Mauricio’s team is at it again this year! You may remember the awesome prank that his team lovingly played on his birthday last year. Well, this time, the birthday “surprise” is more elaborate and involved an even bigger mess!

This is why it’s probably best to stay home on your birthday… IF you happen to work at Zappos.com! ;)

Music has such an uncanny ability to lift spirits, brighten moods and sometimes, inspire spontaneous dancing in the office… if you’re lucky! A few of us here in our new Downtown Las Vegas headquarters put together a collective playlist on Songza* with tunes that make us feel happy.

We hope you enjoy some of our favorite feel-good music. Turn up your speakers (or headphones) and have some fun!

The Zappos Audio Happiness Playlist

*Songza is a super awesome music listening experience that you can check out at http://www.songza.com and you can download their app in the app store (iPhone, Android and Kindle Fire). They focus on curated playlists made by celebs, musicians and music junkies to fit your mood. It's 100% free and there are no audio ads.

Mitch N., Merchandising Assistant for Zappos Merchandising, was recently recognized as the winner of the MOQ (Merchandiser of the Quarter) award, which goes to an individual who consistently goes above and beyond what is asked to make everyone's life a little bit easier.  Co-workers rave about his friendly, upbeat attitude, helpful demeanor, hard-working manner and welcoming ways each and every morning as he greets the entire Performance Content team.  We caught up with Mitch and asked him a few questions about being the recipient of this pretty stellar award.

Congratulations, Mitch!  How does it feel to be recognized by your Content peeps?

It feels great to be part of such an exclusive fraternity!

What do you believe are the three most important things you can do as an MA to work in tandem with Content?

Be clear, responsive, and appreciative.

Share with us the single most important piece of advice you have received and how it helps you WOW the people you work with.

Treat everyone with respect. Pretty self-explanatory.

Between the characters of Nico Toscani (Steven Seagal, Above the Law), John McClane (Bruce Willis, Die Hard) and Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson, Lethal Weapon), whom would you most want to be partnered with in a blockbuster action film?

John McClane. He walked on glass. Barefoot.

Being born and raised in Wisconsin, are you a connoisseur of exotic cheese?

Not a connoisseur, just a fan.

Finally, the big question!  Who is the best Packers QB of all-time?  Aaron Rodgers or Brett Favre?

Brett who?

For All-time I am going with 5x NFL Champion Bart Starr. For my generation, Aaron Rodgers is pretty darn good.

On any given day, you will hear "I got it FO' FREEEEEEE", a reference to a line from the movie Bridesmaids resonate through the halls of the Zappos Interns' hotel. That's because on any given day, you can almost rest assured that someone got something for free while at work. On their quest to deliver happiness, Zappos goes out of their way to provide its employees with tons of free, life-enhancing benefits. To further examine this idea, let's follow a typical morning of a Zappos employee, Joe:

Upon arrival to work, Joe heads directly to the Zcafe– Zappos' own, internal version of Starbucks. Here, Joe can, for free, order anything he wants–ranging anywhere from lemonade to Joe's personal favorite: Double Blended Half-Soy Nonfat Decaf Organic Chocolate Brownie Iced Vanilla Double-Shot Gingerbread Frappuccino Extra Hot With Foam Whipped Cream. While Joe waits for his drink to be ready, he is free to grab a complementary breakfasty pastry.

On the way to his desk, Joe stops by one of the many break rooms and gets a few drinks from the refrigerator to get him through the day. Joe then heads over to his desk to catch up on his email. Joe sees that he can get free tickets to Carrot Top that night. Having always wanted to see Carrot Top, he responds to the email. Soon after, he gets a response saying his tickets have been reserved and he can pick them up from the Luxor box office at 8.

So let's recap. Not more than 10 minutes after getting to work, Joe has already received a multitude of free beverages as well as free tickets to see Carrot Top.

