I have a confession to make. I cannot wait for Iron Man 3 to come out this week.  Can.Not.Wait.  I don’t fit the typical superhero movie demographic- I’m in my mid-30’s, married and never a fan of the genre. But I am married to a fan and have somehow managed to give birth to an uber-fan who geeks out over all these things. Now, my son is only 6, so he’s never seen the Iron Man movies* but that doesn’t stop him from being so excited about this new flix.  Which, in turn, makes me super excited.  So I’m doing what any good parent would do- I’m getting a babysitter, having a date night with my husband and making my son super jealous by going to the movie without him!

Since I am such a fan, I was even more excited to see all the things Verizon is doing around Iron Man 3.  Have you checked...

Hi All! I had the pleasure of sitting down with Kelly this week. Kelly manages our Verizon FiOS Facebook page - can you think of a more fun job? As part of Kelly’s job, she recently made some major changes to our Now on FiOS tab which we wanted to share with you.

Heather: Hi Kel! Thanks so much for taking the time to talk to me! Before we dive into the updated Now on FiOS area, can you tell me what we can find on the Verizon FiOS Facebook page in general?

Kelly: Hey Heather- I’m so excited to share all this info with you!  Our Verizon FiOS Facebook page serves a lot of purposes. First, you can see what’s new on FiOS- everything from offers for new and existing customers to the latest movies we’ve got On Demand. You can see what sweepstakes we’re running- right now we have a lot of giveaways with Iron Man 3! We are also really psyched for the new Game of Thrones season starting, so there is a lot of information about that.  Secondly, it’s another support avenue. Our users can come here and get help with any issues they have be having with their FiOS service.

Have you ever taken any of those tests that tell you what kind of learner you are? In very simple terms, the theory says that people fall into three categories- visual learners, auditory learners and/or kinesthetic (or tactical) learners.   I’m a visual learner- I learn best when information is shown to me in one form or another. I love a good slide show- and I also love how-to videos! Which is why these new support videos are right up my alley.

Our Support team combed through the Forums, our Support page, call center records and anything else they could get their hands on to come up with a list of the some of the most common questions Verizon receives.

We typically think of Valentine’s Day as a day just between you and your loved one. In the past secret letters were tucked under pillows and flowers were carefully picked out at the local flower shop.  Today, those gestures are replaced by texts, online cards and tele-bouquets.

A study by McAfee shows that 35% of Americans plan to send sexy or romantic photos to their partners via email, text, and social media on Valentine’s Day. The same study reveals that once broken up, 28% of people regret sending photos/videos to their significant other.

The other day my 4 year old came home and told me there was an awesome holiday coming up! It was a holiday where they pull a rat out of a hole and he tells you if it’s going to keep snowing.  After I got done laughing, I explained to her that no, it wasn’t a rat, it was a groundhog named Phil and that we don’t pull it out of the ground, he lives in a tree stump. And, sadly, he doesn’t talk, people around him just look to see if he casts a shadow.  But really- does that make any more sense than my daughter’s interpretation? Let’s face it, Groundhog Day is an odd holiday no matter how you slice it.

So I did some digging (get it?!) to figure out how this strange little holiday came to be.  Did you know that Groundhog Day is actually based on the German tradition of holding a hedgehog or badger out in the sun on Candlemas? German immigrants who settled in Pennsylvania...

As many of you know, we’ve recently redesigned the My Verizon website. While we all know that change is hard, we have no doubt that you’re going to love the site.  After all, through My Verizon, you’ll find everything you need to stay on top of your account and your entertainment 24/7. From a quick account overview to detailed look at your services, everything you need is right there. You can easily check on current orders, see what services are available to you, view and pay your bill, set up automatic payments and much more.  And with our online tutorial, live chat and resources in the Forums you won’t have to search to get the help you need at home, all you have to do is ask.

But it’s not all business! We’ve reimagined how you access your entertainment, to bring you more ways to catch up on the latest news, shows, games and sports. Plus, we’ve made it easier to connect with family and friends, with one stop access to all your email and social networking sites.

Happy Friday, all!  Just in time for the holidays, I wanted to remind you of a little present Verizon brought you. A while back, we made some changes on our Interactive Media Guide (IMG) on FiOS TV that will allow you to do a lot more with In-Home Agent.  This is a great news for you because instead of having to mess around with Customer Support, you’ll now have many of the tools you need to fix a variety of issues that pop up at your fingertips!  And let’s face it, anything we can do at home in our PJs without having any wait time at all is always a good thing.

Madison Square Gardens has seen its share of great boxing matchups, and the battle between Austin Trout and Miguel Cotto on December 1^st was right up there with other classic bouts held in the historical venue.

From the moment it was announced that SHOWTIME would be carrying the fight between the defending champ Trout and Miguel Cotto, there was a buzz about this matchup. Trout entered the fight undefeated, and Cotto was a fan-favorite in NYC.

