A new world record.
From the VCG DRIVE to 5G Business Internet to volunteering, we've got an Olympic-sized rundown of good news.
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Happy first Friday of August! On today’s Up To Speed Live, host Diana Alvear shared the following updates:
Monday: We caught up with Heidi Hemmer, Senior Vice President of Engineering, who explained the strategy behind our 5G spectrum and why there is only one best network. We also spoke with Engineer Mike McLaughin on the pride he feels being a part of a Network team that can out-execute anyone.
Tuesday: Our episode was Savage! We shared a story about V Teamer Taiwan Savage, who is making sure the unhoused in his community of Dallas have access to fresh food.
Thursday: We featured our latest installment of Enterate. The focus was on everyone’s favorite topic: dinero!
It’s time to DRIVE
Yesterday, we kicked off VCG DRIVE, which stands for Diversity Realized through Inclusion, Values and Equity. It represents an opportunity to drive change and increase impact within the Verizon Consumer Group by pulling together the best of our diversity, equity and inclusion work all within one streamlined initiative.
Thanks so much to Consumer leaders Ronan Dunne, Nancy Clark, Sean Lee, Manny Sampedro and the rest of the VCG DRIVE working teams for driving such important changes!
Our favorite Olympian
Remember Rai Benjamin? We had previously mentioned on Up To Speed that he was running the men’s 400 meter hurdles for the U.S. Olympic team. If you didn’t hear, Rai went home with the silver medal! We’re so proud of all that Rai accomplished, especially his uncle, V teamerAllan Williams, who is on the MEC Product Management team for Verizon Business Group. Congrats, Rai!
Speaking of Olympic events...
Verizon Business is hosting the Volunteer Olympics. In addition to encouraging V Teamers to volunteer, we are highlighting volunteer champions and opportunities they recommend from around the world. Arielle Kohr, Manager of Projects and Project Management, shared some advice for aspiring champions. The Volunteer Olympics runs through August 9, followed by closing ceremonies and the announcement of winning teams. Head to the Volunteer Portal for more information.
5G Business to five more cities
Verizon Business is bringing 5G Business Internet to five new cities, bringing the total number of cities with the fixed-wireless broadband service to 47! 5G Business Internet is an alternative to cable Internet for business and includes professional installation with no digging, plus multiple pricing and service options and unlimited data. The five new cities gaining 5G Business Internet availability are Gresham, OR; Albuquerque, NM; Austin, TX; Little Rock, AR; and Nashville, TN.
5G Business Internet Pitch Challenge
Do you want to know how you can talk to your friends and family about how 5G Business Internet could help their business? Our sales employees recently submitted their best pitch as part of the 5G Business Internet Pitch Challenge. The winner was Amber Nakamura, who is part of the Small & Medium Business team — and a past Up To Speed guest — based out of Aurora, CO.
More Edge with AWS
Verizon and AWS now cover 13 of the top 20 metro areas with mobile-edge computing. Developers and businesses can now build and deploy applications at the edge of Verizon’s wireless network in Chicago, Houston and Phoenix. Verizon 5G Edge is a real-time cloud computing platform that brings AWS compute and storage services to the edge of Verizon’s wireless network, minimizing the latency and network hops required to connect from an application hosted on AWS to the end user’s device.
World of Warships
Do you watch HBO’s Insecure? Then you were happy to see one of the stars, Jay Ellis, hang out with V Teamer and veteran Jason Hill to promote the World of Warships charity tournament, which is happening in partnership with Wargaming and the Verizon Warrior Series.
Teams from across the country compete to donate a $100,000 prize pool to military charities, and thanks to our partnership with Wounded Warrior Project, every match will also be a donation drive to raise funds for injured veterans.
Jay and Jason will have a live discussion during the tournament with the finals being streamed exclusively on the official World of Warships Twitch channel on Sunday, August 8, from 11 AM - 4:30 PM ET. Don't forget Verizon has special discounts for military and veteran families including four months of premium account status and two warships free for World of Warships.
V Gear now available outside the U.S.
The international brand shop is now live! If you’re overseas and want to get your hands on Verizon merch, this is the place to go. To place your orders and get more details, visit the Brand shop today.
V Teamer profile: Aaron Sheppard
We're so proud to introduce you to Aaron Sheppard, a software systems engineer in Verizon's Finance Operations in Broken Arrow, OK. Aaron photographs special needs athletes like his son Elijah. Aaron volunteers about 40 hours each year to photograph and process images for the athletes and their families, taking no money in return. He simply wants to support his son and others like him who deserve to be seen. Thank you, Aaron!
Entrepreneurship panel
Coming up next week, you’re invited to get an inside look at entrepreneurship and ways to infuse innovation in our own workstreams on Thursday, August 12, at 4 PM ET. Chief Strategy Officer Rima Qureshi will moderate the panel discussion, which includes entrepreneurship tips and ways to harness creativity daily, plus an innovation Q&A.
If you have any questions, email them to live@verizon.com.
Click here for a transcript of the webcast.
Get the latest information on our Coronavirus Resource Page (Inside Verizon, The Street).
