that everyday is like this!


Seriously, Eric does super job finding new people for us - they not only have to have the technical skills but also have to fit into our unique culture and embrace our core values. It's not a one or the other, but both, and in good measure. And yes, we're hiring. Please consider joining us! (Psssst, today's free onsite lunch is BBQ!)

Salutations, rapturous readers! I hope this merry missive from yours truly finds you reasonably chirpy! There was no wayI could let the week come to an end without one last update, as there was a boat-load of stuff that happened in Zappos.com's HR and Training teams since last we spoke!

So much culture, so little time…

Much of that boat-load had something to do with Jamie N., Zappos' resident Cruise Ship Coordinator! Also called “JamStar!” by those who know her best, she creates and coordinates myriad and momentous employee-related events, activities, and programs…kind of like Julie from the Love Boat, but without that 80's perm and with a bit more of an edge.

Our 4th Annual Zappos Employee Picnic was the largest to date, and ridiculously successful…


The calm before the crazy.

Kris Z. and Angela M. realizing they’re clearly outclassed. (Not that there’s anything classy about Bryan T.’s utter abandonment of all civility…)

L to R: Steve P., Mark G., Steve H., Fred M., Meghan B., and Eileen L. Winners of the Team Challenge!

...and JamStar just couldn’t resist making some mischief along the way:

“Ever since HR’s very own Dave H. won the typing contest, there have been vicious rumors aboutHR rigging results. Some of us decided to fight back. We held a raffle at the picnic, drew the winners yesterday, and sent the following email:

---

Congratulations to the following folks lucky enough to win a prize in the Picnic Raffle:

• 1 Play Station 3 (Valued at $400) = Dave W. from HR
• 1 Stainless Barbeque Grill Station (Valued at $200) = Drew K. from HR
• 2 Flip Video Camera (Valued at $155 each) = Rebecca R. and Hollie D. from HR
• 1 Espresso Coffee Maker (Valued at $100) = Christa F. from HR
• 2 Polaroid Digital Camera (Valued at $90 each) = Jacob P. and Rosalind S. from HR
• 1 Margarita Madness Machine (Valued at $80) = Eric V. from HR
• 1 Shell Gift Card (Valued at $50) = Heaven T. from HR

Wow, it looks like HR really swept the grand prizes. Luck of the draw I guess.

---

“Phones started to ring, inboxes started to blow up. It was great! Just some of the comments: Cheaters!...Jamie, that's statistically a little suspicious…this is gonna really upset people that everyone in HR won and no one else, wow…rofl!...You should send a follow-up picture of HR loading everything into someone's trunk.

“We let the team off the hook and sent the list of the real winners out. This caused another flood of emails: THAT WAS GREAT!!!... You guys are too much!... Here we all were with out mouths agape, when we got your second email…You punks!... You should have heard the grumbling goin on over here!!... Nice trick. LOL”

PS: For those of you questioning whether Dave H. actually won the typing contest last week, he's happy to go mano a mano with anyone doubting his skills. You name the time and place.

Meanwhile, the trail-blazing Training team was having an out of this world Las Vegas Encounter! Super Trainer,
Adrienne “Abductee” C. probes into greater detail for us: “Remember the exchange student program in high school? Zappos does! Every 3 weeks or so, we fly 5-10 employees from the fulfillment center (our warehouse) in Shepherdsville, Kentucky out to Vegas, put them up at the local Station Casinos hotel, and give them rental cars to run wild around town!

“They spend a week with us in our corporate office learning how the ‘other side’ lives and works. They visit
different departments and get to do some hands on stuff. Before this group left to go home, they wanted to do a parade around the office. You know how much we love parades!http://blogs.zappos.com/!!

“Sharing their Kentucky-ness by bringing the Derby to us Vegans!"

“A Vegas trip isn’t complete without visiting the sign!”

Some parting notes: Jobs@zappos! For all my friends!

Have any ideas on how this crazy, kooky thing we call a blog could evolve? They don’t even need to be good ones! Have a burning question, or a need to wax philosophical? Need some sage advice? I’m here for you, citizens of the interweb!

