Back by popular demand, the Content Team had another picnic team outing this past weekend complete with “Content Olympic” games. Since the temperatures here in Las Vegas are slowly creeping up to the 100s, we decided to stock up on water balloons and water guns to keep things cool…and interesting!

We had a relay race where teams had to take turns filling up water bottles held on top of a single team member’s head, using small paper cups, as fast as they can without spilling water on the person’s head…and to make things more challenging, each person had to run back to the starting line while performing funny things like pirouettes, the “running man”, or the “Chicken Dance”! The results were definitely hilarious to say the least.

We also had a popsicle-eating contest to beat the heat…but instead we ended up with massive brain freeze. It’s all in good fun though; the winning team ate nine popsicles in under two minutes! They still can’t feel their teeth.

It was most certainly another fun team-building event in the name of Zappos family spirit and of course, a healthy dose of competition. However, some people definitely got a little water-gun and water-balloon-happy, but we won’t name any names (Rico!).

At the end of each quarter, our Finance department has a team event to celebrate their accomplishments and have a little fun before the next quarter. Each event has a different theme, and this quarters was "Crazy Hat Day."

Check out how creative our Finance depatment can be.

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.

The Zappos Finance Department teamed up with Spread the Word Las Vegas to help Clean books for At Risk Children in Southern Nevada. Spread the Word gathers gently used books from Children who have outgrown them, find groups to help clean them, and place them into hands of children who may have never had a book to call their own. We feel this not only helps our Community, but also helps the finance team to build a positive team and family spirit.

It was last quarter of 2008 and we were in need of some good old-fashioned morale boosting. The photo studios were quiet, the fun was at a standstill, and the core values were on the back burner of everyone's minds. We knew that the team members thought the world of each other but they just weren't really saying how much they genuinely care or how working with them made their days better.

What we really wanted to know is: If they had to put a core value with the way they felt about their team members, what core value would it be?

So, Betsy D. (Photo Operations Manager) and I decided to host "The WOW Awards." We set out a ballot box with voting ballots (designed by Jon B., Senior Image Coordinator) next to it. On the voting ballot, they were to write the team members name and the Core Value that they exemplify. It was completely anonymous. After 3 months of open voting, we collected the ballots and had 10 WOW Award winners for each Core Value. We hosted an Awards ceremony with handmade trophies for each Core Value and a certificate (designed by Kyle S., Senior Image Coordinator) to hand out to all WOW Award winners.

All the ballots were placed up on the Photo Studio wall by Katie B. (Senior Photographer) so that all the ballots could be read by everyone. Everyone brought appetizers and hors d'oeuvres as well as games to play. We even had a room set up with an X-box, which was a big hit. Here is Matt W. (Senior Photo Assistant) happily accepting his WOW Award for Core Value #8, Do More With Less. His trophy was decked out in 8-track tapes, a Fisher Price camera, and other miniature items, like dollar bills. Thanks to everyone for voting! We look forward to our 2nd WOW Awards so get out there and vote!



Photo and blog submitted by Erin R.

On February 28, it was a very cold, windy day. It started snowing and hail began coming down in spurts. Some would say you would be crazy to be out in weather like that, let alone jump into cold water. But there we were, the Zappos Nerds, ready and willing to freeze our butts off for the Special Olympics and the Polar Plunge!

Dressed to the nines in our best geek wear, we set off to raise our funds and take a dip in the frosty Ohio River. Set up next to the Tumbleweed on the River, there were hundreds ready to take a dip. Some had tents, some had RV's, we had our hoodies and towels to keep us warm. After hours in the cold, windy weather, we marched our way down the dock and took our places. We stood proudly as we joined the ranks of other plungers. We jumped, scrambled out the ladders and raced for the hot tubs. After a geeky moment provided by our own Amanda E., we raced for the heated tents and changed into warm, dry clothes. Afterward some went to eat, some went home to sleep it off, and others headed off to party. It was great fun with friends and I know I'll do it again next year!!



written by Tracy P.

photos by Lynn G.

Things were a Rockin’ at the MGM, inside the Studio 54 and Game Works last Saturday. Since December is such a busy month for Zappos, we have our holiday party in January. I went around Monday Morning and asked people of various departments what they liked most about the event this year . Here are some of their responses!
“It was really good to see all the people I haven’t seen in a while” -Erin H.
“The Music and Dancing!” - Jenn S.
“Just Having a good time with Co-workers” -Jon. D
“Drinks, Good time with co-workers, and generally just how the bar was laid out.” -Derek F
“Seeing everybody in their Glad Rags ” –Katrina J.
“I don’t remember much” -undisclosed
“Seeing everybody Dressed up and Pretty”- Joanna C.
“Lots of Fun and Dancing!” –Lauren C.
If you could’nt tell by the short responses, everyone was very eager to get back to work!! Rock on team!!



