Delivering Happiness Bus Tour

More than two months ago, Tony Hsieh’s book, Delivering Happiness: A Path to Profits, Passion and, Purpose hit bookshelves around the world. Only a week after the launch the book was #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list. After a highly successful launch, it’s on to phase two. With months of planning, the Delivering Happiness Bus Launch has finally arrived. We hope you are able to join us virtually, by tuning in to our livestream from 5pm-7:30pm PST on www.ustream.tv/deliveringhappiness. The livestream event is packed with special guests including legendary pro skater Tony Hawk, Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman, Ian Green with BC Flighlines, Ray Pawlikowski, president of Hotschedules and others. Plus, you'll get an exclusive look inside the Delivering Happiness bus, post-happiness makeover. 

We hope to see you tonight! Until then, thanks for your support, it's been amazing journey thus far! 

-Delivering Happiness Team 

Monday night was a BIG celebration with the Delivering Happiness Bus Launch event. For those of you who weren't able to join us virtually on our Ustream channel, we kicked-off the night with a virtual Happy Hour toasting and talking with guests Ray Pawlikowski, president of HotSchedules, YouTuber extraordinaire Mr. Arturo Trejo (yep, the same guy responsible for this), and Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman. Las Vegas, happiness and even showgirls were just a few of the topics touched upon. We were soon joined by legendary pro skater, Tony Hawk, President of Gigapix, David Pritchard, and Ian Green of Bootleg Canyon Flightlines.

And can you believe that was only the start of our Happy Hour?

Guests dispersed and we took the Happy Hour mobile with a tour inside of the Delivering Happiness Bus and the Launch party. We gave a glimpse into the newly remodeled bus, the crew’s sleeping quarters and showed off the signature, winking grill of the 47’ bus.

On the tour of the launch party we met a baby giraffe named Stanley, took live streaming to a whole new level, literally, by streaming live from a ride on the launch party’s ferris wheel and even a spin down a zip line.

But don't take our word for it. You can re-watch the whole livestream here.

Only six days before the baby blue bus hits the road to deliver smiles and happiness across the country. 

Thanks for your support and excitement! 

-The Delivering Happiness Team

In just four days the Delivering Happiness Bus Tour will officially launch and head towards Boulder, Colorado. Recently, Boulder was voted the happiest city in America, so it seems natural that we kick-off the tour with our first stop in Boulder. We invite anyone and everyone in the Boulder-area to come celebrate our first Delivering Happiness event on Sunday, August 29 from 3pm-8pm in Downtown Boulder at Central Park. There will be live music, games, delicious food and lots of happiness. From 3pm-3:30pm, author Tony Hsieh will be signing books and donating proceeds to the local non-profit group, First Descents. So come one, come all! 

Be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for all the latest news and details about upcoming events. 

-Delivering Happiness Team 

Today's a big day for the Delivering Happiness Bus Tour! As you can see our new site is live and looking amazing. Be sure to explore the website inside and out and let us know what you think. We're always open to suggestions. 

Tomorrow the team is going to start loading the bus and getting it ready to head out first thing Thursday morning to travel more than 800 miles to our first stop, Boulder Colorado. 

While we are getting the bus ready to head out, be sure to enter our Happy Bus Contest, for a chance to win a trip for two to meet-up with the Delivering Happiness team on the tour. If selected you'll have a chance to choose from Los Angeles, New York or Orlando. Best of luck and be sure to enter by midnight on September 1. 

The journey is about to begin. 

Inspire and Be Inspired. 

-The Delivering Happiness Team

Tomorrow the Delivering Happiness Bus Tour: "Inspire and Be Inspired" becomes a reality, as the bus heads to it's first stop, Boulder, Colorado. Today included an inspiring trip to the Zappos Headquarters, final changes and additions are being made to the bus, Delivering Happiness duffle-bags are being packed, road-trip playlists are being mixed, and last-minute emails, phone calls and accommodations are being made. It's go time! Be sure to follow along and join in, as the next several weeks are going to be very exciting for us all. Oh, and don't forget that we are still seeking our next bus-mate, so be sure to enter our Delivering Happiness Bus Contest by the deadline of September 1. 

Thanks for your support!

-Delivering Happiness Team  

The Delivering Happiness Bus Tour: Inspire and Be Inspired is officially underway. The Happy Bus left Las Vegas around 9:00pm last night, following the Zappos All Hands Meeting, and drove nearly 800-miles to Boulder, CO. The Delivering Happiness team had the opportunity to experience what it's like to sleep on the bus for the first time, and I think the overall consensus is, that it's not that bad after all. :) After arriving to Boulder at Noon, today's agenda included a site visit at Central Park in Downtown Boulder, where we'll be hosting our first tour event on Sunday from 3pm-8pm, meetings with the city to finalize details for Sunday, four back-to-back conference calls with Charity Water, Meetup, Inc. Magazine and Wine Library TV, made from our Happy Conference room in back of the bus, and a Skype interview with The Bachelor's, Ryan Sutter to talk about his involvement with First Descents (who we're partnering with in Boulder) and his 10-10-10 Challenge. 

In addition, yesterday we kicked-off our very own 'mobile spot' on Gowalla, which we have also partnered with Red Bull and LIVESTRONG for the tour. No matter the location of the bus, Gowalla users can check in at the Delivering Happiness spot and leave photos and comments and pick up a new virtual Delivering Happiness Book stamp, LIVESTRONG bracelet or a Red Bull can. For more information: http://bit.ly/b4DQt3

Tomorrow we're headed out on the river with First Descents, but we look forward to seeing all of you on Sunday in Boulder. If you can't make it to the event, be sure to tune-in for our live stream Virtual Happy Hour from 5pm-6pm MST. 

