5 different plane flights,
3 different tour buses,
3 different boats,
1 Maglev train,
multiple public subway rides,
multiple public bus rides,
and 2 rental cars,
I made it home!

I logged many, many hours of traveling on this trip.

I’m still a little jet lagged but it’s good to be home.

Time to get back in the swing of things and I look forward to posting more about my trip.

After flying about 20 hours to China on May 29, my guided tour of China ended a few days ago and it’s been amazing. It was a jammed pack 8 day tour of China that was a little exhausting but totally worth it. I’m looking forward to posting about the trip when I return to the states in a couple weeks, in the mean time enjoy my blog silence unless I find some more internet.

After seeing some of our vendors we wandered a bit and did a ton of walking through the rest of the show. That’s pretty much it, I’ll let the pictures do the talking now.

SEMA 2009 Las Vegas Convention Center.

Amazing piece of art depicting major US wars in a timeline.

Giant wheel that’s got to be 24 inch plus in my opinion.

Check out the car model.

All blue car in the West Coast Customs area.

Remember Mad Mike from Pimp My Ride.

The new 4 door Porsche Panamera in all black.

For more pictures check out my Flickr section.

In closing SEMA was one heck of an experience. Good times, maybe I’ll be back next year.

Everyone involved in the tour was a pleasure to meet right from the get go. Zappos offers complimentary shuttle service to and from Zappos headquarters and we were picked up in the Zappos Escalade.

In the lobby displays the pair of shoes that started it all. When Nick Swinmurn was unsuccessful in finding a pair of shoes in store and online it lead to the start of Zappos.com.

The Zappos name tag ball named Lucille of the many people who’ve taken the tour.

Our first look into the offices and to the right you can get a glimpse of our guide Heaven, yes her name is Heaven.

A live sales map of products being purchased throughout the US.  In another part of the office they also had about four big screens with live web analytics, which was crazy to watch.

Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh’s office.  Zappos has an open office policy and employees can basically see anyone they want.

The rest of the tour included visiting various departments throughout the building.

In the  fraud department we had the opportunity to speak to one of the employees there and learn how they dealt with fraudulent charges and charge backs.  We have had our share of charge backs and fraud and it was great to see how Zappos prevents the situation from happening.

In the HR department we learned about their recruiting process and how they offer a buy out of $2000 to potential employees after they finish training to weed out those that don’t really want to work there. The recruiting department also spoke about the importance fitting into the culture and Zappos’ core values.

Zappo Core Values

1. Deliver WOW Through Service
2. Embrace and Drive Change
3. Create Fun and A Little Weirdness
4. Be Adventurous, Creative, and Open-Minded
5. Pursue Growth and Learning
6. Build Open and Honest Relationships With Communication
7. Build a Positive Team and Family Spirit
8. Do More With Less
9. Be Passionate and Determined
10. Be Humble

Throughout the tour you can see the unique culture that Zappos has built and how much it stresses the importance of customer service.  The work environment is a fun and inviting one where everyone knows everyone. While I was there, I’m pretty sure I was almost hit by a Nerf gun lol. Even though the atmosphere may seem lax, employees are hard at work and take responsibility for what needs to be done.

The tour rounded up with a visit to Dr. Vik’s office, where I got sit on the throne where at Zappos I’m royalty. Dr. Vik is the resident coach at Zappos who helps employees be successful in personal and business matters so that they can perform at high levels and provide excellence in service.  Zappos really takes care of their people and it really shows through as you make your way through the offices.

The tour ended back in the lobby where everyone received a Zappos Culture Book and a complimentary book  from the Zappos library.  The books are there to inspire the “Power of Service” and I’m pretty sure that they said Tony Hsieh has read all the books there.

Thanks to everyone at Zappos for the amazing tour.  Special thanks to Renna, our guide Heaven, the Mayor, Pam, Dr. Vik and anyone else I may have forgotten for the great tour.

]]> http://www.michael-li.com/my-zappos-tour/2009/11/10/feed/ 0 http://www.michael-li.com/zappos-here-i-come/2009/11/04/ http://www.michael-li.com/zappos-here-i-come/2009/11/04/#comments Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:39:34 +0000 Michael Li http://www.michael-li.com/?p=964

I wrote about going to the SEMA Show earlier and while I’m out there I will also be visiting Zappos Headquarters. I have an exciting day ahead of me tomorrow with the SEMA Show and Zappos tour.

Zappos is a very unique e-commerce company that has built a culture with happiness as a key. CEO Tony Hsieh has created fascinating and successful culture over at Zappos. After reading a great article in Inc. Magazine about Tony Hsieh it was hard to pass on the opportunity visit their headquarters.

The tour is free and they even offer complimentary shuttle services to their office. It took me a while to find information on the tour but after a bit of searching I finally found a contact form specifically for the tour or I think you can email them from what I read from other people’s visits there. They recommend you make a reservation 48 hours in advance so you could set up a tour on the fly if you’re out in Vegas.

