Sales Director Keevie Silvay’s career has included stints at startups and big companies alike, but it was only when she joined Yahoo! in 2004 did she realize that she could have the best of both worlds. “[Yahoo] is a huge platform with millions and millions of users, but at the same time, it’s always at the leading edge of what’s going on in the industry. “ Keevie says.

Keevie and her team handle advertising giants like Proctor & Gamble, General Mills and Kraft and compares finding the best ways to provide them with the ultimate Yahoo! experience to getting a digital MBA.

“From search to branded entertainment to original content and everything in between — there is no greater place to learn everything in the digital industry and to provide those solutions to your clients.”

Editors Note: This article is part of a series entitled “Life at Yahoo!,” that gives employees the opportunity to share their own stories about Yahoo!. To hear more of these stories, visit Yahoo! Careers, or visit us on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter.

Although Ali Dib spent 10 years of his career working in digital media companies, it wasn’t until he joined Yahoo! in 2010 that he gained a true understanding of what it takes for an internet property like Yahoo! to earn the top spot as the premier digital media company.

The Senior Director of Global Agency Development was inspired by the breadth and depth of Yahoo!’s content offerings and advertising solutions – from its branded entertainment network, to its ad network and media exchange. “I’d never been exposed anything like that.” says Ali. “I thought this would be a great place for me to not only get myself educated to the other aspects of digital media, but also just to really further my career.”

While Yahoo!’s top-notch reputation is what got Ali interested in the company, his true motivation stems from the energy and enthusiasm of the Yahoo! employees around him. “The reason I love it here is the passion and the people,” Ali says. “Each and every person out there… I mean there is just this absolute love for the brand.”

Editors Note: This article is part of a series entitled “Life at Yahoo!,” that gives employees the opportunity to share their own stories about Yahoo!. To hear more of these stories, visit Yahoo! Careers, or visit us on Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter.

Ten milliseconds may not seem like a long time, but when it comes to loading online search results, Venkat Udaysankar begs to differ. “If something is slower by ten milliseconds, its not good enough for me,” says the Search Performance Engineer. Through his commitment to optimizing the search engine and delivering results at lightening-fast speed, Venkat gets satisfaction knowing that he is helping make Yahoo! users happy. “With everything that you do, with every ten milliseconds that you save, you feel like you put a smile on somebody’s face.”

Editors Note: This article is part of a series entitled “Life at Yahoo!,” that gives employees the opportunity to share their own stories about Yahoo!. To hear more of these stories, visit Yahoo! Careers, or visit us on Linkedin and Twitter.

A group of Yahoos from Taiwan recently banded together to run up the Taipei 101, which weighs in as the world’s tallest skyscraper at 101 stories with 2,046 steps. That’s 508 meters or one third of a mile… straight up. It was part of a masochistic race called the “Taipei 101 Run Up,” which pits teams against each other to see who can reach the top first. The 20 participating teams included major brands like Coca-Cola, Nike, and Bayer.

Sporting purple Yahoo! T-shirts, our team included a few senior Yahoo! executives, including Ari Balogh, our executive vice president of Products and chief technology officer (visiting from California); Rose Tsou, senior vice president of our Asia region; and Charlene Hung, general manager of Yahoo! Taiwan.

So, how’d they do in this ultimate Stairmaster challenge? They placed fifth, just a few spots behind last year’s second place finish (when they lost out to the fire department — the only team you really want passing you). And the fastest Yahoo? That would be Ari, whose addiction to energy bars clearly paid off. He scaled the building’s 101 stories in just 18:26.

Here are some photos from the race and sweet victory:

Nicki Dugan
Blog Editor

Take Mitch Spolan, for example. We have a phrase around here that describes someone who’s loyal to the core — they “bleed purple.” That’s Mitch in a nutshell. He’s a 10-year Yahoo! veteran who’s seen it all — the good, the bad, the ugly, and the awesome. And he’s embodied the definition of pride throughout. And in this presentation, Mitch gave abut 13,000 people a bevy of reasons to share that pride.

You have to forget for a moment that he’s a sales guy (he was just promoted to head of our North American field sales organization) because what you’re about to watch isn’t some guy just trying to cut a deal. This video helps you understand what it means to bleed purple.