-The Delivering Happiness Team 

Today we spent the day in Golden, Colorado at the Clear Creek Whitewater Park tubing and rafting with our fabulous river guide, Preston. Followed by a BBQ in the park with the Bus Crew. Tomorrow is our BIG day, with our first event in Central Park in Boulder, Colorado. Live music, field games, caricature artist, livestreaming, book signing - it should be a great day in the park! If you aren't able to join us at the event, we hope you tune-in to our Ustream channel at 4pm-5pm PST for our livestream from the bus. Thanks to all of the local businesses and our partners who have helped make this event possible! 

And, don't forget you only have until Sept. 1 to enter our Win a Seat on the Bus contest!

Oh, and how do you like our new Happy Flag (in photo), compliments of our bus driver Steve, who picked it out for us.  

-Delivering Happiness Team

Thursday night may have been our first official day on the road, but today was out first official event. Boulder residents and the Delivering Happiness Bus team, united by happiness, got together in downtown Boulder's Central Park. There were limbo contests, balloon makers, magicians, bus tours, a book signing by author Tony Hsieh and even live music by Jeff Brinkman.

Thanks to our sponsors, which included UPS, Red Bull, Popchips and Honest Tea, all proceeds benefited local charity First Descents. And the fun didn't end with the event, because a post-event private jam session was held by the Jeff Brinkman Band.

You can re-live all the fun by watching the archived live stream of it all.

This afternoon we left set out from the city named happiest in the nation, Boulder, forging ahead into America's Heartland with eight-plus hours on the open road ahead of us. Destination: Omaha, Nebraska.

We saw llamas, cattle, and a two bug on the bus' windshield before making a quick pit stop at the Colorado-Nebraska border to pass our blue, winking Delivering Happiness ball from one state to the next. Soon after it was onto the Great Platte River Road Archway landmark in Kearney, Nebraska. But with Omaha on our minds, we were off. We're writing this from the bus, because we still haven't arrived. But...

Once we get to Omaha we'll be doing tours of local businesses and touring the Children's Hospital. Stay tuned for more information, and how you can meet up with author Tony Hsieh and the Delivering Happiness bus crew Wednesday morning.

We started this morning off early, and with a big song of welcome, courtesy of the AIM Institute, an IT non-profit, in downtown Omaha to talk happiness and company culture.

With a jam packed day ahead of us, we were off to meet up with Jeff Slobotski and Dusty Davidson, co-founders of Big Omaha (where we must admit, we also dipped our toes in a stream).   

From there we headed to the Children's Hospital to deliver happiness to patients in the form of yellow happy face balloons, books and even a magician. We shared laughs with 6-year-old Issac and teenager Sydney, who schooled the whole crew on Justin Bieber. Our second to last stop of the day was Omaha Steaks, where we suited up with vests and hard hats, toured the factory (and walked through a negative 40 degree blast freezer!), and we were on our way with tasty packets of beef jerky. 

The night finally wrapped with an open-to-the-public Happy Hour at Loft610. 

This morning we started off the day at the Marcus Midtown Theatre in downtown Omaha, where author Tony Hsieh was welcomed to the stage with a proclamation from Mayor of Omaha, pronouncing September 1 “Tony Hsieh Day.”

We were soon packed, on the road and headed East, with our sights (and GPS) on Iowa City. On the way we took a short detour to a nineteenth-century windmill in Elk Horn, Iowa.

With wigs, books and happy faces in tow, the Danish-American locals weren’t quite sure what to think of us at first glance. After purchasing a jar of Danish pickles from the windmill gift shop, delivering the shop attendant a little happiness, and snapping a picture or two with a “Happiness is… being Danish” license plate, we were back on the road.

A few hour drive and nightfall brought with it a speaking event at the Englert Theatre in Iowa City, right beside the University of Iowa campus. The house was packed for Tony's speech and subsequent book signing. 

Tony Hsieh, Jenn Lim and Ava started the day at a radio station, appearing live on Ben Kieffer’s Iowa Public Radio Show, “The Exchange."

It was then off, for the whole crew, to the classroom of University of Iowa professor David Gould. A class poll was taken post-lecture, and 30-plus students accompanied us back to the Delivering Happiness Bus for a tour.

After we checked the bus for hidden students and after a few shirts were purchased at the campus outfitters, we were off! 

But only 45-minutes after hitting the road we found ourselves on another detour, this time, to the World's Largest Truck Stop. There was a dentist, food court, sit-down restaurant, shower, t-shirts, DVD store, arcade, and every nicknack you could imagine.

Luckily we escaped without buying too much (although we can't say we escaped without doing a photo shoot) and were once again Chicago bound. 

Tomorrow's jam-packed, and wraps with a 3-hour event at Underground nightclub in Chicago. For more details on how to join us, visit our event page on Facebook. 

This morning we hopped on the bus and headed to Cityfront Plaza for an 8:00 am presentation by Tony to the Entrepreneurs’ Organization. There were plenty of attendees eager to share what made them happy: boxing, sequins and even Chap Stick.

Then it was prep time for our big bash at Underground nightclub in Chicago. We started the party early with a round of interviews with two cancer survivors in where else but… inside the bus.

An hour later, and with hundreds of angel wings and red bull on hand, the party got underway.The $20 wings that were available for purchase helped connect our guests, and all proceeds from the sales benefited local charity Imerman Angels. It was a room of inspiration as high school teachers eager to change their company culture, cancer survivors, and the bus crew mingled with one common thread: happiness.

And did we talk about the bus tours? Everyone had the chance to walk through the bus where we held everything from a salsa party to book signing.

Special thanks to Imerman Angels, UPS, Pop Chips, Honest Tea and Red Bull for making the event a success.

We just wrapped-up our final day in Chicago and what a great day indeed! We kicked-off our final day in Chicago with a stop by the brand new 37Signals office for a Q&A with Co-Founders Jason Fried and David Heinemeier Hansson, along with Jenn and Tony. Their office is pretty amazing and included a theater with exactly 37 seats...creative! Following the event we had a special visit from Delivering Happiness Fans, Susan Bingaman who drove three hours from Indiana to meet the Delivering Happiness Crew. We are humbled by the hundreds of amazing people we've had the opportunity to meet, and this is only the beginning. 

