Zappos Blogs

French Toast Fridays

John H. — Tue, 13 May 2008 23:11:07 GMT

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!

Three Ply Birthdays

John H. — Tue, 13 May 2008 22:01:31 GMT

We had 3 birthdays in Creative Services today. Happy Birthday Mayen, Jeff and Brian! It seems the TPing elves were busy last night. Yep, looks like they were on a roll…of toilet paper that is. Here’s one of the 3 desks that were so adorned. (yeah, we used more than 1 roll - as the only 6 footer in the room at the time, i did the ceiling work.)

Here are 2 of our 3 giant pizzas. 30" baby!

And here’s the Brian K, Mr. Argyle, getting serenaded by a giant tomato. You can't make this stuff up!

And then we had some super delicious cupcakes!
What a zany, yep typical day at Zappos. (LOL, Smurf Parade!)

HOW TO WEAR IT - MEN

Stephanie S. — Tue, 13 May 2008 21:06:50 GMT

The What: Brixton straw fedora hat

The How To Wear it: With the King Baby Studio Skull pendant, Jean Paul Gaultier button-up shirt, King Baby Studio Slash cross ring, Jean Paul Gaultier jeans and Harrys of London mocassins.

The When: When you want to look smokin'.

The Why: Seriously, how hot is this look?

Meet Your CSer: Kris Likes Morrissey, Billy Likes Soda

Brett H. — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:52:19 GMT

Kris is a happy young man full of creativity, guitar knowledge, excitement and has a love of organic foods that rivals Ed Begley, Jr., and that's serious business. Kris formerly worked in our Kentucky warehouse as an image processor before moving to Las Vegas to pursue his love of grape leaves, expensive health food and organic tea. Kris focuses on the categorization of product and on reciting Adam Sandler movie quotes....constantly.

Kris is also the king of the smooth jazz guitar..he can seduce you with just a minor 7th chord or two...it takes not long, my friends. He loves Morrissey and Ween, as well. (On a side note, I think I heard him banging his head to 80's hair metal recently, when I saw an evil fire in his eyes, but it was probably just all the pesticide-free food releasing it's goodness into his bloodstream)

Kristopher is a fine individual and is insanely dedicated to Zappos...his car might be freakishly small and economical, but he has the heart the size of the fiercest lion.

Here is the interview with the man, this reporter refers to as Mr. Lippy.

BRITNEY GETS MARRIED AGAIN!

Couture Team — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:29:46 GMT

Well, not exactly. But be honest, we got you. You were surprised, thinking
here we go again with yet another Britney story, right? But Britney’s has done a
great job lately of staying out of trouble.

Britney Spears reprised her role as Abby, the receptionist with a raging
crush on Ted, on last night's How I Met Your Mother. After a chance run-in
with Barney (if him jumping on top of her cab is what you call chance),
since both of them hate Ted, they came up with a plan to pretend they're
dating to make Ted jealous. Britney wore bright colored baby doll dresses,
but there was a scene where she and Neil Patrick Harris wore matching blue
sweaters and khaki pants. It even ended in a fake proposal, which unfortunately,
Abby took seriously. But with Barney’s charm and a little sneakiness
that’s surely to turn into yet another guest appearance for Britney Spears.

Twitter Time

John H. — Tue, 13 May 2008 17:27:22 GMT

Yesterday, ZU held their first Twitter class, “Twitter 101” taught by the infamous twit Zappos_JimGreen. He went over just the basics in this class and he will be holding Twitter 201, an intermediate class, next week. Here’s a pic of the class - standing room only, baby.

If you haven’t heard of Twitter.com, it is an internet social networking/communication tool. People (aka twits) who have signed up and created a free account can post short messages about what they are doing. If you are “following” a twit or viewing an aggregation page you can see their messages.

For instance, we have a couple Zappos aggregation pages. If you go to twitter.zappos.com you’ll see all the twitter posts that mention Zappos and from there you can click to see all the Zappos twits, their messages and how many followers they have. We’ve got over 300 people twittering at Zappos.

I’m signed up under 2 Twitter ids:

"InsideZappos” for the more official messages and “johnhZ” for more off the cuff and local messages. For example, I’ll be whipping up a batch ofsmoothies from time to time and then twittering something like “Choc Cake Smoothies! - First 12 people to twit back, I’ll reserve one for you!”

So yeah, I’m a twit too. And if you follow me, I’ll follow you!

DAILY TREND - WEDGES

Stephanie R. — Mon, 12 May 2008 21:48:43 GMT

What does one wear when a stiletto, strappy sandal, or peep toe won’t do? Reach for a very modern, sexy wedge sandal, of course. The thicker heel makes this one of the most comfortable and versatile shoes to wear. Pair with a demure sundress, with romper-esque shorts, or a fitted jeans and a tee.

