Hey everyone!

It’s been over three weeks since the last blog post from the Zappos Interns, so here’s a quick rundown of what we’ve been up to lately:

1. Our first All-Hands meeting: On June 22, we participated in a Tech All Hands with all the other tech employees at Zappos. The afternoon included the usual briefings from top company officials, the CTO doing a ridiculous dance, and even a spoof video made right here at Zappos called “Sh*t Developers Say”. After that, we all enjoyed a Happy Hour poolside at Green Valley Ranch, which had been booked out specially for Zappos employees. Pretty sweet. But the highlight of the afternoon was definitely the surprise appearance of the legendary Steve Wozniak, who indulged us with a half-hour Q&A about his time at Apple, his thoughts on the future of technology, and some funny stories. That was surreal.

Ravi R. and Yong L. with Steve Wozniak 

2. A volunteer day at the local Animal Shelter: Zappos is really involved in the Vegas community, and it trickles down all the way to the interns. All of us spent a day learning about the great animal shelter here, as well as walking and playing with dogs. It was ridiculously hot outside, but hanging out with dogs usually makes things much more bearable!

3. General craziness around the Zappos campus: Probably the best part is the frequent table tennis sessions all around the office. Zappos even has a unique 3-on-3 version of ping-pong, aptly named “Zing-Zong”. It’s a bit ridiculous to outline all the rules (basically because when you watch it seems as if there are no rules, and when you play you learn a new rule every time). Suffice to say that it’s a cross between regular ping-pong and volleyball, with each team setting up teammates and the ball not being dead till it hits the ground. It’s sick.

4. July 4^th week(end): My superhero Christina had a July 4^th pool party, and that night we all walked to a nearby parking lot to watch fireworks. The display here in Vegas was definitely better than what I’ve seen in most other places. Then, on July 6^th, for another day outside the office, all of us hiked up the nearby Mt. Charleston. The weather was beautiful, about 20 degrees cooler than in Las Vegas, and the views were fantastic.

Left to right: Adrian T., Nick HS, Jessica C., Alex H., Kiersten S., Kim H., Michelle V., Luke Z., Ravi R., Yong L., Irene P., Tylan C., Anya E., Tony G., Taylor S.

5. A trip to the Grand Canyon: One of the best things about working in Vegas is the proximity to so much nature (e.g: California beaches, Zion, Grand Canyon, etc.). Three of us decided to make an impromptu trip to the Grand Canyon a couple weekends ago, and were there within two hours. We spent all day taking in the sights and climbing to as many treacherous places as possible. Good times.

All in all it’s amazing how quickly the time has gone – we’re already starting our eighth week here at Zappos! I’m pretty bummed that summer is over in a month. But up to this point, I couldn’t have asked for more. As interns, we’re always involved and in the middle of things here, it’s never lonely, and there’s a great work-life balance – all things that I’d heard thrown around at the beginning of the summer, but that I’d never truly understood until now. It’s a great feeling.

Till next time,

Ravi

Yesterday Mike F. found out that Burton Snowboards is having a movie premiere this weekend in the Las Vegas/Henderson, Nevada area. He’s excited to get autographs, enjoy free food and see the movie, and he’s almost just as excited to start snowboarding.

Want to meet the Burton Snowboarding team(as well as Mike F.), see an exclusive screening of their snowboarding film, “The B”, and enjoy some food and drink—all for FREE?

Then come join us at The District this Saturday, 10/3, at 6pm!

Thursday night was the 10th annual Economic Development Awards for the City of Henderson, which was held at the Lake Las Vegas Ritz Carlton. Many City Officials and Business Leaders were in attendance, as well as 20 Zappos Team members from the Henderson office.

The night spotlighted business throughout Henderson, NV that impacted the community during the year. There were three main categories that the awards were presented under: Business Excellence, Development Excellence and Personal Excellence.

Under the Personal Excellence category – Zappos was given the Private Sector Company of the year award. Henderson city manager, Mary Kay Peck and the Vice President of the Henderson Chamber of Commerce , Kirk Clausen presented the award to Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh.

In the past, the award was the Private Sector “Person” of the Year. However, as Kirk Clausen explained during the presentation, when they approached Tony a couple months ago about receiving the award, Tony said he would accept the award on the condition that it be an award that recognized the company and its employees.