We spent the remainder of the afternoon at the Groupon Headquarters. Talk about a very cool company that is growing at a rapid rate. Just last June, there were only 34 employees and now there are 1,500 employees worldwide. CEO of Groupon, Andrew Mason and Tony had a Q&A session with all the employees. Tony held a book signing for all of the employees and proceeds benefited LIVESTRONG. BIG thanks to the amazing support from Groupon, because of them, we were able to raise more than $600 in less than 30 minutes. 

Chicago, thanks for the amazing hospitality and countless memories! Now we're setting off on a 13 hour drive to the Big Apple. New York, are you ready for us?

Inspire and Be Inspired. 

-Delivering Happiness Team

Hello, New York! Today we drove a happy 13 hours from Chicago and arrived in the Big Apple this afternoon. We will be in New York through Sunday and have a lot of exciting events planned. Tomorrow includes pedicabs in Times Square to pass out our infamous Happiness X-ing Signs (in photo) and Livestream at Inc. Magazine with Gary Vaynerchuk and Tony. On Friday, AMA is hosting Tony from 8:30am-10:30am at the Pope Auditorium, Fordham University, a stop by our friends at Charity Water, and a petiteParade Kids Fashion Show, featuring Cavalli, Sonia Rykiel, Simonetta and Charbaia at the Metropolitan Pavilion in New York. We have lots of happiness in-store for our friends in New York! 

For more information about our upcoming events, visit: www.deliveringhappinessbook.com. 

-Delivering Happiness Team 

Today was a special day for the Delivering Happiness Bus Team. This afternoon, the Bus Crew hit the streets of New York in 15 pedicabs with the mission to deliver happiness to Time Square. The Delivering Happiness Team handed out 1,500 Happiness X-ING signs, t-shirts, copies of the books and most importantly, delivered smiles to hundreds of people in Times Square. 

Following the event, we hosted a livestream at the Inc. Magazine office with special guest, author and host of Wine Library Gary Vaynerchuk and independent film producer, Karin Chien. Tony, Jenn and Gary, had their own special edition of Wine Library Delivering Happiness-style, and sampled six different vodkas, followed by a live Q&A. The entire livestream can be viewed on the Delivering Happiness Ustream channel. 

Tomorrow is another big day, in New York, with stops at Charity Water, Guilt Groupe, and the petiteParade Kids Fashion show at the Metropolitan Pavilion at 7pm. For more information visit our Delivering Happiness Book website. 

Inspire and Be Inspired! 

-Delivering Happiness Team 

Today was jammed packed with happiness. The Delivering Happiness team started spreading happiness throughout New York bright and early at the Today Show for a summer concert series with Sugarland and talked about Delivering Happiness with Today Show's Matt Lauer. Tony then had a very successful event with AMA New York--thanks, AMA for your support! Then the team hit the road and headed to the Gilt Groupe for a Q&A with Tony and a tour of the headquarters. Then we made a stop by one of our partners of the Bus Tour, Charity Water. Charity Water is a non-profit bringing clean and safe drinking water to developing nations. They have provided 200 wells of clean water to the Africa. They are an incredible organization and we are more than honored to work with them and help support their initiatives. For more information about their September birthday campaign, visit here. 

Last but not least, we had an event with the petiteParade Kids Fashion Show that benefited the non-profit organization, SoaringWords. We had the opportunity to meet so many fantastic people. 

Thanks again New York and to all of those people that have helped make this tour a success. To view more photos from today, visit our Facebook page. 

Today was an absolutely beautiful day in New York and the Delivering Happiness Team spent a majority of the day enjoying everything the city has to offer. It was very special for the Delivering Happiness team to be in New York on September 11. The mood was very somber today and you could feel a heaviness in the air. We went down to Ground Zero and it was certainty a memory that none of us will ever forget. Words can't even begin to describe what it was like to be at Ground Zero and to see firsthand all of the uniformed officers, and friends and family members remembering those who were lost. 

Tomorrow the Bus Crew is attending the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure event in Central Park. Come walk with us! We will also be doing our first of many, Random Acts of Happiness in Times Square tomorrow at 12pm. We'll be having a hula hooping contest for a chance to win one of three pairs of Broadway tickets to Wicked, Jersey Boys and Billy Elliot. Come out and have some fun in Times Square at 47th and 7th Street. 

We leave you with this quote from Kahill: "The deeper that sorrow carves into your being, the more joy you can contain. Sorrow really is the other side of happiness if we can remember that we can get through anything and eliminate fear."

Inspire and Be Inspired!

-Delivering Happiness  

We are winding down our first day in Providence, Rhode Island. Today we spent the majority of the day cleaning out and organizing the bus and support van. We've also had meetings about the tour and upcoming stops. Reflecting back on the past 17 days on the road, it's incredible how much we've done and how many inspiring people and businesses we've come in contact with. 

Tomorrow the team is stoping by Ronald McDonald House to visit with families and patients of the Children's Hospital. Later tomorrow, if you're in the area, the Delivering Happiness bus crew will be having drinks at the Pottersville Pub (1104 County St, Somerset, MA) at 9pm and would love you to join. 

Inspire and be Inspired. 

Yesterday we visited the Ronald McDonald House to deliver popsicles and bubbles. We also received a tour compliments of Michael. An interesting fact about this charity is that only 10% of all donations to the Ronald McDonald House actually comes from McDonald’s and 90% comes from the support of donors and the local communities. Ronald McDonald House provides a support system for families who’s children are at the Providence Children’s Hospital across the street. Following our visit at the Ronald McDonald House, we went to the Children’s Hospital to hand out Happiness X-ING signs and books to the children and family members. Visiting the children was both extremely difficult and inspiring at the same time. No matter how much pain the children were in, they were all so friendly and continued to have a smile on their face. 