And you’ll also learn a thing or two about measuring social impact by a factor of Obamas.

Nicki Dugan
Blog Editor

I’ve been on a whirlwind tour for the last six weeks, talking with everybody from executive leaders to the guys who configured my laptop. I’ve been in student mode, slowly getting smarter about what makes this place tick. And most recently, I’ve been gathering information on what it’s going to take to get Yahoo! to a great place as an organization –- and one that brings you killer products.

People here have impressed the hell out of me. They’re smart, dedicated, passionate, driven, and really nice. There’s so much great energy and frankly lots of optimism. But there’s also plenty that has bogged this company down. For starters, you’d be amazed at how complicated some things are here.

So today I’m rolling out a new management structure that I believe will make Yahoo! a lot faster on its feet. For us working at Yahoo!, it means everything gets simpler. We’ll be able to make speedier decisions, the notorious silos are gone, and we have a renewed focus on the customer. For you using Yahoo! every day, it will better enable us to deliver products that make you say, “Wow.”

I’ve noticed that a lot of us on the inside don’t spend enough time looking to the outside. That’s why I’m creating a new Customer Advocacy group. After getting a lot of angry calls at my office from frustrated customers, I realized we could do a better job of listening to and supporting you. Our Customer Care team does an incredible job with the amazing number of people who come to them, but they need better resources. So we’re investing in that. After all, you deserve the very best.

We’re also leaning on this team to make sure we’re all hearing the voice of our customers (consumers and advertisers). I’m singularly focused on providing you with awesome products. Period. The kind that get you so excited, you have to tell someone about them. Whether on your desktop, your mobile device, or even your TV.

And that takes a real understanding of what you want/need/love/hate, how you’re using our products, and what you find simple, intuitive, easy and fun. Who wants innovation for innovation’s sake if it doesn’t make your life easier, more efficient, more productive? So expect us to hear you better and take better care of you.

Finally, a note about our brand. It’s one of our biggest assets. Mention Yahoo! practically anywhere in the world, and people yodel. But in the past few years, we haven’t been as clear in showing the world what the Yahoo! brand stands for. We’re going to change that. Look for this company’s brand to kick ass again.

Big thanks to the many of you who’ve reached out with positive comments. It’s clear people want Yahoo! to succeed. I’ll try to pop by here again soon, though probably not too soon. I have a pretty long to-do list.

Carol Bartz
CEO

A huge advantage of having an office in such a cold and deserted corner of the world is, of course, that there is little else to do than go to work. The hazardous environment is, however, a big drawback — blizzards, temperatures well below even the lowest of comfort zones and, worst of all, the hungry polar bears (isbjørn) that sneak around town looking for food or a warm place to hide.

So while your biggest commuting worry is how heavy the traffic will be, these guys — wishing they had Kevlar coats and rifles on their scooters — have to ask themselves: “Will I even make it to work today?”

Could this be for real? Do these daredevils from Norway deserve high-risk pay and additional insurance packages, or are they just pulling our legs? See their photo evidence at Flickr and let us know what you think.

Eirik Refsdal
Engineer, Yahoo! Search

Every year, more than 12 million people reach for computer mice along with their remotes as they play fantasy football. Yahoo! Sports alone has more than four million players. That’s a lot of people demanding perfection when it comes to their league drafting process, how fast they can get their hands on data and stats, and how easily they can manage their rosters in that critical hour before the coin toss.

Though the leagues ended with the playoffs, we thought we’d give you a video look at the team of engineers that kept you on top of your game -– the people who toiled on Sunday afternoons and Monday nights to ensure that servers didn’t crash under the weight of all those stats. The team that brought you all the best new tools to help you make smarter calls. The guys (and gals) who, like you, live and breathe sports — nary a day goes by without at least one football jersey in the cube bullpen. In fact, quite a few of them have been working on Yahoo! Sports for more than ten years.

Whether you’re a Cardinals or a Steelers fan, may your guacamole be fresh, your beer plentiful, and your pizza hot. For once, Yahoo! Sports engineers will be watching the game right along with you.

