At Zappos we have a very unique culture where each team and/or department is responsible for creating their own environment. By environment, we mean our surroundings…our home away from home…the place that we live and breathe Zappos.

While it's unheard of in most companies, at Zappos we tend to think it breathes a little life into what could otherwise be very drab and dreary office walls. Plus, it’s kinda fun!

So, what’s the marketing theme? Hint: Save the Customer, Save the World.

Okay, you’ve got it! Heroes! Here’s a quick introduction to a few of the heroes in the marketing department and what they think their superpowers are:

Fletch, the Investigative Reporter (aka Andy)
Super Shopping Woman (aka Ashley)
Guitar Hero (aka Brian)
Ultimate Multi-Tasker (aka Britni)
Search Sensei (aka Darrin)
Fairy Godmother (aka Holly)
Kristaman, does what the Kristaman can do (aka Krista)
Rapid Reader/ Predicting the Future (aka Libby)
Bionic Woman (aka Linda)
Keeper of Time (aka Michelle)
Donatello’s Voice of Reason (aka Mig)
Mandal Man (aka Ned)
Flying Wonder Woman (aka Rachel)
El Sonador - The Dreamer (aka Robert)
Spreadsheet Surfer (aka Vegas)

If you had to pick what kind of hero you’d be or superpower you’d have, who/what would you be? Comments welcome! Oh and by the way, we're always looking for more heroes to join us in the good fight!

In keeping with the core values, our supervisor on B shift Receiving decided to embrace "Create Fun and a Little Weirdness" by making a bet. We were facing around 50,000 pieces on back log and were looking at overtime on Saturday. CJ, our supervisor, made a bet with us to help boost production. The terms were simple; if we hit over 18,000 pieces for the day he would show up the next day in a dress. Of course we all jumped on the opportunity to see our boss walk around in a dress all day, so we rushed to hit that goal. By the end of the shift we not only hit our goal, but we surpassed it with flying colors. Our supervisor, being a man of his word, showed up wearing not only a dress the next day, but also brought a purse too.

Last Friday, the aroma of turkey bacon and French toast wafted through the halls of Zappos. It seems Duron and Susana did some “ideating” and asked themselves “why not?” and French Toast Fridays was born! Some of you may remember Duron as the winner of our BBQ contest. Here he is getting ready to break some eggs and take some names.



I haven’t had the opportunity to blog about Susana before but I first met her months ago when she was in training. She also has a very funny email address at Zappos – the combination of her first initial and her last name. (Oh so tempting to share it, but I must be strong.)



So anyway, they came up with the idea, pooled their resources and it was on. There was a side table near by for the griddle and setup, the eggs were whipped up in a bowl, the bread dunked and toasted. People were served in turn and it was all happiness and joy. I chatted with Duron earlier today and he confirmed that they’ll be doing it again this Friday. I think I shall whip up a new signature smoothie for the occasion!

The first ever Zappos.com flag football team had a very successful season finishing 5-5, just missing the playoffs. With only a couple months of playing together under their belts, they were no slouches. Most teams in their league have been playing together for years. That kind of chemistry takes time to develop and Zappos.com put up a fine effort in their short time playing together.

Here are those dapper guys!

From left to right: Top: Derek L., Zack D., Jaime A., Anand D., Kevin W., Aaron T., Norbinn R. Bottom: Paul P., Rico N., Mike F., Jay D., Nick P.

After the season, the team decided to have a bbq at Nick P’s house. Nick played center/defensive line during the season. Many times in preparation for each game Nick could be heard saying, “I just want to hit people!” He certainly brought that nasty streak you look for in a lineman. He knows his way around a grill as well.

The bbq was quickly planned, but did not lack variety. Teammates had their choice of 3 different kinds of bratwurst, burgers, bbq chicken (the Quarterback’s specialty), bbq pork and ribs (pre-marinated, store bought by the Free Safety, boo). Drinks were flowing and food was consumed on an easy Sunday afternoon. Even a couple games of H.O.R.S.E. got pretty competitive for these guys.

It was definitely a good time. Here’s looking forward to next season. If anyone loves some football, we’re sure to be even better the next time around!