Following the hospital, we shot our very first music video in the park. Stay tuned for the video in the next few days--we had a blast making it and hope you enjoy it. Big thanks to Ms. McNamara (Holly’s Mom) for having us over for dinner. When you’re on the road for so long, there’s nothing like a home cooked dinner! 

Today Tony and Jenn spoke at the Business Innovation Factory (BIF) Conference at the Trinity Repertory Company. From an attendee perspective, it was a very interesting format of the conference, where each of the speakers were encouraged to have a “storytelling” format presentation. Following Tony’s presentation, he offered for each of the attendees to have the opportunity to receive a copy of the book and tour the bus. We had nearly 100 people who came on to the bus for a tour. 

Providence is a wrap, and now we are all headed home for a 10 day break. Keep an eye out for information, photos and videos from the past two weeks. We are still in the process of netting out the details for our upcoming stops, but we will see you on the road again on September 26 in Boston. 

Until then, be sure to watch Tony's interview with Seth Godin and Inspire and be Inspired! 

-Delivering Happiness 

The Delivering Happiness Bus Tour is back on the road, kicking-off the second half of the tour in Boston. For those of you who haven't had an opportunity to catch-up on our first half of the tour make sure to watch our catchy Happy Wrap video and Tony's interview with Seth Godin. 

We have big hopes for the second part of the tour and have some exciting visits and events planned while in Boston. On Monday, the Bus Crew will be making a visit by the Boston's Children's Hospital, followed by a private event at our friends and partners, Kell & Partners headquarters. Then we're wrapping up our first full-day in Boston with the Rouge Wave concert. 

On Tuesday, AMA Boston is hosting Tony Hsieh from 7:30am-9:00am at Bentley College. If you're interested in attending, registration is still available. Following the AMA event, will be paying a visit to our friends at Clarks Shoes and then heading over to Tony's alma mater, the Harvard Business School. On Tuesday evening, we invite everyone to come enjoy a drink with the Delivering Happiness team at John Harvard's Brewhouse at 7pm. For more information, visit here. 

The Delivering Happiness Bus Crew is excited to be on the road again, are you ready for us Boston?! 

Inspire and Be Inspired. 

-Delivering Happiness Team 

We're baaaaack! And, we're in Boston. The team met up today and enjoyed some "chowdah" while discussing the final plans for the next few days.  We also enjoyed a BIG warm welcome from Shaquille O'Neal on Twitter. Can you tell we're happy to be here? Share your heel click with us. (Gotta watch the video.) Happy Sunday. 

Today was a packed day in Boston for the Delivering Happiness team. Starting bright and early the Delivering Happiness team stopped by the Children's Hospital Boston. The team was able to take a tour of the hospital and meet a few of the patients, there was even some clowning around with the Children's Hospital clowns. Tony then presented to nearly 200 staff members at the hospital. A few fun facts about the Boston Children's Hospital, they are ranked #2 in the nation and also has the largest Facebook page for a hospital with more than 410,000 Likes! Impressive. 

Following the Hospital visit, friends of Delivering Happiness, Kell & Partners hosted 100 of Boston's business leaders and entrepreneurs at their office, which included 13 year old entrepreneur, Lane Sutton, who has been an entrepreneur since the age of 5!  

To wrap-up a highly successful and inspiring day, the Delivering Happiness team attended the Rouge Wave concert and a private jam session on the bus after the concert...violin included! 

Stay tuned for another exciting day tomorrow, with a stop by the Harvard Business School, the Clark's Shoes office and much more. 

To see more photos from the day, visit the Delivering Happiness Facebook page. 

Inspire and Be Inspired. 

-Delivering Happiness Team 

Today was a packed day in Boston for the Delivering Happiness team. Starting bright and early the Delivering Happiness team stopped by the Children's Hospital Boston. The team was able to take a tour of the hospital and meet a few of the patients, there was even some clowning around with the Children's Hospital clowns. Tony then presented to nearly 200 staff members at the hospital. A few fun facts about the Boston Children's Hospital, they are ranked #2 in the nation and also has the largest Facebook page for a hospital with more than 410,000 Likes! Impressive. 

Following the Hospital visit, friends of Delivering Happiness, Kell & Partners hosted 100 of Boston's business leaders and entrepreneurs at their office, which included 13 year old entrepreneur, Lane Sutton, who has been an entrepreneur since the age of 5!  

To wrap-up a highly successful and inspiring day, the Delivering Happiness team attended the Rouge Wave concert. To top it off, Rouge Wave performed a private jam session on the bus following the concert...violins included! 

Stay tuned for another exciting day tomorrow, with a stop by the Harvard Business School, the Clark's Shoes office and much more. 

To see more photos from the day, visit the Delivering Happiness Facebook page. 

Inspire and Be Inspired. 

-Delivering Happiness Team 

Thank you, Boston for your incredible hospitality! It's been a busy few days, but we managed to pack in two full-days of events and visits. AMA Boston event hosted a fabulous event featuring special guest, Tony Hsieh at Bentley University. Following the AMA event, we stopped in to see our friends at Clark's Shoes and they surprised us with a giant smiley face cake and we had a chance to tour their office. Then we visited the location where it all began for Tony, Harvard University. The Delivering Happiness team toured the beautiful campus and even saw Tony's dorm in Quincy Hall. It was so great to meet all of the Harvard Business School folks, who we also toasted a drink with at John Harvard's Brewhouse following Tony's presentation. 

Thanks again for the support and on to D.C. we go tomorrow! For a full-listing of events in the D.C. area, visit the Delivering Happiness website. 

See you in D.C.!

Inspire and Be Inspired! 