Thank you Rosanna V. for the images!!

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.

Zappos photo department made the FC a bit cleaner and safer last week with a little friendly competition. Both A and B shifts challenged each other to see who could collect the most bands lying around that have come off the shoe boxes. These bands are found floating around everywhere and are very easily tangled and slipped on, it only takes a second to pick one up as you travel through the warehouse. The photo team members collected enough bands to fill two large trash bags in one week!!

Congrats to the winning team members!!!

April Brian LeAnn Lynn Michelle I. Pam Sandy Stephanie Teralane Tonya & Tracy

Written by: Amy M.

The Zappos Kid's Team decided to embrace our Zappos Core Value of "Do More with Less" last week by hosting a Thanksgiving potluck. I know it's a bit early, but you can't ever go wrong with finely cooked bird and all the fixings!

Below is an account from Kid's team specialist, Lynsey C.!

This month we cut back our team dinners and events and decided to host a mixed Kids team potluck with our awesome Content Team! We had everyone sign up for various dishes and then Nick P. and myself took on the meats. We had two dishes of everything from sweet potatoes casseroles to Mashed Potatoes. We had a mini pie contest that consisted of a killer home baked pie by Marisa R. and a (shhh Costco maybe) pie by the other entry. Andy H. surprisingly made his very own green bean casserole...actually no one believed that he did actually make it, we assumed he had conned someone into making it for him! But, nope, Andy came through for us!

Kelly D. and Tara J. made very different, but equally awesome sweet potatoes, both won the eaters votes! All in all, our early Thanksgiving was quite a success. We are all happily stuffed employees ;)

Below is a shot of the most original desert I've seen in years......an Oreo, Rice Krispies Treat, Candy Corn turkey! Fine work!!!

As a stress reliever from planning warehouse budgets, making purchases, hiring and handling all benefits paperwork, writing scripts to run site manager, and becoming friends with OSHA; the admin team wants to throw something!!!

They decided to start a friendly game of dodge ball, the all time favorite recess sport! Dodge ball is played daily at 3pm in the upstairs office. What a great work out and stress reliever! Kudos, my friends, and remember... safety first!

At Zappos.com, safety comes second to none and it is better to be safe than sorry. The team has created many rules to keep the game fair, friendly, and safe. They actually have too many rules now but they are still having FUN!

We are looking forward to next spring when the weather warms up. Maybe the game can be taken out side and more players can join in. Go Team!

Although spirit week has since passed, I wanted to share the team's spirit sticks with everyone. Each department in the KY warehouse created their own spirit stick with a hint of department flavor. The spirit sticks were judged to find the winner, but I think every team is a winning team here in KY! We all need each other to get the merchandise on the shelves, posted to the site, and out the door in superhero lightning speed!

Enjoy the Spirit Stick Showdown!

Kaya was told there was a meeting in the photo studio today. However, the Superheroes in the KY warehouse planned a surprise party for team mate Kaya. Kaya is a stylist on the KY Photo Team. He styles, designs, and assists the photographers so the product images on http://www.zappos.com/ look amazing. Keep up the great work team!

Thanks for putting together this surprise party and showing our Core Value of Building a Positive Team and Family Spirit really works! Not to mention, its fun and, who doesn't love cake?! By the way, I'm not sure who has the creepy voice saying "this is cake in the dark" but enjoy the video.

Good Luck Kaya!

Mike K, IT Manager, gathered his group to build a positive family and team spirit. He asked each of them to climb 4 or 5 feet in the air and fall backwards. Trust ladder time! This great team building exercise needs nothing more than a ladder, a team, and a trusting soul.

Would you trust your team to catch you? Even I trusted the IT team (but only after seeing several people go before me:) Every team member completed the challenge, even if it took some longer to do so than others. I feel standing on the ladder several feet off the ground gave some a different point of view about height and trust. The Risk and Safety Manager, Leah M., was on stand by to ensure the team was observing safe falling conditions. I hope you get a kick out of watching the IT superheros plunge to the earth with only the arms of their fellow superheros there to save them. Please note: No one was injured during the making of this short film.