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October 2010

Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh will explain to attendees at PCMA 2011 Convening Leaders how they can ‘deliver happiness’

Footwear-loving PCMA Convening Leaders (CL) attendees—or, for that matter, anyone with an interest in organizations where both customer and employee satisfaction is highly valued—are in for a treat this January, when Tony Hsieh, CEO of Zappos.com, the online retailer known for its lightning-fast deliveries and hassle-free returns, will be one of the annual meeting’s marquee speakers. Hsieh (pronounced “Shay”) was successful right out

of the gate as co-founder of the ad network LinkExchange, which was sold to Microsoft for more than a quarter-billion dollars in 1999, when he was just 24. Next, Hsieh co-founded the investment firm VentureFrogs, one of Zappos.com’s first backers. He joined the online retailer as an adviser in 2000, when the company’s annual gross merchandise sales were just $1.6 million, and later became its CEO. How has Zappos performed since then? It sold more than $1 billion in merchandise in 2008—just a year before being pur- chased by Amazon.com for $1.2 billion. At Convening Leaders—to be held at the MGM

Grand in Las Vegas on Jan. 9–12—Hsieh will share the story of how this online service leader grew its sales at near- exponential levels by relentlessly zeroing in on customer service. His sure-to-be riveting presentation will focus on the Zappos customer experience, how the company

ON_THE_WEB: For more information about Zappos, check out a fun story that “Nightline” did on the quirky, Las Vegas–based firm, including how and why it offers new hires thousands of dollars to hit the road: http://youtu.be/tFyW5s_7ZWc.

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retains repeat customers, what it does internally to “deliver happiness,” and the Zappos culture and core values. The dynamo CEO’s appearance at Convening Leaders was arranged by Speak Inc. Don’t miss our Convening Leaders Preview interview

with Hsieh in the December issue of Convene. To register for 2011 Convening Leaders, visitwww.pcma .org/2011.