Team building is a vital part of our company and department culture, especially with the growth and change that we’ve experienced over the past few months. Our teams are encouraged to spend 10-20% of our time outside the office walls, whether it’s for specific team building activities or just hanging out. Developing these personal relationships actually helps our teams become more effective by breaking down the typical office barriers.

Well, what better way to get to know your team members than a little fishing trip out to Lake Las Vegas? Thanks to Miss Britni and Miss Ashley we had the pleasure of learning how to fly fish for the April marketing team outing! Fly fishing in the desert? Yes, it can be done! And boy do we have fishing stories to tell?!

It wasn’t a surprise that our resident superman Darrin wins the prize for the first fish. Ask him how he felt about getting the first one and he says, “Darn, it feels good to be gangsta!” Darrin, who knew?!

Our gal Rachel wins the reward for the biggest fish! Come to find out, she grew up fishing with her dad. Fair? I think not! Her fish may not be a frog, but will it turn into prince charming someday? Only time will tell!

Since it was one of the few times he had been fishing in his life, it didn’t matter to Ned that he didn’t catch a fish. “I almost caught myself…does that count?”

And ever the optimist, Robert’s quote of the day: “It’s not the size of the fish that counts; it’s the size of the fight!”

Andy looked the part of a fisherman but was more interested in feeding and watching the ducks. “I dunno – I think they’re kinda cute!”

Did we accomplish building a stronger team? Did we build upon our personal relationships? I would say so…all in all it was a great day out at the lake. Watch for the May marketing team outing - coming soon!

When we hear this at Zappos, we tend to interpret it literally. And today, one of our CLT groups did exactly that. At Zappos, all our workgroups hold regular team building sessions. It is almost always something fun and last I checked kite flying is pretty fun. So when I heard that Jo’s group was going to do this for their team building activity, I was so there!

Today was the perfect day for it, nice, bright and breezy. We were out in the "still under construction and as yet unpaved" parking lot extension. Some of the kites were rather unstable out of the box and there were a bunch of tangles and death spiral dives. Silvia looped the twin ribbon tails back to the wingtips of a kite and ta da, Houston we have takeoff! Gradually all the kites got into the air – we definitely gave Murphy's Law a thorough run through the paces. Thanks for a fun and healthy break everyone!

Here's our band of friendly fliers from left to right.


Jo, the group's lead, Edwina, my CLT training classmate, Luanne the painter, Stephanie the traveler, Laura my real life neighbor across the street, Jeanine the Packers fan from Texas, Silvia the aerodynamic engineer, Annette the musician, Eric the weightlifting chef, and John the "sweetest nerd!" (according to his fiance, Nikki our newest video blogger.)

On Thursday afternoon I had the privilege of attending our Product Information (aka PI) Group's monthly team building event. PI is responsible for researching, writing and updating the descriptions for all the products on our sites - currently 1164 brands, almost 154,000 different styles and growing all the time. They have just over 50 people and like so many departments here at Zappos, they've had gangbuster growth in the past year. So these team building events are vital to preserving our company culture - this not only makes Zappos a super fun place to work but also one with effective business execution.

This was the largest explicit team building event I've attended at Zappos and I was curious to see how it would be conducted. Well color me *P*retty *I*mpressed! Rico and Nick had the grills going by the time most of us arrived at the local park and the adult beverages were flowing freely. In case you were wondering, alcohol is allowed in most parks - it is Vegas after all.

After a bit of lubrication, the group formed 2 parallel lines with everyone looking inward. Then a communal question was announced and every facing pair discussed their answers. Then one of the pairs were called out to share what they had learned. Some questions were serious "like what are your medium term work goals" and others were fun like "what is your favorite brand" or "Reality Shows - pro or con."

After each question, the person at the end of one line moved to the opposite end and everyone else in that line moved down one spot so now everyone was facing a new person. What a brilliant, elegant, efficient and fun way to do this!

Of course no picnic is complete without great food and our grill masters certainly delivered. We had wings, beer can chicken, tri tip, corn on the cob, sausage with onions and peppers, salads and ice cream cake! Great Job PI!