We are beginning a new series here in Zappos Blog world: Zapponian of the Day! For our first entry, we have chosen to speak with Shanda F. from our awesome Content Team.

They handle all of the elements that you see on any given Product Page-Every element on this page, from the image to the description, comes from them! http://www.zappos.com/n/p/p/7426296/c/45998.html

Here is our interview with the one they call Shanda. Shanda has two cats. Kevin and Kyle. They were not featured in this interview because, well, they're cats.

Jacob P. from the HR department has developed quite the canned food collection on his desk and he has no idea who's responsible for this. He thinks it may have something to do with the potato incident a few years back...but he's not quite sure. Hopefully he'll get to the bottom of this before his desk gets confiscated by canned food!

I know most people think that we're ALL fun and games here at the Zappos Office, but truth be told, we work a lot harder than we play. (sometimes)

Check out how Zappos rewards its hard workers in Buying and Merchandising with the Trifecta award Hall of Fame!

Even in an office of over 900 employees, birthdays don't go unnoticed – mainly because birthday celebrations = free cake for the department, if not the entire office. So HAPPY BIRTHDAY Laura L.! And thank you HR department for the lovely red velvet cake!

Bigfoot has been spotted in Henderson, NV, and our reporter in the field, Melissa L., brings you this story.

We're appreciated! Or do we appreciate them more? Lets just meet in the middle and say that the employees here at Zappos.com and the owners of our beautiful (and free) coffee machine that sits next to the grand entrance to the Zappos headquarters - Express Oh! - appreciate each other! Today Maria and Mick Baily wanted to show the employees how much they love working with us - and lets face it, spoil us more than they do already - by making iced coffee, lattes, mochas, etc. in the lobby.


On a hot day like today, we definitely appreciate their appreciation! Thanks Maria and Mick!

Free lunch is always something to write home about, but free breakfast, now that's something to sing about! Today we're celebrating Breakfast All Day, Day at Zappos.com.

I'm sure some of you might be wondering what the colorful booth that is sitting up stairs in the 2280 building is for. You know, the booth that kind of resembles a lemonade stand or a kissing booth at a small town fair. Well, that booth is one of the many reasons why we LOVE our HR department here at Zappos.com. Not only do they do all the dirty work that most of us wouldn't want to do - such as dealing with important employee information - but they make sure that they are easily accessible twice a day for any questions that any employee here at Zappos may have.

Here's an example of questions or concerns you can have answered at the HR Lucy Booth:

• I moved. What form should I fill in order to update my records?
• How can I change my 401 plan?
• Can you tell me tell me more information about our benefits?
• Any questions involving employee relations.
• Any suggestions (such as more Items in the Collier Store)
• Recruiting employees
• How to nominate a coworker for the "Coworker Bonus."

And that's just to name a few. Basically, our wonderful HR representatives that sits in the Lucy Booth have the answers to just about everything, and for the questions that they can't answer they can point you to someone who can.

So Visit the HR Lucy Booth, because let's face it, it's a lot easier and less awkward than walking all the way over to the 2300 office.

Galen H., Director of Casual Lifestyle and a Zappos Icon, celebrates his birthday on this fine August 13th!

Galen has been with Zappos in the Merchandising Department since January of 2004 has been a jack of all trades in times of need, even jumping in and managing our Customer Loyalty Department for a year when he was called to duty! On a side note, Galen is the most sharp dressed man at Zappos (next to Chris P., that is)

Galen's team presented him with a birthday cake(s) in appreciation!

Galen has spent years dedicating his life to helping the customer, the employees and the partners of Zappos.com, and for that, on your birthday.....We Salute You, Good Sir!

As I was jogging last night, I came across a new friend named Chuck and liked him so much, I decided to invite him to come work at Zappos for the day. Melissa and I showed him around, gave him a desk and saw him off.


We ran into a few issues because, as you might be able to tell, Chuck is an inanimate object. But he did his very best! We're proud of you, Chuck!

This ruthless challenge between Tiffany G. and Stephanie S. all started last week with two packs of Pop-Rocks and Coca-Cola:

"What do you do when your parents send you a birthday package full of candy?? You share it with your coworkers. What do you do when others realize 2 packs of Pop Rocks are in this collection of candy? You allow them (Dave aka "EL IT" and Stephanie aka "Sims") to talk you into testing out an urban legend...downing Pop Rocks with a popular soft drink that comes in a shiny red can. If you turn up the volume, you can really hear the Pop Rocks crackling"

Well, the competition continues this week with the ultimate Pixie stick chugging challenge! Here's how the game's played, the competitors take a shot of the ever so popular powdered candy and then chug a coke as quickly as possible. Sounds simple right? Well rumor has it that pixie stick powder and coke don't mix as well as cookies and milk...hope nothing comes up in the middle of this one.

Lets see who's the victor of this week's challenge.


Stephanie Sims, you are one hard core pixie pixie chugging, coke drinking, crazy lady! Tiffany, you too are crazy, but better luck in next week's candy/coke competition.

Melissa, our newest blogger here in Zappos land, was surprised today by a healthy helping of cottage cheese waiting for her on her keyboard when she got back to her desk after lunch. This may seem like a prank, but it was actually just a gift from her friend, Kris K., another wild and crazy person from the land of Zappos. Here is a visual representation of her post-lunch surprise.

This is her reaction....very happy indeed.

Melissa will return the favor to Kris in due time; you can bet on it!

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!

The internet doesn't sleep, so why should we? This well-oiled machine known as Zappos.com is powered by more than just service - it's powered by coffee! Really, there is an accessible coffee machine at least every 100 feet inside the office and for those who feel like kicking it up a notch there's, America's Best Gourmet Coffee, parked (yes, literally parked) in front of the office, at least for a few hours, every weekday!

This traveling cup o' joe mobile is no joke. Co-Founder and Barista, Allen White, heads this one man coffee stand outside the Zappos Headquarters rain or shine (even during the unbearably hot summer months). America's Best Gourmet Coffee truck gets it's brewing and blending power from one generator and 16 battery packs! That's a lot of portable power for one beverage, but an Ice blended mocha on a hot Summer day is worth every watt.

Allen's favorite drink to make just so happens to be the favorite among the Zappos employees and that is the Kona Mocha (Kona espresso, blended chocolate, milk, and topped with whipped cream) - yummy!!!.

Now, because I haven't had a cup of coffee from every coffee house in America, I can't say that America's Best Gourmet Coffee really is America's Best, but I can say that it is definitely Zappos' best coffee!

It's raining...no, it's a hurricane outside!

Just as Christina E. and I walked outside to cover yet another exciting bit about the amazing people that help make life here at the Zappos Headquarters great, it started to rain. I know most of you are thinking big whoop: it's rain, it's a natural thing, it happens, and for you to be amazed right now is kind of like being dumbfounded by birds flying. However, when I say rain, I mean a vicious thundershower with rain drops the size of small dogs followed by pea-sized bits of hail moving fast enough to leave a good mark or at least make you say "ouch".

Good thing we had a camera with us, because nothing's funnier than watching the shock and horror on co-workers faces when they find out that it is raining outside followed by them making a make a mad dash for their cars (who knows, maybe they left their windows open...oops!)