Interviewing with Fun and a Little Weirdness

Graham M. — Mon, 12 May 2008 20:10:23 GMT

Today in C-Life, we interviewed a woman named Melissa. When asked the most facinating thing about her, she explained that she could sing a song with all fifty states. She then agreed to let us film it and post it. Thanks, Melissa for being such a great sport!

Photo & Imaging team cookout!

Angela T — Tue, 13 May 2008 02:34:59 GMT

Just about every month, the photo and imaging teams try to go out and do something in public! Most recently we all went to Cherokee Park for a little cookout. We brought our spouses, friends, children and puppies for some fresh air, food, and even a few different ball games for the real adventurous folks. If you weren't there you missed out, it was perfect weather. Good times for good people!!

Here is a group shot of us who came with our furry friends:

from left to right:

andi with zeus, myself with danger, maggie with penelope, and kaya with lola.

Zappos April 08 Golf Event

Sean K — Mon, 12 May 2008 23:25:04 GMT

Our April 2008 event took place at the Arroyo at Red Rock Golf Club in Summerlin. We had a total of 40 players and was sponsored by Taylor Made Adidas Golf - a big THANK YOU to Mike of TMaG!

A LITTLE GOLF EDUCATION

For this blog post, I felt that it would be good to give a little information about golf scoring. This will help to understand our stories for this month.

Most golf courses around the world are par 72 courses. What this means is that to play a "perfect" round, a golfer will play the 18 holes only hitting 72 strokes or shots. Most professional PGA golfers will shoot at par or below. The average amateur golfer shoots 100. When you watch a PGA golf tournament, you will see scores such as -3 (i.e. Tiger Woods -3). What this means is that the golfer is shooting at 3 below par 72. If you see a +3, this means that the golfer has shot 3 over par.

For our Zappos events, we are all amateurs and I would say that collectively, we probably average about 100. We have some golfers that shoot 120 or more and some golfers who shoot 85 or below. Our events have a really great mix of skill levels.

If you read my last blog post about our March event, you will recall that I said we play in SCRAMBLE format and that this means "team play". What I mean by "team play" is that each team records 1 score. Team members all take turns hitting from the same spot for every shot (not alcohol... ). After everyone hits, the team will then determine who had the best shot based on the position of the ball. The other team members will then pick up their balls and put it next to the ball of the best shot. Each team member will then hit from that spot one-by-one and repeat until the ball goes into the hole. The team will then count the total number of best shots from the tee box to the hole and mark that score down on the scorecard for that hole.

APRIL 2008

Now that you understand the scoring, you would think that a score of -10 for a team would be incredible and be the winning score for an event. This happened to be the team that I was on. We were playing a great round, hitting great shots, and sinking putts. All keys to a great score. Our confidence of being the winners was high but short-lived. The team that was right behind us was comprised of Oakley ballers, Paul, Mark, Kirk, and our very own Steve H (Zappos_Steve on twitter). I could tell they were on fire when I would look back during play and watch them putt. They were sinking EVERY putt and putts are the most important shots. Deep down inside, I was hoping that they would keep drinking and eventually fall apart. No such luck...

That team ended up shooting an AMAZING -11! That -11 score is a new record for a Zappos event (previous record was a -10 at a different course last year). Congratulations to Paul, Mark, Kirk, and Steve to a job well done!

STORY #2

This is an awesome story... a story that you would typically hear about from a major PGA tournament by a professional golfer. This story was told by Josh and Jim from our Zappos Rideshop at the clubhouse over drinks/shots (yes, the alcoholic ones) immediately following the event.

On the 6th hole, one of our vendors, Dave from Ocean Minded, pulled out a 9-iron to take his shot for the green. As he was getting ready to hit, the beverage cart girl pulled up (aka Booze Girl). Jim went to buy some drinks for the team. So, Dave is about to hit his shot, Jim is walking over to buy drinks, and Josh and Garrett were giving half their attention to Dave and the other half to the Booze Girl - although I'd be willing to bet it was a little more than half on the Booze Girl . Dave takes his shot and the clean sound of the club hitting the golf ball prompted everyone to turn around to watch it. They followed the ball in the air until it hit the green about 10 feet from the pin/hole. They watched as the ball rolled closer and closer to the hole and then disappear - WOW! The team ended up with a score of -2 for the hole. This means it took them 2 shots to put the ball in the hole where par for the hole was 4. In golf, this is known as an Eagle. To paint a picture, Dave hit a 1.7" golf ball from a distance longer than a football field with the end zones and dropped it into a 4.25" hole in the ground. Absolutely amazing!

My $.02... His motivation may have been the drinks about to come his way, but I'm thinkin' that it was to impress Booze Girl.

Until our May event... hit 'em long and straight!

Sean K - the Self-Proclaimed Chief Golf Officer (http://twitter.com/skimshady)