-Delivering Happiness Team 

It's been a very wet day in D.C. making traveling around the city a challenge. A little rain doesn't stop us from Delivering Happiness though! The AMA DC hosted Tony Hsieh this morning, thank you, AMA for your support as always! We are just leaving the University of Maryland, where Tony spoke to packed auditorium of more than 500 people. Following the event, Tony signed copies of Delivering Happiness and proceeds benefited Charity Water. Thanks to the UofM, we raised more than $1,000 to support our Charity Water campaign and serve 101 people in Central Africa with clean water. 

More to come from this rainy day. But until then, be sure to Inspire and Be Inspired. 

-Delivering Happiness Team 

You can't go to D.C. if you're on the Delivering Happiness tour and not stop by the White House. So, that's exactly what we did. Only six people from the team were allowed to attend the White House tour, so we had to draw names the night before. Talk about a heated battle for spots. :) Following the White House tour, we drove to Bethesda, MD to visit one of our partners of the Delivering Happiness Bus Tour, Honest Tea. Lead by CEO, Seth Goldman, Honest Tea isn't a company that just boasts sustainability, they live by it from their packaging to their office design (recycled rubber flooring and countertops, refurbished brick, etc). What I found the most compelling is that 34 people (140 total employees) work at their Bethesda office and they've been able to develop 33+ tea flavors from their office kitchen. Talk about doing more with less. They are also named "Honest Tea" because they actually do use real tea leaves for their product, which is unique in the bottled tea industry. 

We just concluded a happy hour with the Inc 5000 folks at Cadillac Ranch. We met some really great people, we even came across a fan of Delivering Happiness who like Tony, just happened to have his own worm farm at the age of nine! 

You can see photos from the day on the Delivering Happiness Facebook page. 

Tomorrow is National LIVESTRONG Day and we're looking forward to supporting the cause and celebrating with our friends from the local D.C. LIVESTRONG Army at James Hoban's Irish Bar & Resturant at 7pm. Come join us and get a book, a yellow LIVESTRONG t-shirt and meet the Delivering Happiness bus team. Tony will be signing books from 8-9pm and proceeds will benefit LIVESTRONG. 

Inspire and Be Inspired. 

-Delivering Happiness Team

Our stay in D.C. is coming to an end. This evening we head to Shepherdsville, Kentucky and arrive tomorrow morning. During our stay in D.C. we had the opportunity to meet so many great people from the Inc 500 Conference, Honest Tea, LIVESTRONG Day event and the University of Maryland. On Saturday we gave tours of the bus for those who attended the Inc conference and the Bus Crew all agreed that it ranked pretty high on our list having the opportunity to meet so many different people who all share a similar philosophy on happiness. 

Our LIVESTRONG Day event turned out to be a success, thank you to all who supported the cause. For those of you unfamiliar with LIVESTRONG Day, it's the anniversary of Lance Armstrong's cancer diagnosis 13 years ago. A time to celebrate life and support the cause. Thanks to the local D.C. LIVESTRONG Army, we were able to raise money for LIVESTRONG through a book signing event with Tony.

Next up on our agenda is Kentucky. We're touring UPS tomorrow evening and then on Tuesday we are visiting the Zappos wharehouse and hosting an event with the employees. We are all really looking forward to this visit. 

Our next public event will be in Atlanta on October 7. For more information on the event, please visit our website. 

Inspire and Be Inspired. 

-Delivering Happiness 

After arriving in Louisville, KY, after a over night drive (and a 1am stop by Taco Bell) we went by the visitors center and found out there are five different ways to pronounce Louisville: Looavul, Luhvul, Loueville, Looaville or Looeyville. Who knew?! Kentucky is on the tour map so that we have the opportunity to stop by the Zappos Warehouse tomorrow for a tour and an event, which we are really looking forward to. 

Following our team dinner on Forth Street Live tonight, the team had the opportunity to tour the UPS facility and fly the 767 flight simulators, which was certainty a memorable experience for all of us. Plus each of us managed to land the plane...which is huge and delivered lots of happiness to us! Thank you UPS for your support of the Delivering Happiness Tour. 

Inspire and Be Inspired. 

-Delivering Happiness 

Today the Delivering Happiness team visited the 832,000 square feet facility in Sheperdsville, KY. It was great to see that although miles away from the Zappos headquarters in Henderson, NV, the Warehouse still emulated the same core values and strong culture. That's when you know it's real. 

Following the tour and lunch with the Zappos employees, we hosted an event Delivering Happiness-style with live music, BBQ from Famous Daves, Red Bull, hula hooping, a t-shirt gun and loads of dancing. It was great to deliver smiles to the great people at Zappos. 

Tomorrow we are headed off to Atlanta and are hosting a big event on Thursday at Rocky Mountain Pizza Factory from 5pm-8pm and we hope you join us if you are in the area. 

Inspire and Be Inspired. 

Delivering Happiness 

Did you know that Atlanta was recently voted the unhappiest city in the U.S.? The Delivering Happiness happens to disagree after spending a day in the city. The Delivering Happiness team delivered Random Acts of Happiness throughout Atlanta yesterday, from elementary schools, to parks to Martin Luther King's house. Following our Random Acts of Happiness session, Delivering Happiness partnered with Dave Brautigan from Atlantic Refrigeration, who is also the the owner of Rocky Mountain Pizza Company, where we hosted an event. Tony mentions Dave and Atlantic Refrigeration quite often in his presentations as an example of a company that went through the Zappos Insights program and applied their learnings to increase profits and overall company culture. At the event they even surprised the team with a sledding hill with real snow. 

Now it's off to Miami for the next few days. Stay tuned for information about our public event on Saturday, October 16 in Miami. 

The Delivering Happiness team will be spending the next week in Miami. Must admit, there's no better place to spend a week in. Today we are prepping to shoot part two of the Happy Wrap, so stay tuned later this week for our next installment. We promise you won't be disappointed. 

This week we will also be delivering Random Acts of Happiness in Miami. If you're familiar with the area and have schools, hospitals, non-profits, etc. that you think need a bit of happiness, please send us an email to Alana@deliveringhappiness.com. We're open to any and all recommendations. 