As an intern, my experience has been similar. So far I've been to: Reggae in the Desert, Carrot Top, Las Vegas Film Festival, a Las Vegas 51s game, a screening of 'Monsters Inc.' in a park, as well as a pre-release screening of 'The Naked Brand', I have also acquired the following books: The Lean Startup, Comedy Writing, Triumph of the City, and Delivering Happiness. Additionally Zappos has paid for many-a-lunch and dinner for me, as well as *breaks out into song and dance* shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, shots, EVERYBODY!!!!! Last week, as part of a team meeting, we played glow in the dark putt putt golf… on the clock!

By providing such benefits, Zappos has encouraged me to experience more of Las Vegas than I would have on my own. In doing so, they have provided me with tons of fun experiences which will turn into lasting memories and I think we can all agree that both of those things make for happier employees!

The Super Awesome Description award is a way of recognizing a member of the Zappos Development content team once a month. If a product description is particularly witty or creative, anyone in the company can nominate the person who wrote it.  The nominations are then read by other members of the content department and voted upon; the description with the most votes wins. The writer of that description is rewarded with a trophy and a certificate, not to mention recognition from their peers.

The winner for June is Chelsea P. Chelsea is part of the fashion team and her quirky description for the Wallet On A Chain was too amazing to ignore. Congratulations Chelsea!

We asked Chelsea a few fun questions to get to know her better. Check out her answers below!

What is your biggest Grammar pet peeve?

Commonly misused words: their vs. there vs. they’re, loose vs. lose, affect vs. effect, etc.

What is your favorite color?

I love every color in the rainbow.

What inspired you when writing this description?

The style name was quirky and it was later in the day when I wrote it, so exhaustion/goofiness was starting to get the best of me.

What activities/hobbies take up your spare time?

Going to the dog park with my pups, movies, photography, and lots of eating!

Upon acceptance of the Zappos Intern position, we were forced to sign, in blood, an agreement to create a culture project. It may have just been some cherry syrup, but that’s beside the point. We were forced – against our will – to…to… CREATE FUN AND A LITTLE WEIRDNESS ( Core Value #3)!!!! Ghastly, I know. But really, right between “don’t suck” and “work your little butt off” in job requirements, there is a bit about creating a company-wide project embodying the ten core values.

This project may encompass anything as long as no bodily harm is involved (cross off Zappos MMA), it doesn’t cost boatloads of cash (#8 - Do more with less, people), and wasn’t Barbara Streisand karaoke. Okay, the last part was my stipulation, but then again, who doesn’t agree with me?! We all broke into groups and worked our little butts off to come up with something equal parts fun and creative.

These were the fruits of our labor: a paper plane contest, a secret admirer initiative involving clues and gifts, and a Merch/Tech lovefest with positive affirmations. My team came up with Azzazinz. This game, like the typical Assassins or Zombies and Humans you may remember from college, involves stalking, staking out, and acting like a total sketch in order to get the target assigned by yours truly. To make it more Zapponian and to Build Open and Honest Relationships Through Communication (#6), we required the hunters to take from their target a picture of their attack and a random factoid. We had a total of 88 people sign up – way more than we had hoped! It was such a success (and still is, as the game is still going) we have been asked to make this an ongoing game. Hoo-rah!

Unfortunately, your captain this evening has been slain. Go look at the website chronicling the attacks as I nurse my wound…

--Taylor

For this edition of On the Spot, we put two Zapponians and their personal style in the spotlight: Phil with his cool monochromatic style, and our very own Style Editor, Lynsey who loves to rock her eclectic/funky look.

Phil is wearing a Crooks & Castles shirt and Levi's jeans.

Lynsey is wearing a Joie maxi dress and MICHAEL Michael Kors blazer.

As you may know, Las Vegas gets hot during the summer. Really, really hot. That’s why a few of us in Zappos Development have decided to start what we affectionately like to call “Tank Top Tuesdays”. It’s literally just that; every Tuesday, we rock our super awesome tank tops for everyone in the office to admire. Yes, even the dudes…or should I say, especially the dudes!