Nicki Dugan
Blog Editor

Filmed and edited by Bart Bishoff, Yahoo! Broadcast Bureau

I’ve always wondered what it’s like to program news content for that kind of a massive audience. (Let’s just say Yodel Anecdotal’s readership has a ways to go.) After all, you’re basically responsible for informing roughly one in every two American Internet users about what’s happening in our world…and influencing what they talk about over cube walls. What does that responsibility feel like? How do they stay on top of the fire hose of news and then decide what gets one of those precious links? Who is “they” and what prepares them for this big job? How do they know what will click? What was it like to cover this year’s Election?

I took a camera backstage to answer these questions and more. Enjoy this up-close-and-personal look inside the Yahoo! Homepage newsroom.

Nicki Dugan
Blog Editor

Filmed and edited by Bart Bishoff, Yahoo! Broadcast Bureau

At least on the good days, I do recognize that being the executive producer for Nissan Live Sets on Yahoo! Music is a pretty good gig. Somehow I parlayed years of pathetic low-five-figure annual incomes as a music journalist — free CDs, cool! – into a key role in what I believe to be the best video concert series on internet or television. I’m not curing cancer, nor am I paving blacktops or strapping on a tie and selling insurance; instead I’m getting away with a “grown up” vocation that somehow includes playing host to some of the biggest names in music.

But before I further this self-congratulatory drivel and come off looking like a total jerk, some perspective, please. If engaging with artists and managers and record labels requires a singular kind of finesse, working with the top-tier talent is an art unto itself. Nearly every single artist of that level is the benevolent dictator surrounded by a country full of handlers. And with them come demands and restrictions that inevitably cause a tug-of-war between what Nissan Live Sets is and how they want their artist represented within it. Some resist our quirky format (not doing a Q&A in the middle of the set, not stopping in between songs), some require audio post that perks up a flat vocal note or 30, many are nervous about how their artists, battling to mitigate the unstoppable cruelties of age, will be represented in this new HD world. To that end, camera angles and lighting are restricted and/or required to make butts smaller, wrinkles diminished, chins fewer. (And I’m not just talking about the ladies.)

And that’s but a minuscule portion of the craziness that ensues from the moment we book. But nothing is more of an adrenaline rush and reoccurring test of sanity than occurs during the typical 13-hour shoot day. When it’s crunch time, it’s a flurry of activity with a gaggle of parties demanding attention:

• VIP: “Why do those VIPs get to sit on that couch but I don’t?”
• Fan: “I want to meet Joan Jett. Here is my sob story why.”
• Mother of teen Avril Lavigne fan: “My daughter’s very upset that she can’t get an autograph.”
• Stooges manager to me: “Iggy will probably jump off the stage during ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog.’” Me to Fire/Safety officers: “Iggy will probably jump off the stage during ‘I Wanna Be Your Dog.’” Fire/Safety officers to me: “No, he can’t.” Me to Fire/Safety officers: “I’m not telling Iggy that he can’t. He’ll probably leave.”
• Macy Gray handler one hour before taping time: “We need 12 pair of black socks.”
• Velvet Revolver handler 30 min before taping time: “Scott wants makeup” (and yes we know we told you we didn’t need it).
• Snoop Dogg handler one hour before taping time: “Snoop wants McDonald’s” (and won’t eat it in his performance clothes so keep pushing that start time back).
• Weezer frontman Rivers Cuomo, five hours before performance, and after weeks of discussions on how to re-jigger the room so that the band could perform a hootenanny on the general audience floor: “We’d like four individual performance risers around the room in a diamond shape instead of this one here.” Okay…

But the rewards –- yes, back to the bragging –- are tremendous. For one, there are the performances. Man, oh, man. And on a regular basis I get to interact in a respectful and professional level with some fantastic artists. Sure, some couldn’t care less, and some are complete freaks, but many, many others are genuinely appreciative of what we are doing. And then, suddenly, you find, typically after the taping when the wars are won and guards are down, where conversations turn to the silly and mundane. These are the moments to cherish, such as:

• Keeping Joni Mitchell company at her request as she smoked and shared an old memory of Bob Dylan;
• Hearing Ryan Adams share how much he hates the kind of music that he’s most known for;
• PJ Harvey confiding in me how the Q&A was the weirdest thing she’s ever done in her life;
• The shaman Carlos Santana putting his hand on my cheek and saying, “Be good, brother;”
• Buddy Guy sharing stories about his early days in Chicago and genuinely inviting me to let him show me around the Windy City;
• Talking parenthood with Trisha Yearwood;
• Hoisting a beer with many;
• Saying no to blunts from several others; and
• Watching the Pretenders get stupid drunk.