If you haven't had an opportunity to watch our Random Acts of Happiness in Atlanta, here's a quick video. 

On Saturday from 3pm-7pm join the Delivering Happiness team and Tony Hsieh for a pool party event at the Shore Club. 

Inspire and Be inspired. 

-Delivering Happiness 

Today is the big day we shoot the second installment of the Happy Wrap video for part two of the tour. We promise this little jingle won't disappoint. We had a great time finding props for the shoot as well (photo included). Our few days in Miami have been great to catch-up on video content and recharge the batteries before the third part of the tour begins. 

What do you think of the new features we've added to the Delivering Happiness Bus website, journal, videos, etc.? We'd love any feedback you can give. 

Next up on the agenda is the pool party on Saturday, October 16 from 3-7pm at the Shore Club in Miami. Complimentary Grey Goose beverages will be served and Smart Water. For more information, visit our website.

Keep an eye out for our Happy Wrap part two later this week.

Inspire and Be Inspired.

-Delivering Happiness  

The Delivering Happiness Team stopped by the Holtz Children's Hospital and took a tour of the hospital with Bravery Hearts founder, Darren Enkin. When a child begins their difficult journey with cancer, they are given a necklace with their name on it. As they undergo difficult treatments, they receive special plastic or wooden beads, called Bravery Heart Beads, to commemorate these milestones. It's an amazing organization, with a truly remarkable cause. 

We all left the hospital inspired after our conversations with the patients. Regardless of the pain and turmoil they've been through in their lives, they still manage to keep smiles on their face and positive spirits. True happiness. 

Inspire and Be Inspired. 

-Delivering Happiness Team 

Today's the big day in Miami. We're hosting a pool party at the Shore Club from 3:00-8:00pm and are wrapping up final details. Thanks to our sponsors, Grey Goose, Honest Tea, Red Bull, One Hope Wine and Smart Water for making this party a happy party for all of our guests. There's even a sandcastle artist creating a sculpture of the Delivering Happiness Bus. Proceeds from the book signing at today's event will benefit Bravery Hearts. If you're in the Miami area, we invite you to come celebrate the Delivering Happiness Bus Tour with us. 

For those of you that haven't had a chance to watch our video clip from our visit at Holtz Children's Hospital, here's your chance to do so. 

Have a happy Saturday, and Inspire and Be Inspired!

-Delivering Happiness Team

Yesterday we had a successful pool party event at the Shore Club in Miami. We had the pleasure to meet a couple hundred great people from Miami and have a little fun in the sun. Now we're on the bus headed on the four hour trek to Tampa, FL. For those of you wondering why we didn't make it to Orlando, we decided that it would be best to spend the day in Miami so we could shoot the remainder of the Happy Wrap video and catch-up on content from the previous days. 

For those of you in Tampa, we hope to see you at the Tampa Bay AMA luncheon tomorrow afternoon, where Tony will be guest speaking. 

We are currently on the road headed for New Orleans. Yesterday Tony spoke at the Tampa Bay AMA event and apparently it was the highest attended event in the chapters history. That’s what we like to hear! Following the AMA event, we had a happy hour visit at the Walker Brands office and played a little pingpong, had a book signing benefiting LIVESTRONG and had a chance to meet the great people from Walker. A brief background on Walker Brands, for the past two months, they’ve been using social media creatively to campaigning to get the Delivering Happiness Bus to stop at their office. Well, it worked, as we were impressed with their persistence and passion for Delivering Happiness and the tour. Thanks for the great visit, Nancy and the gang! We have a busy week ahead of us in New Orleans, with everything from a parade to a block party, and helping build a house. We even have the opportunity to record the band Fishbone on the bus. If you’re in the area, we invite you to join us on Friday at our event.

To see photos from Tampa, click here. 

Inspire and Be Inspired.

-Delivering Happiness

The Delivering Happiness Team received a tour from Tony Ciaccio, who has been great to us while in New Orleans. We visited the Backstreet Cultural Center to learn about the history of the unique culture and traditions of the New Orleans African American society and Mardi Gras Indians. 

Tony then took us around the Lower 9th Ward that was effected by Hurricane Katrina. We just happened to drive by a Make it Right home and had the opportunity to interview one of the homeowners about his experience with the Hurricane and what it's like to move forward after such devastation. Truly inspirational. Stay tuned for the interview we captured. 

To view some of our photos from yesterday, visit our Facebook page. 

Inspire and Be Inspired. 

-Delivering Happiness 

We visited the Carver Elementary School in New Orleans today. Carver is part of the Louisiana Recovery Project. Since Hurricane Katrina, education has been the focus for the state, as schools in this area were ranked among the worst school systems in the country. Schools in New Orleans that are under performing receive funding from charter schools and public funding from Louisiana Department of Education to put them on the road to success and provide a higher level of education. We visited Ms. Trent's kindergarden class (we love her!) and had the chance to go out to recess with the kids. Because the school is part of the Recovery Program they have a slightly different teaching model that includes longer school hours, school on Saturday's and and regardless of their age, the focus is on attending college. 

Ms. Trent also shared with us her experience living in New Orleans and all of the unique traditions and deep rooted culture. One consensus between all of us on the Delivering Happiness team is that people in New Orleans are the nicest people, everything from servers to random people on the street. True Southern hospitality in New Orleans. 

New Orleans, you inspire us! 

Inspire and Be Inspired. 

Yesterday the Delivering Happiness team partnered up with the St. Bernard Project here in New Orleans. St. Bernard Project provides relief work for Hurricane Katrina victims and has rebuilt 321 homes, which is more than any other organization in New Orleans. They started off the day by taking us on a tour through the area the devastation was the worst, and five years later homes are still left destroyed. Shockingly more than 6,000 families that own homes can't afford to rebuild them and continue to live in the gutted homes. 

