The Content department decided to bring back its long-lost tradition of “Picnic Olympics” this year on Tuesday, April 9^th.  What a windy day it turned out to be!  At least I didn’t get slapped in the face by a flying hamburger again this year! 

The fun-filled shindig took place at Pecos Legacy Park, where everyone donned their Content t-shirts and creatively decorated themselves in their team colors.

While Dickey’s BBQ set up the catered spread of beef brisket, pulled pork, potato salad, baked beans and other picnic favorites, six teams feverishly scoured the park for scavenger hunt clues.  There was no actual hidden temple, but it was Team 1, the Purple Parrots, who claimed victory in this event. 

With bellies too full for any intense physical activity, the next round of competition involved five Minute to Win It-inspired games.  This fast-paced event really had everyone cheering each other on!  From fishing pennies out of pantyhose to stacking dice on Popsicle sticks, the hidden talents of some Content members became all too apparent.  Team 3, Vitamin C-ya, pulled ahead of all others in this round.

No one was safe from humiliation during the final round of competition!  Teams battled it out in several relay race games, which included jumping rope, running like a chicken, hopping like a frog, and more.  Team 4, Cruel and Unusual Content Chaos (AKA: Your Worst Nightmare), took first place.

As you can see, team and family spirit was in full swing at the Spring 2013 Content Picnic Olympics.  Some great prizes were awarded not just to the overall winning teams of the games, but also to these honorable mentions:  Team 5, Green Eggs and BAM!, for best team name and Team 2, Pinky and the Brains, for best use of team color.  A great time was had by all, and hopefully history will repeat itself at Content’s next Picnic Olympics this fall!

Here's a recap of the first ReCommerce Hack Day back in the fall. Stay tuned for the next one in 2012!

This week’s Zapponian Spotlight is on Dave H., a business process analyst for Zappos IP, Inc. Dave is a Las Vegas native who loves tennis, singing and acting (he’s a theater guy). He lives with his wife and their three little dogs Zoe, Jack and Sam.  Dave is also a big fan of the word “jazzed”, as in “I’m real jazzed about being on Zapponian Spotlight!”

Read on to learn more about Dave:

Pick 3 words to describe your personal style.     

D: Preppy, classic and Fall (some of you would understand that one. I never wear shorts and layer when it is 100 degrees outside).

Who is your favorite musician or band?  

D:  Favorite is tough but I’ll give you three of the top ones: The Script, Boys Like Girls and The Goo Goo Dolls

Name 3 things you never leave home without

D: Wallet, Keys, Phone (I know that is totally boring, but considering I have a mantra that I say every morning to ensure I’m not forgetting any of these things, it felt appropriate)

If you could have dinner with one famous person, who would it be?    

D:  Leonardo DiVinci. You didn’t say dead or alive so I went with dead. He just seems like he had a lot going on.

What’s the weirdest thing to ever happen to you?         

D:  In high school, a girl offered me 100 bucks to eat a small cockroach. And she paid up!!!

What’s your favorite part about working at Zappos?  

D:  Getting to work with people that I know to be brilliant and that I admire and yet still being made to feel that somehow I am appreciated!   

A few of us here at Zappos (including members of the API, San Francisco, and FEZ teams) are currently in the works of hosting the first ReCommerce Hack Day on September 16-17, 2011. We're excited to see developers reinvent e-commerce and create some mind-blowing vertical retail experiences. It will be held in sunny Sinicon Valley (aka Las Vegas), and we invite you to come and join our growing tech community!

We'll be providing prizes for Best Overall Application, Most Fun & Weird, and Best Mashup in line with the retail hackathon theme. You don't have to use any specific API for these prizes – choose whichever strike your fancy and figure out how to WOW us!  Additionally, our sponsor partners will be providing prizes for the best use of their specific APIs as well. (If you're interested in sponsorship, please reach out to us at api@zappos.com!)

On Friday night, we'll keep it casual - start out with a few presentations from our partners to hear all about their cool APIs, then we bring out the beer! This is your time to mingle with other hackers and to figure out who you want to work with along with which APIs to use. On Saturday morning, you'll wake up early, drink lots of water to cure your hangover, then start hacking away! We'll be providing food and drinks to keep your energy levels up.

Full details on the schedule and registration can be found on http://recommerceday.com. We're looking for developers, hackathoners, students, retailers, and good ol' API-lovers to join in on the madness! Hope to see you there!