And then there was Kelly Clarkson, an artist whose music for which I must confess to have had great ambivalence before working with her. She was the friendliest, coolest, kindest of the lot, not to mention a stunningly good vocalist. After the show, several Yahoo! types were getting a photo with her. “Come join in, Neal,” one of my co-workers yelled to me. “I already got my photo with Kelly,” I countered. “Yeah, and we made out,” Kelly enthused. Yeah… so there!

From that moment on, Kelly Clarkson has always been known as “my girlfriend.”

Neal Weiss
Executive Producer, Nissan Live Sets on Yahoo! Music

For the second year in a row, Yahoo! received a perfect 100% rating.

We are thrilled about receiving another 100% rating from HRC. It is proof, once again, that Yahoo! is committed to maintaining a diverse workforce. To see the full report, click here.

And as all Yahoos know, our commitment doesn’t stop at the edge of our campuses. Our tens of millions of LGBT consumers around the world are extraordinarily important to us and we are constantly seeking ways to enhance their experiences on pride.yahoo.com and across our entire network.

This year, 259 major U.S. companies earned a 100%, up from 195 last year –- an increase of one third. We are pleased to be a part of this large –- and growing –- group of companies, and would like to congratulate all the other companies who scored the top ranking from HRC.

Laurie Briggs
Co-chair of Yahoo! Pride

I know this first hand because Matt came by to dance here at Yahoo!. If you’ve never heard of Matt, go check out wherethehellismatt.com. He traveled to 42 countries in 14 months to make his most recent video, “Dancing 2008,” which has been viewed more than 8.5 million times since he posted it in June. His scenery included a tulip field in the Netherlands, the DMZ in Korea, the “Painted Ladies” in San Francisco, children in Yemen, Bollywood-style dancers in India, bushmen in New Guinea, and free spirits in Paris.

I emailed Matt on a lark, with an invitation to come do a video with Yahoos in Sunnyvale. What you see here is the effect of one incredibly willing Internet phenomenon, as I dragged him hither and yon across our campus to shoot 33 scenes in less than seven hours. This video closed a recent company all-hands meeting — webcast to 14,000 employees worldwide — as a reminder that, in spite of the extraordinary events of last seven months, this is still one helluva great company.

You can download the song “Praan” (Bengali for “life”) at Amazon. It was composed by Garry Schyman and that incredible voice belongs to 17-year-old Palbasha Siddique of Minneapolis.

Thanks for the dance, Matt.

Nicki Dugan
Blog Editor

Much to my wife’s delight, among other things I contributed were five pairs of sneakers and athletic shoes and I was able to actually watch people pick them up and give them a new home. (Yes, people WILL wear other people’s shoes…) Hopefully they will get some great use and their new owners will think hard about what THEY could give up to turn their personal trash into someone else’s treasure.

I’m told Yahoos brought in more than 2,000 items from closets and basements throughout the Bay Area that might otherwise have been destined for landfills. The more interesting things I saw included a vintage map of Silicon Valley businesses from 2000, a red lacy bra (which seemed to disappear quickly), last-generation Tivos, Rockem Sockem Robots, vacuum cleaners, a complete set of Star Trek: Next Generation VHS tapes, bunny slippers, fleeces galore, Yahoo! schwag (Yahoo! Chicago stickers, anyone?), and gently used sporting equipment. Items that had not seen the light of day for years were suddenly adopted by new guardians, who promised to put them into immediate use. Although I think the snow skis might have to wait until next season…

We duplicated this fair in six California, New York, and Oregon offices. And whatever wasn’t claimed was carted away by local charities like the Salvation Army.

So if you see me around campus with size 10.5 Adidas shell-toes, know that they will be well cared for and infused with the spirit of giving.