It was evident during the weeks building to the fight that each man was preparing for a battle. SHOWTIME’s All Access followed Trout and Cotto as they balanced training for a prize with day-to-day family and professional challenges. One thing was evident: both fighters expected to win.

 I told you she’d be back- and here she is! Today I’m talking to Emily, our resident FiOS VOD Product Manager, about the addition of Verizon FiOS’s new Welcome Screen.

Heather: Emily, thanks so  much for talking to me again!  What can you tell me about this Welcome Screen?

Emily: Hey Heather! The Welcome Screen is this awesome dashboard that lets users see the latest and greatest on FiOS TV- it’ll be the first thing you see when you turn on your set-top box.  Let me break it down for you.

The Welcome Screen features the following:

1. Opt-Out of Welcome Screen: if you’d rather not see this screen, you can select that here

2. TV:  this takes you to the channel of your choice

3. Top Selling Movies (updated every time the set-top box powers on): this goes to the Top Selling folder in the VOD menu...

We have some great enhancements coming to our Video on Demand area of FiOS TV. To learn more, I talked with Emily- she’s the FiOS Video On Demand Product Manager and has been instrumental in working on these great updates.

Heather: Hi Emily! So let’s get to it- tell me, what changes are coming to the Video on Demand world?

Emily: Hey Heather! We have 4 big changes coming:

The first is the Buy 3 / Get 1 FlexView Rental On Us offer.  Users who rent or purchase three FlexView or Video on Demand movies within the same calendar month will receive a free FlexView Rental! There are obviously some restrictions- first, you can only get one free rental per month, the free rental must be redeemed within 7 days of your 3^rd movie purchase or rental,  and finally, TV Shows, PPV Events, Adult Content and Subscription Purchases do not count towards a free FlexView rental....

 Happy Halloween!

I have to admit, Halloween’s never been my favorite holiday. I love the candy- who doesn't? But the dressing up part just about kills me. I fully admit to not being creative enough to ever think of a good costume and it stresses me out so much that I can't enjoy the holiday.  And scary stuff? Forget it. I'm more apt to burst into tears and run screaming in the opposite direction then I am to enjoy anything meant to scare me.

“Nerd. VzNerd.” That’s how I imagined introducing myself to many of the stars attending EPIX’s New York City premiere of Everything or Nothing: The Untold Story of 007. While I didn’t get to use my silly wit in person with many of the celebrities, I put it to use on Twitter by live tweeting. 

With beads of sweat dripping from my forehead in anticipation, I witnessed a few dozen celebrities stroll down the red (actually black) carpet. Each one seemed eager to watch the documentary featuring one of cinema history’s most popular secret agents, James Bond. They were also pretty chatty in discussing Bond’s influence on pop culture, and sharing their favorite 007 moments.

It felt like a scene from Woody Allen’s A Midnight In Paris, except in this version, Atlantic City took center stage. As the doors opened, I was greeted by the sound of clinging glasses, crooning jazz, and the year 1923.

The night started with my first trip down the red carpet before the screening of the season 3 premiere episode of HBO’s Boardwalk Empire. If you’re not familiar with the show, think of it as the dapper love child of The Sopranos and Goodfellas, raised by its uncle, Steve Buscemi.

 Usually when I watch my Sunday shows, I’m in sweats with my non-skid socks on. However that night, I traded it all in for a dress and heels. It’s not every day I get to time travel with the cast of one of my favorite shows.

 In Southern California people know how to live in the fast lane. Whether it’s surfing near the Santa Monica Pier, or roller-skating down the boardwalk near Venice Beach, So Cal residents know how to enjoy the beauty of the Golden State.  Verizon FiOS knows its fans love everything fast and recently launched Quantum – the fastest Internet speed available! 

FiOS set-up interactive events in some of the hottest locations like  Santa Monica demonstrating Quantum speed through an interactive game “A Night Out in So Cal.” 

 This upcoming Monday is Presidents’ Day.  While talking about it with my kids earlier today, I realized I didn’t know much about the holiday.  Since I don’t want to seem ill-informed in front of my kids (they’ll figure that out soon enough), I decided to educate myself.  I had no idea just how interesting the story would turn out to be!

I thought Presidents’ Day was a Federal Holiday that was created to celebrate both Presidents Washington and Lincoln’s birthdays.  Turns out there are two things wrong with that sentence. First, the holiday isn’t technically even called Presidents’ Day, and second, poor President Lincoln’s birthday isn’t commemorated federally at all!

 As our community continues to grow, I’m going to try to highlight a new community member a few times a month. This week, I got to talk to Smith6612- one of our Community Leaders and most active users on the board.