I’m looking forward to seeing a successful e-commerce company at work and hopefully learn a few things. This is going to be a great experience and I look forward to writing about my adventures in Vegas.

In less than 2 weeks my partner George and I will be heading to Las Vegas for SEMA Show 2009. The SEMA Show is the premiere automotive specialty products show in the world. I’ve always wanted to go to SEMA but didn’t think there be any opportunity because it’s a trade show. Anyways the opportunity has arise since I am part of Detailed Image now and I can’t wait to go.

Check it out, I have my very own badge.

We will be buyers at the show and have the opportunity to see all the up and coming new automotive products. Hot cars and new technology, that’s some gooooood stuff!

Not only do I get to go to one of the world’s premiere car shows, I also get to go to Sin City and escape the chilling Northeast for a few days. It should be some good times and a great new experience. I will definitely be posting an update when I return, so stay tuned.

It was a nice and relaxing vacation being on a ship for 3 days in the middle of the ocean. It was three days at sea and one day on land in Cozumel. I went on vacation with my girlfriend and our day on shore we did some shopping and went on jeep and snorkel shore excursion.

Early Saturday morning we arrived to this beautiful island surrounded by vibrant blue water, the weather was wonderful and we were on our way to our shore excursion.  I was a little disappointed with our excursion because we tried snorkeling but we didn’t get far.  You had to swim a ways out and water just wasn’t our element.  I had a hard time with using the flippers, boo I suck.  After giving up on the snorkeling we ended up getting a messages on the beach which was pretty sweet. The beach was picture perfect and I have to give shout out to our excursion guide Memo for leading an awesome fun filled tour.

Shopping in Mexico was definitely a new experience.  We took a taxi downtown and there were stores everywhere with people trying to sell you anything and everything, even screaming across the street for you just to take a look at their merchandise.  Cuban cigars and Tequila were in plenty, this was one hell of a shopping experience.

The whole time I was on the island I kept thinking to myself, this feels like I’m in a movie. The only thing I could relate Mexico to was what I’ve seen on TV and movies.  Anyways this movie that I starred in was awesome for me as I wandered the streets of downtown Cozumel.

The cruise itself was mediocre for me. Don’t get me wrong everything about the cruise was great, but personally I’d rather be out and about doing things.  Even though I think cruising isn’t my cup of tea, it was relaxing getting away from everything and I have to give praise to the fantastic service aboard the Carnival Inspiration.

That’s my vacation.  It was fun listening to me blabber on, but I’m sure it’s more fun to look at pictures, now to the visual portion.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures, now it’s back to work on the big top secret project. It’s not really a secret but you’ll see it when it’s done sometime mid 2009.

The Itinerary
Friday
5:35am Leaving Albany to Cleveland by plane
9:05am Arrive in Cleveland and spend half the day with my brother Sam.
3:30pm Leaving Cleveland to Fort Wayne by car
7:45pm Arrive in Fort Wayne Indiana for James’s Wedding
Saturday
6:45am Leaving Fort Wayne for Chicago
9:00am Central time arrive in Chicago
Sunday
8:15pm Leaving Chicago for home sweet home
11:05pm Eastern time arrive home in Albany

That was the plan with a lot in between. Check out some of the pictures of my trip.

Cleveland

Lebron James larger than life.

My Brother and I.

Chameleon at the Cleveland Institute of Art Botanical Gardens.

Botanical Gardens

Fort Wayne, Indiana

Massive wind turbines on my way to Fort Wayne.

Me and James at his wedding. Congratulations James and Stephanie. I also want to thank James for his service to our country in the US Army and work as a NYPD Police Officer.

James and Stephanie eating the cake.

Chicago, Illinois

Arriving in Chicago under the El just like “The Dark Knight” chases.

The shiny Cloud Gate piece of art by British artist Anish Kapoor.

Me taking a picture of me taking a picture of the Cloud Gate

Awesome statue at the Chicago Museum of Art.

The ferris wheel at the Chicago Navy Pier.

View from the ferris wheel of the Navy Pier.

Our walk to the Chicago Field Museum happened to be the same time everyone was going to the Bears vs. Vikings game at Soldier Field right near there.

Sue the Tyrannosaurus Rex at Chicago Field Museum is the most complete set of bones in the world of a Tyrannosaurus Rex.

Clown Fish just like Nemo at the John Shed Aquarium.

View from the Sears Tower at sunset.

View from the Sears Tower at sunset #2.

The view from the Sears Tower was was amazing. The elevator was crazy as you fly up and down 103 floors in about a minute.

My trips are always go, go, go but I’m glad I got to jam pack my trip and do all the things I got to do. It was a great trip and I’m sure I’ll be back out to the Midwest again since my Brother is out there.