Pie it forward.

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

Weekly recap

Tuesday: We told you about our 9/12 Experience to tell the story of how Verizon worked to reconnect New York after 9/11. See more info below.

Thursday: Andy refereed a great episode celebrating the NFL kickoff in Tampa, FL, and our 10-year 5G partnership with the league. We checked in with Andrew Testa at Raymond James Stadium to hear about our awesome in-stadium experiences like Verizon 5G multi-view.

Vaccine update

Yesterday, the White House announced that the federal government is requiring that companies with 100 or more employees ensure their workforce is fully vaccinated or tested for the virus weekly.

There are still many open questions about how this will work. We are monitoring it closely and will of course comply with all applicable requirements. For the time being, Verizon’s COVID-19 policies remain unchanged. If there are any changes, we will keep you informed and provide any updates.

Should you have any questions or concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine, please speak with your healthcare provider to understand the benefits.

Of course, regardless of how you feel about vaccines and masks, we should always demonstrate respect for our fellow V Teamers and our customers.

Go to our Coronavirus (COVID-19) Resource Page for more information.

Checking in with Diego

Up To Speed’s Andy Choi spoke with our Chief Marketing Officer Diego Scotti, who thanked our teams for keeping our networks running smoothly amidst multiple crises, as well as continuing to build out our 5G network. He pointed out the team has been living these values since the aftermath of 9/11 20 years ago. As a way to show our appreciation, members of the network team were invited to join Diego and CEO Hans Vestberg at Raymond James Stadium for Thursday’s NFL Kickoff game. Also with the power of 5G Ultra Wideband, fans got to see some amazing Snap lenses featuring the famous Buccaneers pirate ship.

NFL news

Our longstanding partnership with the NFL has been extended for another ten years. Verizon is now an Official Technology Partner and the Official 5G Network of the League. We’ll continue to push innovation that will transform the game for players and fans alike. That includes having 5G Ultra Wideband already live in parts of 25 stadiums. Other potential advancements over the next decade will likely impact management, scouting, training, health and safety and game-day operations. It’s truly a big win for all involved.

NFL Green

This week, NFL Green celebrated kickoff week with a community greening project in the Tampa Bay area, building community and flower gardens. This was their 15th community green project in the Tampa area. Now, they’re now passing the Golden Shovel to Los Angeles, where the first project will be planting 56 trees later this month when the Bucs play the Rams in LA. The 56 trees are in honor of Super Bowl 56.

Citizen Verizon

This week, we made some big news with the announcement that Verizon has settled its third green bond offering of $1 billion, shortly after completing the full allocation of a second green bond toward renewable energy commitments. This aligns with our long-standing commitment to drive both environmental and social progress as part of our responsible business plan, Citizen Verizon.

Ida recovery in Manville

From the Gulf Coast to New England, communities continue to deal with the aftermath of Hurricane Ida. Up To Speed host Jess Bonardi didn’t have to go far to cover the story, as her own town of Manville, NJ, was inundated with flood waters that left hundreds homeless or without power or clean drinking water.

Fortunately, the community is responding. Local favorite Manville Pizza is running a “Pie It Forward” campaign in which anyone can donate free pizzas to locals impacted by the flooding. Jess has been volunteering at her local VFW, where she helped feed families and ran into another V Teamer who was dropping off a donation of bleach.

It’s great to see so many across the country responding to the crisis and others. Jess urges all V Teamers to pitch in and help those in their own communities and beyond. Please consider donating to the VtoV Employee Relief Fund and check out the Volunteer Portal for ideas on how you can give back.

VZPulse results

Our 3Q VZPulse survey results are in! Lots to dig through, but perhaps most importantly, employee satisfaction is holding steady at the 72nd percentile. This means employees are more satisfied at Verizon than 72% of employees at Gallup’s other clients. While good news, we don’t want to stop here. All the work we do with VZPulse and employee engagement is to make Verizon a fantastic place to work for every employee, every day.

On Monday, September 13, all people leaders will get access to their Q3 results in the Gallup dashboard. Please take the time to review the results, discuss as a team why they responded the way they did, then revisit your action plan.

In the Q4 VZPulse, we’ll check in and see how it’s going. We look forward to hearing about your progress against your action plan goals!

Urban Legends

Up To Speed’s Chris Serico was in Manhattan at our Herald Square location to share some fun with our retail folks and Software Development Engineer Kelvin Ma as they played Niantic’s new interactive game Urban Legends. Players were wowed by the immersive AR environment made possible by our 5G Ultra Wideband network and enhanced with Cloud Edge Computing for ultra-fast gaming with near-zero lag.

“Verizon’s 5G is the perfect match for this Urban Legends event,” said Retail Manager Geoffrey Sinclair. “Niantic and Verizon together is an unbeatable partnership.”

Remembering 9/12

In honor of the 20th anniversary of 9/11, we’re sharing the untold stories of the Verizon employees who ran toward a crisis and became first responders in their own right. Join us for an experience called ‘9/12 — Reconnecting New York’ for a one-day, real-time immersive experience that takes place entirely in your text messages. Text 912 to 1-855-660-0912 to opt in to hear the incredible stories of our brave V Teamers.

More 5G cities

As we covered earlier this week, we recently added new 5G Home and Ultra Wideband cities. Welcome to Pensacola and Sarasota, FL, and Niagara Falls, NY, to our 5G Home family. At the same time, Athens, GA, and Harrisburg, PA, are now part of our 5G UltraWideband network while Fremont, CA, and Orlando, FL, now have both 5G Home AND 5G Ultra Wideband.

“We are releasing 5G not only on our phones but in our homes. It’s amazing,” said Michael Barahona of Orlando, FL. “It’s a technological revolution. It’s the next step and I’m part of it. I’ve got the Verizon logo on my shirt and it’s the biggest honor. It’s the coolest thing ever.”

Thanks to Brian Starmer (Harrisburg, PA), Steven Johnston (Niagara Falls, NY), Juan Pablo Rojas (Orlando, FL), Judah Taiz (Sarasota, FL), Flavio Verdun (Orlando, FL), Lindsay Piper (Niagara Falls, NY), Sloane Schnaitman (Orlando, FL) and Jason Blymire (Harrisburg, PA) for sharing their thoughts and excitement about the arrival of Verizon’s 5G in their hometowns.

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.

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