Hey, did you hear Google Fiber won the Gold Stevie Award for Customer Service Department of the Year in Telecommunications for the second year in a row? We are pretty proud to be able to serve our customers, so you might have heard it if you stopped by a Fiber Space to ask a question, catch a movie or grab a cup of coffee.

Or perhaps one of our call center reps in Austin or Boise mentioned it to you or maybe your Google Fiber technician showed you this video of the ceremony while testing your Fiber connection.

Okay maybe not, but even if this is the first time you’re even learning about the existence of Stevie Awards for Customer Service, I hope that you have felt our passion to transform what’s expected of customer support in this industry.  

We love our customers and want to make them happy. So if you want to get in touch with us -- for any reason -- let us know!  We’ll keep working to get better -- because while Gold is the best Stevie you can receive, we know there is always room to improve.  

Posted by Nodas Papadimitriou, Customer Happiness Program Manager

Wednesday marked the end of Black History Month - and what a month it was! Google Fiber is proud to have celebrated with community partners across our Fiber cities.  We hosted over two dozen events across the country that focused on encouraging meaningful conversations, celebrating accomplishments, and giving participants an opportunity to have interactive experiences with historic places like Selma, Alabama.

Highlights:

Huntsville

Google Fiber sponsored the inaugural Because of Them, We Can event celebrating the accomplishments of African Americans from Alabama, including Angela Davis, Carl Lewis, and Condoleezza Rice” -- all Alabamians -- as well as others. It was an afternoon of music, spoken word, and powerful discussions.

Salt Lake City

Our team took Google Expeditions Cardboard VR (virtual reality) technology to students at Newman Elementary, one of our valued Title One school partners. We used the time to demonstrate how infrastructure to deliver superfast Internet is built to homes and how it helps lead to innovations like VR. We led students through a Google Expedition of Civil Rights history, where they learned about key leaders and landmarks. Their VR journey included a visit to the Lincoln Monument steps where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech; to the Supreme Court steps where the students learned about Thurgood Marshall and the Brown v. Board of Education decision; and then concluded with a visit to the Selma-to-Montgomery March museum.

Nashville

Building on the success of Marvel’s Black Panther, “afrofuturism” was the theme of the Fiber Space as Nashvillians came together for a panel discussion to define “afrofuturism,” media representation of African Americans, and what it means to be a “Black Geek.” Check out Nashville Public Radio’s coverage at: How a Black Superhero Inspired Conversations about Race and Technology in Nashville.

Austin

Google Fiber celebrated with the Carver Branch of the Austin Public Library where over 200 members of the community gathered and utilized Google Cardboard virtual reality technology to experience and learn about significant contributions of African Americans throughout history, such as the Artifacts of the Tuskegee Airmen exhibit.

Atlanta

Over 50 students from Dillard University, Morehouse College, Spelman College, and Xavier College came to the Google office in Atlanta for a Hackathon. The students enjoyed food and fun while they created projects in a 24-hour timespan with the help of their peers and Google engineers.  The projects spanned from fun to serious, with apps to help make reporting crimes on campus easier, interactive campus maps, and to help students find computer science tutors!

While Google Fiber’s work to advance technology access and inclusion happens year-round, we take pride in the community and school partnerships that came together during February to celebrate Black History Month. We look forward to even more opportunities for learning and growth in 2018.

Posted by Daynise Joseph, Community Impact Manager

What do curling and Google Fiber have in common? Well for starters, in curling the objective is to deliver rocks into the house, much like we deliver fiber to the home. Also the sport is growing fast - fast like a gig of Internet, and it’s gaining fans all over the country.

Honestly, we just wanted an excuse to write a post about curling - because like Mr T’s tweets say, #curlingiscoolfool. And at Google Fiber, we’ve got some cred with two curlers on staff. Plus we know there are just so many questions about this sport:

- What’s up with the crazy pants?

- Why are they screaming so much?

- What does the sweeping do?

Curling doesn’t have the dazzling stunts and crazy thrills of other Olympic sports, but it is mesmerizing. It’s not about brute force or strength; it’s finesse and strategy, it’s chess on ice. Part of what makes it mesmerizing is how you can sit there watching it on TV and think … I can do that. It’s accessibility makes it all the more intriguing - anyone can curl.

The best part of the sport, though, is the part you don’t see on TV. It is the spirit of curling that embodies inclusion and sportsmanship. Any given night at the curling club, you’ll see a diverse group of folks all curling together as a giant curling family. It ranges from fresh college grads to retirees; curlers in wheelchairs to curlers that nimbly glide all the way across the ice; folks from all different walks of life.

A few helpful terms for you:

- House - where you have to throw your rock (the "target")

- Hog Line - the line on the rink you have to get your rock past to "count"

- Skip - the boss of the team (the one that stands in the house and points the broom)

The inclusion is impressive and it truly brings people who would otherwise maybe never cross paths together as a community -- and making connections is what Google Fiber is all about.  After each game, teams sit together and “broomstack” over beer. It’s the only sport we can think of where it’s custom for the winners to buy the losing team a round of drinks.  And that’s something we can get behind -- we love a team sport where good sportsmanship is front and center.  

Posted by Diana Wu, Project Manager, and Martha Ivester, Nashville City Manager -- Google Fiber’s resident curling experts

Google Fiber is proud to be a member of some of the most vibrant, diverse, and culturally rich communities in America. Last fall, we collaborated with local artists, community partners and art institutions to create thirteen murals in five of our Fiber cities. Each of these new art pieces in Austin, Kansas City, Louisville, Nashville and San Antonio aim to showcase the spirit of the cities we call home. 