Hmm… I wonder what size Jerry wears?…

Here are some photos and a video recap:

Lucas Mast
Senior PR Manager
Connected Life

With the title of “Commute Coordinator,” Danielle is likely a maverick in Corporate America. She’s not only a cheerleader for a greener way of life (literally walking the walk), she’s there to help every Yahoo figure out the most practical way from Point A to Point B. And she has a good answer for just about every excuse you can come up with: “What if my kid gets sick in the middle of the day and I have no car?” Our guaranteed ride home program won’t cost you a dime. “But I’ll get sweaty on my bike!” We’ve got showers. “No one else works my hours.” Let me check my database of carpoolers.

Here’s a report NBC just ran about Danielle and our commute program, inspired by photos she took on a recent commute from San Francisco.

With fossil fuel flirting with $4 a gallon, you need to get yourself a Danielle.

Props to Paul Stamatiou, former Yodel intern, for his great how-to on embedding Flickr slideshows.

Nicki Dugan
Blog Editor

It was a little HD experiment created by Brad Williams, the production lead for Yahoo!’s Tech Ticker program. It’s his version of “Koyaanisqatsi” in three minutes.

Beats Muzak.

Nicki Dugan
Blog Editor

That’s the M.O. behind our Buzz Marketing department, a team of creative types that regularly dream up never-been-done-before gigs to get Yahoo! a bit of attention. Over the years, their more grassroots campaigns have included a Yahoo!-branded Zamboni, the first Internet-connected taxi and Amtrak train, an impromptu Shakira concert in Times Square, a search for the greenest city in America, a bachelorette living on a Los Angeles billboard in search of the perfect man, pedicabs and hot cocoa at the Olympics, and the world’s largest brain, flea market, snow globe, haystack (wherein visitors sought needles), parade of Santas, etc.

We recently empowered Yahoos to come up with Buzz campaign ideas of their own (on a shoestring, of course) to share some purple love. And two guys from our headquarters and Portland, Oregon, offices had a mind meld: surprise rainy-day train commuters with 150 Yahoo!-branded umbrellas. (What’s effective marketing without a little useful schwag?)

Alex Huang and some colleagues set up camp at dawn at a Starbucks near a Portland MAX train (the local commuter rail). Portlanders accepted their purple and white umbrellas with glee — including a transit cop, who rolled up on his Segway, not to cite them but to snag one for himself. The bumbershoots were gone within 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, down in San Francisco, Sreevatsan Rama assembled a street team outside the Caltrain station. In spite of inaccurate shower predictions by our perennially weather-befuddled meteorologists, the umbrellas went like hotcakes. When asked “Do you Yahoo?,” recipients responded with “Of course, it’s my homepage!” and oft-used product names like Mail, Maps, Search, Autos, Finance, etc. were called out into the air.

Except, of course, the guy who just smiled and pointed to the Google logo on his backpack. Oddly, he didn’t accept an umbrella.

There are plenty more ideas in the hopper. So don’t be surprised to see eager, tchotchke-laden Yahoos in a city near you. They might even make you yodel.

Nicki Dugan
Blog Editor

Those who can remember back to the days of portal wars, high-flying IPOs, and sock puppets probably recall when the lifeblood of Yahoo! was its hierarchical directory — a time when “browsing” was more prevalent than “searching.” That directory was assembled by a team of “surfers,” a group of intellectually curious and idiosyncratically diverse individuals whose job was to build and expand the equivalent of the Internet phone book for cool sites and useful links. They literally got paid to surf the Web. And they got damn good at trivia.

So good that our very own Dave Sikula has earned a slot as a contestant on Jeopardy! tonight, representing his hometown of Pacifica, California. Dave joined Yahoo! as a surfer in 1999. Although he came to us as an information junkie, having spent several years as the periodicals expert at the fabled Kepler’s Books, his job helped him amass vast knowledge on a wide range of subjects — everything from sports and business to arts and politics.

In short, we’ve created a know-it-all. Tune in tonight to see if Dave can nail those Daily Doubles. Go, Dave!

UPDATE 3/27/08: HE DID IT! He won! And left with $15,000 in his pocket. Tune in tonight so see if he can do it again.