Following the tour, the Delivering Happiness team split into two groups and helped rebuild two separate homes for the day. It was great to be apart of something great and know that we are making a contribution. Overall a great day.

For more information about St. Bernard or to donate, visit their website. 

Inspire and Be Inspired. 

We've arrived in Austin and we spent the day delivering Random Acts of Happiness throughout the city. Targets we hit: University of Texas, the Department of Motor Vehicles (you're welcome), and a Whole Foods market. 

But we're not done with Austin yet. Come out and see us on Friday night at SIX lounge for a happy hour with drink specials from 6pm-8pm. Or help us root on your Texas Longhorns at our tailgating event with LIVESTRONG and Movember.

For more details for these events, click here.

The team dropped by the LIVESTRONG headquarters in Austin, TX for a surprise happy hour. We received a warm welcome from CEO Doug Ulman and also grabbed a tour of their offices. 

LIVESTRONG fights to improve the lives of those affected by cancer. While we toured their office, their mission inspired all of us. From the LIVESTRONG manifesto they send to those battling cancer, hand-signed by every LIVESTRONG employee to their wall of core values and mission statement, their passion to improve how people fight cancer emanated from the room.

Later, both the LIVESTRONG and Delivering Happiness teams jump-started a Happy Halloween weekend at Six Lounge.

What better way to spend a Saturday in Texas than tailgating before a Texas Longhorns game? We partnered up with LIVESTRONG, Movember, and Break Cancer for a pre-game tailgate. 

With the plenty of BBQ, footballs, and hula hoops, we enjoyed a beautiful day in Austin with great friends. One of the highlights of the day was setting the Break Cancer record for Most People to Sing 'I Will Survive' with over 40 people singing and dancing. 

After a fun afternoon, we rested up before hitting 6th street for Halloween night. With the theme of the night being "Life Is A Safari" we dressed up as a pack of wild animals. 

Eventually, the pack of wild animals needed naps and we bunked up for a long drive from the Lone Star state to Arizona. 

Thank you Austin for keeping it weird! We'll see you soon Tucson.

On Monday, the Delivering Happiness team made its first visit to a high school. The Happy Bus pulled into Pueblo High School in Tucson, AZ and was greeted by teachers and students. We couldn't have asked for a warmer welcome with an authentic, home-cooked Mexican lunch and a performance by the school's Mariachi band. 

In order for the Pueblo students to participate in the day, the school required that they not only read Delivering Happiness but also pass a quiz and develop their own list of personal core values.

The discussion that followed impressed all of us in the room. The students inspired everyone on the team with their passion and maturity and we left feeling that there was a young generation of students ready to join the movement.

After leaving Pueblo, we hit the road for Phoenix for a fiesta at the Digital Royalty HQ. Part of the night included a book signing to raise money for the Leukemia Foundation of Arizona. It was a night of hula hooping, dancing, and celebrating happiness. We even had a wedding anniversary and a birthday to celebrate!

We'll be heading to California tomorrow. So we'll catch you there soon!

The Delivering Happiness team  kicked-off the LA stop with a night at the Magic Castle last night. Today is a big day starting off the day with a Bloomberg interview and then Tony will be speaking at the Entrepreneur Organization event at UCLA. Then the team is headed to the Mahalo headquarter in Santa Monica for a happy hour and livestream starting at 8pm that can be watched on www.thisweekin.com with Tony Hsieh and Jason Calacanis. 

If you haven't had an opportunity to see the latest installment of the Happy Wrap Part-Two: Bus, Bus, Baby here's your chance to do so. 

Inspire and Be Inspired. 

-Delivering Happiness 

Day two in LA turned out to be a extremely busy one. The Delivering Happiness team started the day off at the Bloomberg office to shoot the remaining portion of the interview with Tony and the Bus Team. The segment is airing soon, so stay tuned for when we post it. We then headed to the Entrepreneur Organization event at UCLA that included a special presentation with Tony and the Dean of UCLA. There was more than 400 students and EO members that attended. Thanks to all who supported.

The Delivering Happiness team, then ended the evening with a stop by the search engine start-up, Mohalo headquarters for a happy hour event and livestream with Tony, Jenn and the CEO of Mahalo, Jason Calacanis . Mahola, like Zappos and Delivering Happiness is focused on company culture and employee experience. For example, the Mahalo employees have a wellness program that includes a personal chef that cooks them meals, a laundry service and a fitness program. Makes it hard not to like your job. 

Tomorrow there's two events on the agenda, starting with NABWO LA and a Curious Series at CAA with Tony Hsieh. 

Inspire and Be Inspired. 

Photo credit: Cheryl Ting (Bus Winner) 

Believe it or not we just had our first official bookstore book signing on the tour today in Santa Monica at Every Picture Tells A Story. There was a great turnout of people who were interested in meeting the Delivering Happiness Team and have their book autographed by Tony. 

Following the book signing we had the band Rabbit! record on the bus for an original track for the Delivering Happiness tour. Stay tuned for another addition of Beats from the Tour in the upcoming weeks. 

As many of you know we held a Win a Seat on the Bus contest and selected our winner Cheryl Ting who then selected another VHP and support of Delivering Happiness, Christy Annis. They both joined the tour here in LA and we were so honored to have them. Cheryl so kindly put together the attached video and a blog post for her first day of the trip. Enloy! 

Tomorrow, on to San Diego we go. 

Inspire and Be inspired. 

The Delivering Happiness team pulled out of Los Angeles yesterday morning and headed to San Diego to attend the Stay Classy Awards last night where Tony presented an award. We delivered lots of happiness with copies of the book to more than 1,200 attendees of the event. Had the opportunity to pick the brains and interview Adam Garone, CEO of Movember and the Founder of the Stay Classy organization, Scot Chisholm. 

This morning we visited Competitor Group offices, who is the company that runs the 19 Rock N' Roll Marathons across the country. This year they will have more than 400,000 participants and the Delivering Happiness team will be attending the one in December in Las Vegas. 