Artists were selected for the project based on their vision and community engagement. We also worked with local business owners to identify the right locations around the city to feature each artist’s work. 

Watch below to see the process unfold, meet the artists and enjoy their beautiful work. Or, check out the murals yourself at the addresses below.

Mural Locations:

Louisville

Red Tree Furniture

The Table

The Nitty Gritty

Nashville

Five Points Pizza

Whiskey Kitchen

Taqueria del Sol

San Antonio

104 W. Grayson

2710 N St Mary’s and French Pl.

2300 N. St Mary’s

Kansas City

Gem Theater

Austin

1100 S. Lamar Blvd

Encore Records

Google Fiber

Posted by Parisa Fatehi-Weeks, Head of Community Impact Strategy

It’s the biggest weekend of the year. Two teams, both alike in dignity, come together to decide absolute dominance of the species. It’s Animal Planet’s annual Puppy Bowl!

Google Fiber loves our furry friends, and this weekend we’re celebrating all things canine at several of our Fiber Spaces across the country. Join us for activities for humans and puppies alike, including local pet adoption, stuffed animal rescue, pet photos, and plenty of yummy treats for our four-legged and two-legged friends.

If you’re in a Google Fiber city, visit fiber.google.com to check availability in your neighborhood. That way you can stream the game while your gamer is racking up points on his or her multiplayer game. Your connected smart home devices and appliances can keep you warm and fed while you upload that video of your dog tearing through all the presents. We don't put any limitations on how you access or use the Internet (aside from our Terms of Service), so you can stream, upload, download, play, listen, and create to your heart’s content—and everyone else in your family can do that too!

Make your tech work with gigabit speed Internet that leaves room for sharing, which is a great way to start 2018 — faster, fairer, and kinder for everyone in your house.

Posted by Greg Leon, Google Fiber Product Manager

At Google Fiber, we are all about helping people connect -- to superfast Internet and to the possibilities it presents. In each market, we work to make that connection local and personal, and to and give our Googlers opportunities to give back to their communities. So we were very excited to take part in Giving Week from November 27 through December 1, in conjunction with other Alphabet businesses and spearheaded by Google.org, to benefit nonprofits across the country.

Giving Week is dedicated to raising not only dollars for deserving nonprofits across the country but also awareness for the important work they do and communities that they serve. Over the course of the week, teams across all Google Fiber offices worked together to raise $180,000 to support 20 organizations across 11 cities, including a company match through Google’s gift match program.

The 20 selected nonprofits cover a wide range of issues, including digital inclusion, food security, youth support, health/research, and education. Some organizations are national, while others are locally focused. For each city, Fiber Community Impact Managers helped identify the nonprofits best suited to benefit from this program. In most cases, Google Fiber team members are personally connected to these organizations and invest their time in volunteering and/or serving on board of directors to further their missions.

Tis the time of year to celebrate the incredible work and impact the nonprofit community has in each of our Google Fiber cities. We’re honored to be able to reflect and contribute to their efforts.  We hope you’ll consider joining us, either by giving to one of our partner organizations (listed below) or by finding your own way to give to your community.

Happy Holidays and may your giving bringing you joy.

Included organizations:

Atlanta:

United Negro College Fund

Power My Learning

Year UP

Charlotte:

Communities in Schools of Charlotte Mecklenburg

Nashville:

YMCA Middle TN

Conexion Americas

Austin:

Lifeworks

Out Youth

Texas 4000 for Cancer

San Antonio:

SAT Foodbank

Raices

Kansas City:

Love Fund for Children

Mountain View:

Alzheimers Association

Math Path

Childrens Advocates of Silicon Valley

Huntsville:

Village Of Promise

Durham:

E. Durham Children's Initiative

Salt Lake City:

YWCA Utah

Provo:

United Way of Utah

Washington DC:

Literacy Lab

Posted by Jacob Brace, Danny Cleveland, and Clark Johnston -- the Access Giving Week Team

As we announced last month, our focus in San Antonio (as in Louisville, where we launched service earlier this month) is on providing super fast Internet service, enabling folks to access content - including live and local TV content - from any source they choose. The abundant bandwidth and low latency of a Fiber connection makes streaming video, even in 4K, 3D, or virtual reality formats, smooth as butter.

We know that San Antonio, home to Hulu’s recently announced 500-person customer service operation, loves video streaming. So one option when you sign up for Fiber is to add YouTube TV. YouTube TV offers cable-free live TV from San Antonio’s local stations -- ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC -- and other popular cable networks like ESPN and AMC, along with a cloud DVR with no storage space limits.

Customers who sign up for YouTube TV at the same time they sign up for Google Fiber will also receive a NVIDIA® SHIELD™ TV, the most advanced streaming device and a voice-activated remote control powered by Google Assistant, and a free trial of YouTube TV. After the free trial, you can keep YouTube TV for $35 per month.

Most people access their Fiber connection using wifi, so we’ve included with your sign-up one free Google Wifi router. (Additional devices are available for purchase during installation if the size or shape of your home requires it for full coverage.) And Google Wifi includes top-tier security and smart technology that lets you prioritize devices, block certain websites, and stay on top of kids’ screen time.

We want to thank San Antonio leaders for their vision and leadership throughout the process of bringing Fiber to the Alamo City. We also want to thank San Antonians for their patience - building a brand new fiber network is a big infrastructure project and a massive undertaking, and you’ve stuck with us.

San Antonians in these first neighborhoods are open until Dec. 21. Meantime, we’re continuing to extend the network to more of the city, so if you’re not in an open area just yet, be sure to leave us your email address so we can notify you when your address is eligible.


Posted by Tyler Wallis, San Antonio City Manager