An arena-sized amount of good news.

Happy Friday! On today’s Up To Speed Live, host Diana Alvear shared the following updates:

Weekly recap

Earlier this week on Up To Speed:

Monday: We announced that Sam Hammock was named Chief Human Resources Officer effective December 1. We’re so excited to have Sam in charge and leading the way on Work Forward.

Tuesday: We gave you a gift-giving super power through our Holiday Your Way quiz. Get your faves the perfect tech item or device no matter their personality!

Thursday: We showed all the many ways Verizon utilizes drones and the rules we all need to follow when using them.

Black Friday deals

Our best deals are live in Verizon retail stores and online at verizon.com/black-friday. We have great deals on everything from 5G phones to home internet and the hottest accessories as showcased in our 2021 digital gift guide. Select the perfect gifts for your loved ones with the Holiday Your Way quiz. The results will guide you to the best gifts for your lifestyle and Black Friday deals for everyone on your list.

The return of Small Business Days

Verizon Business is bringing back “Small Business Days” to give small and midsize businesses early access to Black Friday deals through November 24. Businesses can take advantage of up to $1,200 in savings in addition to waived fees and personalized tech assessments.

FM Logistic

Verizon Business has been selected by FM Logistic to transform its global network infrastructure throughout 14 countries. The company is an international supplier of supply chain services across the consumer goods, retail, cosmetic, industrial and health sectors. Partnering with Verizon will allow FM Logistic to prepare its infrastructure for the next generation of operational innovation.

The greenest arena

In Seattle, we’re creating the ultimate arena experience. The new, state-of-the-art Climate Pledge Arena, home to the NHL’s Seattle Kraken, the WNBA’s Seattle Storm and the best in live music and entertainment. The new arena will harness Verizon 5G technology, as well as the Distributed Antenna System (DAS) and Converged Network Services (CNS) providing voice, data and wifi services. Other innovative aspects include a living wall, video wall, rainforest wall and cashierless scanners, making it the greenest arena around. It’s even designed to freeze rain water into the ice used for the hockey games!

Free Smart Family for V Teamers

If you have kids, check out Verizon Smart Family Premium. It’s usually $9.99 and now it’s free for employees! Smart Family Premium gives parents controls to manage your kids’ devices. Use location tracking, pick-me-up and check-in features and things like content filtering, limiting and monitoring calls, texts and purchases. You can monitor their internet and app activity, even supervise screen time on some devices, all on one app. And our new driving insights feature can let you know when your kid is on the move or whether they’re using their phone or speeding. Download the app or sign up on MyVerizon.

The latest 5G Portal

Yesterday, we celebrated the biggest night in Latin music as we partnered with Univision and the 22nd annual Latin Grammy Awards for a 5G enhanced experience. The Verizon 5G Portal brought fans closer to the hottest artists and the red carpet live from Las Vegas to the comfort of their own home. Users who accessed the portal were transported onto the red carpet, backstage and into the press room. A unique experience powered by the ultra-low lag and massive capacity of 5G Ultra Wideband.

Kindness comes to Austin

Last Sunday, we helped Austin, Texas look a little kinder and brighter thanks to our latest Kindness mural, which encourages visitors to share the love. Lots of Austinites picked up a brush and collectively made their community shine alongside local artist Tara Johnston.

Supporting the Pat Tillman Foundation

Tuesday, we surprised The Pat Tillman Foundation with a $50,000 grant to support their mission in empowering active military, veterans, and their spouses with academic scholarships, lifelong leadership development opportunities and a diverse, global community of high-performing mentors and peers.

Never stop learning

Here’s one way to be kind to yourself and your brain - learn something new! To get inspired, check out the insightful article by V Teamer Christine D’Angelo on our Inside Verizon page on LinkedIn. Christine gives us an up close look at the benefits she experienced when she committed to doing one new thing every day for 30 days.

V Teamers going above and beyond

Senior Customer Service Representative Arlene Fraser was on a call helping a customer when she noticed he seemed to be having health difficulties. Arlene acted quickly and alerted emergency services. She stayed on the phone comforting him until help arrived. The customer was so grateful and told us that without her help he’s not sure what would have happened. Arlene’s managers tell us this is just Arlene going above and beyond for the customers and the company like she does every day. Thank you, Arlene!

We also want to highlight Nate Taylor and his team for their visit to Washington Episcopal School in Bethesda, Maryland. Nate and his crew of technicians and local managers talked to the kids about how Verizon provides communications to the U.S. and the world. They set up stations for Fios equipment, a fiber optic cable splice demonstration, and a third station for a mock manhole setup. A final station featured one of the splicers going up in a bucket truck which is always a crowd pleaser. Afterward, teacher Mrs Owens said “I had two girls jumping up and down after class, saying they wanted to be a Verizon technician. Another said ‘Wow, that was cool! Verizon is awesome!’”

Thanks to Nate, Imani Fletcher, Jamar Johnson, Keith Mason, Karim Maynard, Hasan Garment, Jeff Swerczek, and James Watkins for inspiring the next generation of V teamers!

We also celebrate a big accomplishment by the son of V Teamer and Instructional Design Consultant James Emmons. Sean Emmons recently gave his senior speech about overcoming his stutter through hard work and the help of his family and therapists. We agree with James that Sean is a true champion and that we need to celebrate and respect our differences.

Giving thanks

Can you believe Thanksgiving Day is almost here? That’s right, here in the United States, Thanksgiving is next Thursday. To help warm our hearts, we’d love to know what you are thankful for this year. Send a video or photo to the good mailbox at good@verizon.com and we’ll do our best to share it next week.

If you have any questions, email them to live@verizon.com.

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