Tomorrow, if you are in the San Diego-area come by the Delivering Happiness Happy Hour at 7:30pm at Fluxx Nightclub in San Diego to meet the team. 

Inspire and Be Inspired. 

After a sunny day in San Diego, the team headed over to FLUXX for a night of dancing. We partnered with our friends from Give Your Sole to collect shoes for those less fortunate.

Besides collecting shoes, attendees donated money for signed books, pizza, and Neuro drinks.

We even celebrated Joey's birthday with a special blue Happy Bus cake. Happy Birthday, Joey!

It was an awesome night, thank you to everyone who came out to support Give Your Sole!

We're back on the road again. We're leaving Palm Springs today (probably a few pounds lighter) after an awesome day of hiking Mount San Jacinto yesterday. It was a great day of team bonding.

We also spent time at the Ernst & Young National EOY conference where Tony spoke. The team delivered happiness in the form of books & happy dances. Entrepreneurs have some impressive dance skills!

The Delivering Happiness team made their way across the Golden Gate Bridge and in to San Francisco after a great visit to the Sonoma Worm Farm, back where it all started for Tony as a little child. Big thanks to Jack and Lois for hosting the team! The Delivering Happiness Bus crew hosted a virtual happy hour from the Samovar Tea Lounge with co-hosts Jenn Lim and Tony Hsieh. Special guests included Chip Conley, Eric Ryan from Method, James Lim founder of Haamonoii Shochu, Tony and Jenn's moms and others. You can watch the virtual happy hour from last night on our Ustream page. 

Today the Delivering Happiness team is visiting the Pixar offices and then wrapping up the evening with the Entrepreneur Organization event at the Nikko Hotel in San Francisco. 

Inspire and Be Inspired. 

-Delivering Happiness Team

The Delivering Happiness Bus Crew had the honor to visit the Twitter office yesterday and host a live stream with Twitter Co-Founder Evan Williams. If you weren’t able to tune-in live, you can watch all of our achieved live streams on the Delivering Happiness Ustream channel. 

For those of you who we met at the Web 2.0 conference yesterday, thanks for stoping by the bus and for your support of Delivering Happiness. 

This morning we stopped by Popchips, who is a partner of the Delivering Happiness Bus Tour. We had a great time 'chip chatting' with the Popchips team, using Popchips puns (get it, chip chatting.) and challenging them at their trademarked Chip N’ Slide beanbag game. It’s no surprise that they were recently named one of America’s Hottest Brands by Advertising Age. If you haven't had a chance to see Ashton Kutcher, president of Popchips recent TMZ spoof, you should. 

Next up on the agenda, Portland.  

Inspire and Be Inspired. 

This morning we rolled into Portland and woke up to yummy VooDoo Doughnuts. The team took an extended pit stop in Portland where we took advantage of our short time in the city.

Tony spoke an the AMA Portland luncheon this afternoon. Next, we stopped by Powell's Books, the largest independent bookstore in the U.S.. We checked out the "city of books" but we didn't get lost because our awesome tour guide, Michael Lamb. He even showed us a copy of a book Jack Kerouac owned and took notes in the margins.

Before we hit the road, we stopped in the Keen Garage and the Keen Footwear offices. They even surprised us with a winkey face made of shoes! We love the Keen philosophy of "Create, Play, Care".

And now we're back on the road headed to our last stop of the Delivering Happiness tour: Seattle, Washington!

-Inspire and Be Inspired  

As we said in the beginning of the tour, happiness is unpredictable and that was definitely proved in Seattle.

Monday morning the team woke up to a snowy Seattle. We headed over to the Puget Sound AMA luncheon where Tony and Jenn spoke to the attendees. By the time we left, we had a snow covered bus and a room full of inspired marketers.

While the weather forced two events to be cancelled, the team made the most of the snowy weather. Our Monday night roller skating event had to be cancelled due to closed highways but the team happily rolled (slid?) with the changes and created an event on the fly at a nearby restaurant where 3 brave Seattlites joined us for a cozy evening of dancing. 

With another cancelled event, Tuesday morning brought the official end of the tour. After our final team lunch at Seattle hot-spot Serious Pie we gave each other hugs, snapped some final photos, and scattered across the country for the Thanksgiving holiday.

Although the inaugural tour has ended, we are excited for our official wrap festivities coming up in December in Las Vegas. The movement has just begun. Thank you for joining us on this crazy and happy ride!

This weekend was the official wrap of the Delivering Happiness 'Inspire and Be Inspired' Bus Tour. The weekend was kicked-off with the Rock 'n' Roll Runners Expo in Las Vegas on Friday and Saturday, where we gave out thousands of books and bus tours to those who attended the expo. On Sunday, to celebrate, and with little to no training, the Delivering Happiness team managed to finish the 13-mile half-marathon with smiles! To watch a video from the weekend that our honorary bus crew member (and Win a Seat on the Bus contest winner), Cheryl Ting created, click here.

On Monday, the team had meetings all day to brainstorm and discuss the next phase of the Delivering Happiness Movement. Later that evening, in true Delivering Happiness-fashion, the team celebrated the completion of the 13-mile run and the conclusion of an epic three-month bus tour at Blue Martini in Las Vegas. 

Now that the book launch and bus tour are all said and done, you may be wondering what’s next for the Delivering Happiness team. Although we’re still in the process of “writing” the next chapter, we can assure you this is only the beginning for the Delivering Happiness Movement!

We want your opinion on how we can best serve you, our readers and supporters, and aid you in joining and continuing the movement. So, let us know here! You’re truly the reason why we’re inspired to do more…

Thanks for your support and following along on this inspiring journey for the past three-months. Without you, none of this would have been possible. 

For more information and to stay up-to-date with Delivering Happiness, be sure to visit the Delivering Happiness Book website, here. 

Continue to Inspire and Be Inspired!