Coming Soon:

• How HR’s Monthly Outing Literally Rocked!
• Random Rozzy Thoughts (yer gonna love this)
• The Benches Are Here!!!!! (or, “Why We Love Rozzy and Rebecca L.”)

Catch y’all on the flip side, and remember: “We gotta find that troll!”
~Ddroo!

Welcome to the very first pulse-pounding post from Zappos.com’s HR and Training departments! For all you feverish fans out there, this is the place to learn about the activities, events, and just plain wackadoo things that we do, straight from the source!

So without further ado, let’s get to it!

From Shannon “Shanadoo” R., one of our truly amazing Recruiting Assistants:

“Early one morning, while pondering the state of the world, Eric, Jacob and I bantered back and forth about holding a company-wide typing contest. The more we talked, the grander the plans became….and the more real! Soon the call went out to all Las Vegas Zappos.com employees:

So Your Momma Can't Dance and Your Daddy Can't Rock & Roll---But CAN YOU TYPE?! Thus, the first ever typing competition becomes a reality!"
Below is a video account of our first ever typing contest!

In other news, Training Manager, Rachael B., has a weird thing for bubbles. I sit facing her and I can tell you I’ve never seen anyone sooo excited over bubbles. My phone and desk are permanently encrusted with bubble residue. To share her bizarre fascination with the rest of the company, she got HR and Training together and a Bubble Parade was born! In true Zappos (and HR / Training) fashion, wackiness ensued…

Here’s the bubble head herself, the lovely Rachael B, in the midst of the parade!


HR and Training in full bubble regalia. ‘Nuff said.


Some parting notes:

What makes Recruiting blow milk out their collective nose:

Coming Soon:
-Zappos.com Annual Employee Picnic! (oooh…)
-HR’s Monthly Outing! (ah….)
-And, Random Rozzy Thoughts!! (wha…???)

Oh, and we’re hiring!!!

Hello from your Kentucky HR team!!

We decided to celebrate the Friday before Easter in style.... comfortable style that is. We dressed in our finest pajamas and broke out the easter egg dye! The outcome were some very creative and fancy looking eggs and a very laid back HR group!

Remember yesterday's epic St. Patrick's day dance performance by our HR department? Well when they were done dancing, they announced that they would be having HR reps available for a chat, Q&A, counseling or even a vent session for the rest of this week. I swung by to have a look see and I was not disappointed. They had set up a booth with sides, a header board and funny signage. On the left, the pink letters X'ed out spell out "Kissing" and on the right the Lemonade is X'ed out and yes, the "C" is intentionally backward in "ADVICE." This is classic Zappos.

While I was there, one fellow came up to the booth, tugged his t-shirt up a bit to cover his face and then related some of the concerns his "friend" was having about some of the changes from all the growth here. Dave (pictured below) and Erica, both from HR, took the question by the horns and the masked man seemed to be satisfied. I wonder what the rest of the week will bring?

Here's Rosanna from our IT Department with "Doctor" Dave from HR.

We had a lot going on here today for St. Patrick's Day. Our Merchandising Assistant 1 Class organized a scavenger hunt with clues scattered around the building. People received a "Wee Shamrock Slip O'Paper" with instructions and they had to follow the clues and get all 10 questions right. Get any one of the questions wrong and you were stuck until you got it right. This fellow won!



Kris won a treasure box filled with golden wrapped chocolates and 50 Zollars prize "money."

We had free brownies in the lunch room courtesy of our Facilities Department - mmm frozen yogurt brownie sundae! In our Customer Loyalty Department some leprechauns were on the loose going up and down the rows with baskets full of four leaf clovers. Our CLT Reps would pick a clover and they'd find a surprise on the other side!

And we had a surprise dance number by our HR Department. Only video will do them justice so here it is!
(Sorry there is no audio track)

Besides adding a bit of green fun, they announced a week of open, walkup sessions with HR reps. This gives everyone an opportunity to not only get to know our HR group - a very nice and fun group of people who have no shame - but also to ask questions and discuss concerns. After events like this, people just seem more approachable. Go Green!