Nicki Dugan
Blog Editor

A Proggy recognizes “animal-friendly achievement in 21st century culture and commerce…contributing to a more humane life for our entire society.” Whether they realize it or not, the thousands of Yahoos fed by Bon Appetit Management Company in our headquarters cafeteria (known as “URLs”) and beyond are provided with made-from-scratch food choices that minimize our impact on the environment. We are availed with dozens of vegetarian and vegan options, organics galore, ingredients from local farms, antibiotic-free meats, sustainable seafood, and biodegradable to-go containers. The kitchen staff even saves the vegetable oil from our fryers to create biodiesel fuel.

While an award for a corporate cafeteria might not seem worthy of great fanfare, it illustrates a big theme we Yahoos care about — finding innovative ways to help the planet. Many of the earth-friendly details are a result of input from Yahoo!’s Green Team, a volunteer army of employees who keep their eyes open for small changes that can make a big difference.

Here’s a quick video tour of URLs with Chef Bob Hart. He didn’t cook for the Grateful Dead, but he serves a mean gardein.

Kate Gerwe
Yahoo! Green Team
Senior Director, Marketing, Corporate Partnerships

As part of a fundraising effort for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, Yahoo! recently launched Foosapalooza, a month-long tournament that culminated last week in the crowning of Yahoo!’s best foosball players (well, in Northern California anyway). Our 110 teams (with names like Your Mom, The Old Guys, Foos Your Daddy, 13 Armless Men and a Dream, Peg Legs, Confooscius, and Toooooooooor!!!!!) raised more than $10,000.

Foosball is an old tradition at Yahoo!. All of our offices around the world have at least one table. This wasn’t your father’s foos tournament — we have some formidable players around here. We’re talking wristbands, sweat towels, and strict enforcement of U.S. Table Soccer Association regulations (e.g., no banging the five rod).

For the finals last week, we hosted exhibition games in the Foos Pit with some of the world’s best players, including Rob Atha from the U.K, who is ranked #2 globally. We even had a “Play the Pro” challenge. Live play-by-play commentary of the semi-finals and final game was supplied by foosball pro Mark Torres of Inside Foos.

The following teams made it to the semi-finals:

• Your Mom: Neal Sample, John Van Stralen
• The Euros: Alexandre Deve, Richard Sandenskog
• ehwb3: Daniel Wong, Vijay Raghunathan
• The Rollers: Bruce S. Lee, Jacob Rosenberg

Who won? I won’t spoil it for you — check out the video below. The winners each took home a Tornado foosball table, generously donated by a few of our engineering execs. Check out photos of the finals here and here.

Next year? “The Ocho” may be calling. Oh, and if you’d like to be the proud owner of a three-foot Foos Dude, signed by pro players, bid on our auction through October 12th.

Rich Ezekiel
Foosapalooza Tournament Master
Director of Product Management, Digital Home Products

We want to share insights into our company, our people, our culture, and the things that occupy our cluttered minds. We’ll cover emerging trends, provide some behind-the-scenes commentary, profile interesting Yahoos, spotlight our beloved users, reveal some of our quirks, tap into guest bloggers, sprinkle in some videos and photo essays, and generally think out loud (lucky you… you get to listen). You’ll hear from interns to executives. Some days we’ll be light and airy, others we’ll get serious.

Sure, we’ll touch on some Yahoo! news now and again, but we’ll try to put a new twist on things and make every visit worth the mouse-clicks. And of course the whole point of a blog is the conversation loop. So comment away — this place is an echo chamber without you.

Think of this site as the front door to our home (work with me as I posit a questionable metaphor): In our kitchen, we’ll offer you a cup of coffee and direct you to the fridge door, where we’ve displayed the things we’re most proud of. We’ll demonstrate our latest inventions from the workbench in our garage, engage in healthy debates around the dining room table (pass the pepper, please), and sink into overstuffed chairs in the living room to share some of our favorite photos. We’ll point out the shower where we do our best thinking (apologies for the visual) and the den, where we goof around. All with the goal of getting to know each other a little better. Mi casa es su casa. We’ll just call you Kramer.

On that note, since we often get requests for tours of our Sunnyvale headquarters, we’ve prepared a little virtual tour to give you a sense of a day in the life of a Yahoo. We’ve called you a cab – just hop in and come have a look around. And do stop by often — no need to ring the bell.