It's that time of year--time to think about what you are thankful for. Last week we went out and about the Zappos FC and asked people what they are thankful for. We had a very similar response across the board....family. We all have a lot of reasons to be thankful and our Zappos family is definitely one of those reasons as well! Oh, and of course., in true Kentucky tradition, we found this answer as well:

The Zappos Outlet Store set a record of $500,000 in sales for the month of October, and celebrated this week with a surprise team party on Wednesday, November 11th. The team was treated to breakfast from Panera Bread, as the managers dressed in 70's costumes, presented each team member with Stress Relief Kits and gift certificates to the store, all to the theme of Kool and the Gang's "Celebration!".

Sue Maurer, Outlet Assistant Manager, commented on how awesome the team has been at displaying Core Value #2: Embrace and Drive Change

"The Outlet Store has been transformed since August with the help of our Fulfillment Center friends! We have increased our display capacity on the sales floor and our back stock area by at least 30%. We have also changed our pricing structure and have increased our marketing efforts in order to pump up the volume of our sales. Our team has definitely driven and embraced the many changes that have come our way over the past few months and their dedication has paid off in a big way! Special thanks to our fellow team members in Finance, IT, Maintenance, and all of the people in the FC who have helped us with their expertise!"

Myra and Mica, our 2 favorite junior fashion bloggers tell us about 4 new western style boots that are all made for walkin! From cool brands like Diesel, Mia , Boutique 9 and Steve Madden, you're sure to turn some heads. Stay tuned for more cool trends !

If you've had a chance to take take a peek at our Core Values, toured our Offices or Warehouse, or seen any of our Videos, you already know Zappos is unlike any other company. We filmed this video to show to our New Hire groups when Tony, Fred and Alfred are out of the office. Although I wish it was used more, I'm happy to say that Alfred, Tony and Fred have yet to miss an opportunity to talk to a new hire class since the video was made more than 6 months ago!

It's our favorite time of the year, Halloween costume contest season!
Which Costume is your favorite?

http://www.cbs.com/daytime/lets_make_a_deal/video/?vs=Full%20Episodes

Remember when we told you our HR team participated in a game show? The episode of "Lets make a deal" aired yesterday and is on CBS.com all day today. Click the link above and watch Altovise and the rest of our HR team today! Altovise and the rest of our awesome Human "Resourcers" appear at the 15:00 minute mark!

It's officially peak season here at the Zappos Fulfillment Center, and peak season= craziness. But of course we have some AWESOME Zapponians that will step up and get the job done. We want to highlight our rockin' Receiving Department and all of their hard work as they kick off the peak season. They truly are superheroes. Great job you guys!

This past Saturday was "Make a Difference Day," where millions around the world volunteer and help others. The Goodie Two Shoes Foundation is an organization that provides disadvantaged children with new shoes and other supplies that they cannot afford. Goodie Two Shoes has several events throughout the year, but this is their annual event which is the largest of the year. During this year's event,
they gave shoes, socks and backpacks to over 1500 children in Las Vegas.

Goodie Two Shoes is a charity that Zappos has been working with to help provide shoes for their organization. Several Zappos employees volunteered at the event, as well as several hundred others from several companies throughout Las Vegas.

This week the Customer Loyalty Team graduated the newest class into the call center from incubation. Right after the initial four week new hire training class, all new members to the customer loyalty team go through a three week incubation period. During this time, they go through more training on policies and procedures, and gain the necessary skills needed to give our customers the very best service possible.

This training period also gives new employees a chance to learn and be a part of the Zappos culture. Here are some of the newest graduates talking about what their experience has been like at Zappos since they started.

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!

This past weekend we had a rockin' good time at the KY FC Zappos Fall Festival. HR did a great job of putting this event together. The festival was at the zoo and we had food, slammin' music, a baking contest, inflatables, and tons of other family-friendly activities. We loved it and had a great time. Thank you, HR!

September 24th marked our 2 year anniversary of our 6PM acquisition from Ebags. 6Pm sits upstairs in our main headquarters with their own Customer Service, Design, Merchandising as well as several other dedicated departments that work strictly on 6Pm projects. The 6Pm team invited all of us up to their area for Hot Dogs and Rockband, as well as 6PM trivia. Noel C. tells us more about this week's birthday festivities!

This week, Zappos.com was named the Best Large Company to Work For in Southern Nevada for 2009. This award is given out yearly by the Southern Nevada Human Resources Association. This is the eighth year the award has been given out, and the second year in a row Zappos has won.

In previous years, the "Best Places to Work" awards have been used to recognize top Southern Nevada employers for innovative human resource practices and programs. This year was changed slightly to help recognize the businesses that have incorporated innovative ways to survive the tough economic times we are going through. This year, the award was named "Best Places to Work - Surviving Tough Economic Times."

Congratulations Zappos, as well as all the other business in Southern Nevada that have worked hard to make their businesses great places to work.

Our Cruise Ship operators were hard at work this week holding events to celebrate Customer Service Week for Zappos employees, and on Tuesday, the magic of Green Screen technology graced our lunch room. I'll let them explain!

The first week of October is national Customer Service Week. Each year during this time, Zappos plans a lot of fun activities to recognize employees for a job well done. To kick off customer service week, we had an Oktoberfest carnival here at the Zappos office. With carnival games and some great tasting food, this was a great start to an entire week of fun.

Each day this week, we are going to have some fun and exciting things going on around the Zappos office. More craziness to come...