Here is what he had to say:

Heather_VZ: Hi Smith6612- happy Friday! Thanks so much for talking to me this week!  Let’s start with the basics- how long have you been a Verizon customer and what Verizon services do you have?
Smith6612: I've been a Verizon customer for ages. I don't remember how long I've had Voice service via a POTS line specifically under the Verizon name- but I do know it dates back to the days of this area being serviced by what was known as the AT&T Monopoly before it was split up in the mid 1980s and became Bell Atlantic!

 As far as other Verizon services go, I have had HSI (formerly DSL) service since roughly 2005, when I subscribed to basic 768kbps/128kbps. I still have the same services, POTS and DSL today, all I’ve changed is the speed of the HSI, which was updated to 1Mbps three years ago.

 I’m a nosey person by nature, so having the opportunity to interview members of our Community is one of my favorite things to do!  This week I had the privilege of talking to one of our Community Leaders, DSLR585148.

Here is what he had to say:

Heather_VZ: Hi DSLR585148, thanks so much for talking to me this week!  Tell me, how long have you been a Verizon customer and what Verizon services do you have?
DSLR585148: I’ve been a phone customer since 2002 and a HSI (formerly DSL) customer since 2003.

 We're sorry to have to announce that our Room to Learn site will be retired on December 31, 2011.

Thanksgiving has always been one of  my favorite holidays- there isn’t the stress of gifts, just the fun of family and some incredible food.  My husbands, kids and I don’t have any set traditions for the holiday- we generally go wherever we’re invited with some pies and a bottle of wine in hand.  This Thanksgiving we're headed to my mother-in-law’s to celebrate. 

 I am thrilled to share that our Verizon forums are the top ranked corporate community according to a new study from ComBlu! ComBlu reviewed over 250 communities and focused on “studying community performance, member engagement and  social media integration of America’s top brands.”

 "This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave." -Elmer Davis

Happy Veteran’s Day!

Outside of knowing that today is a day to celebrate and remember our soldiers and veterans, I admit to not knowing much about this holiday. So I decided to do some digging.  

 You know I love learning more about the members in our community and this week was no exception!  I had the pleasure of sitting down with Malcolm,  a new Verizon employee who works with the FIOS TV product team. 

 Here is what he had to say:

Our exciting Meet The Expert sessions here in the Verizon Community continues this month!  You’ve heard us talk about having a Smart Home- a home that can save you money and energy by making a few key changes and update.  But what does all that really mean? That is exactly what our next expert is going to discuss…

Well, today is officially the first day of Autumn.  Here in the Northeast, we didn’t need to check our calendars because hints of red and orange in our trees had already begun to warn us that summer was winding down. 

The summer was certainly like a whirlwind with all the swimming lessons, barbeques, jaunts to the beach, Bible day camps, and all the summer birthday parties.  It seems like at least two Saturdays a month were spoken for to have cake and ice cream with someone! 

In fact, it was only 3 short years ago that the Verizon Community was born…to celebrate we are happy to announce a drawing to receive a 55 inch LCD Emerson HDTV.

As most of you know, I’m fairly new to the Verizon Forums, so when I was asked to find a member of our community to highlight, I was thrilled! This gave me a great reason to dive into the boards and check people out- which satisfies my nosiness.  After pouring through the boards, I finally made the really tough decision to narrow things down and talk to Somegirl.



“Hey babe- it’s me.  We just heard that a plane crashed into one of the building in NYC. Can you hop online and let me know what’s going on?”

I was irritated that my husband of 3 weeks was calling me the morning of 9/11.  My commute to work from Maryland to Virginia had taken me longer than normal that morning because of an accident and I was running behind.  Chasing down a random rumor that my husband, then a Uniformed Officer with the Secret Service stationed at the White House, had heard wasn’t on my to-do list.



It's Labor Day Weekend, which marks a time of new beginnings for many as schools start back up around the country. Speaking of new beginnings, we thought it would be a good time to share some helpful tips on looking for a job online.

Gone are the days of getting the morning paper, scouring through and circling ads, making phone calls and mailing resumes. These are the days of online portfolios, professional profiles, emailing resumes, automated job searches and online networking.

So…everyone at Verizon is taking notice of how valuable the Verizon Community is.  So much so that one of your members was invited for a sit down with an exec in FiOS TV in a Verizon facility.  Our guest blogger today is CL Justin and he is here to tell you about his “Surprise Meeting with Verizon” last week.

It’s that time again.  Time for me to help you learn more about the different folks around the community.  I thought it would be good for you to meet the newest member of the Community Management Team, Heather_VZ.   

I think I have one of the best jobs here in Verizon.  As part of the Verizon Community Management team, I get to take the lead in recognizing great work when I see it.  Usually, I get to do this on our weekly posting of the MVP List which has been on hold while we were tallying up the votes for our 2011 Community All-Stars.  Sometimes I also get to dig a little deeper and get to share stories and tidbits about our members.....I thought it was about time for the community members to learn more about...