Visitors to Verizon's Cool Web Sites Love the Experience; Company to Receive Two Webby Awards
NEW YORK -- Verizon does cool things on the Web.
At the annual Webby Gala Tuesday (June 5), Verizon will receive the People's Voice Award in the Telecommunications category for giving online users the Verizon Beatbox Mixer, www.beatboxmixer.com, and the Webby Award in the Celebrity Fan category for Verizon's Dave Matthews Band fan Web site, http://surround.verizon.net/Presents/DMB/.
Hailed as the "Oscars of the Internet" by the New York Times, The Webby Awards are the leading international awards honoring excellence on the Internet, including Web sites, interactive advertising, online film, and video and mobile Web sites.
"Winning the Webbys affirms that we understand new media," said Brian Price, executive director of Verizon's Online Center of Excellence. "Verizon is now a broadband and entertainment company, so it's only logical for us to venture into new territory by creating cutting-edge, online content that proves the transformative power of broadband and its ability to enhance the online experience."
The Verizon Beatbox Mixer is an interactive video and music tool that puts performances of famous beatbox musicians in the control of Web-site visitors. It is a first-of-its-kind Web site, blending an audio mixer video showing the performers of each "beat," or track, as they perform the player's mix, delivering three streams of audio and video simultaneously.
The Verizon Beatbox Mixer and the recently launched Verizon Action Hero, www.verizon.com/actionhero, are experiential sites intended to broaden awareness of the power that Verizon Broadband has to enrich people's lives.
The Verizon Dave Matthews Band fan site was created in 2005 when the company sponsored the band's tour. It features videos, photos and background information on the band.
The Webby Awards are judged by the International Academy of Digital Arts & Sciences, a global organization that includes movie executive Harvey Weinstein, political commentator and blogger Arianna Huffington, "Simpsons" creator Matt Groening, TV chef Jamie Oliver, Internet inventor Vinton Cerf and RealNetworks CEO Rob Glaser. The 11th Annual Webby Awards received a record 8,000 entries from more than 60 countries and all 50 states.
The Webby Gala will be held at the Cipriani Wall Street and will include appearances by rock legend David Bowie, YouTube founders Chad Hurley and Steve Chen, among others.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), headquartered in New York, is a leader in delivering broadband and other wireline and wireless communication innovations to mass market, business, government and wholesale customers. Verizon Wireless operates America's most reliable wireless network, serving 60.7 million customers nationwide. Verizon's Wireline operations include Verizon Business, which delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world, and Verizon Telecom, which brings customers the benefits of converged communications, information and entertainment services over the nation's most advanced fiber-optic network. A Dow 30 company, Verizon has a diverse workforce of more than 238,000 and last year generated consolidated operating revenues of more than $88 billion. For more information, visit www.verizon.com.
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