Crystal’s Crazy World of Crisis, Policy & Regional PR

Courtesy of The South Florida Morning Show on WSFL-TV.

Like the video above? You should also peep this blog mention of Sprint's NFL Mobile Live from Daniel Vasquez of the South Florida Sun-Sentinel.

Not only has Sprint's exclusive application - NFL Mobile Live - made a splash at the 2010 Pro Bowl and Super Bowl XLIV, but so has Sprint 4G. Sprint 4G is the first 4G wireless service from a national wireless carrier and offers wireless Internet speeds up to 10 times faster than today's 3G offerings.

At Gate G of Miami's Sun Life Stadium, the Sprint 4G Mobile Marketing Vehicle is exclusively available - for three hours before the start of the Pro Bowl (Jan. 31) and the Super Bowl (Feb. 7) - to give attendees hands-on demonstrations of Sprint 4G products and services.

See photos of Sprint 4G at the 2010 Pro Bowl - http://www.flickr.com/photos/crystalflicks/sets/72157623211818049.

Network enhancements, must-use mobile apps for Pro Bowl and Super Bowl attendees, and Sprint 4G... Not bad for the official wireless provider of the National Football League.

GAME ON!

BTW - Follow my colleague and Sprint's NFL guru, Dave Mellin, on Twitter as he travels in Miami this week with Cris Collinsworth, Joe Montana and a few other football greats.

UPDATE (Feb. 4): More news on Sprint network enhancements and Boost Mobile's advertising appeal at Super Bowl XLIV from the Miami Herald and the Kansas City Star. You can also catch audio from WLRN-FM (NPR's Miami affiliate) on how all major wireless carriers are beefing up their networks for this year's Super Bowl.

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It's unfortunate that disasters occur like yesterday's earthquake in Haiti. This is especially sad since Haiti celebrated the 206th year of its independence only 11 days earlier and experienced a number of catastrophic hurricanes in 2008.

In fact, Haiti is the second oldest independent nation in the western hemisphere after the U.S. My best friend, who is a native of Haiti, is very proud of this fact.

For Sprint customers that want to help with the relief efforts, you can donate using your mobile phone. And if you've never done mobile giving before, this is how it works.

• Sprint and most of the major U.S. carriers work with mobile giving partners who in turn distribute the text message donations to participating nonprofit and relief agencies. Your choices for the Haiti relief efforts include:
  • Text “Yele” to 501501 to donate $5 on behalf of the Yéle Foundation, the leading contributor to rebuilding Haiti founded by Wyclef Jean.
  • Text “Haiti” to 20222 to donate $10 on behalf of The Clinton Foundation (fmr President Clinton is Special Envoy to Haiti)
  • Text  “Haiti” to 85944 to donate $5 on behalf of the Rescue Union Mission and MedCorp International.
  • Text “Haiti”  to 25383 to donate $5 on behalf of the Internal Rescue Committee.
  • Text  “Haiti” to 90999 to donate $10 on behalf of the Red Cross in the U.S.
• Customers receive a request asking to confirm the donation by replying "YES".
• The donation is added to their service provider bill, in addition to any other text messaging or data charges that are applicable to their particular phone plan.
• Sprint gives all of the resulting donations to the mobile giving partners.
• The mobile giving partners give these donations to the respective organization for its relief effort. 

I made a mobile giving donation last night using my Samsung Moment and another donation this morning on the American Red Cross website.

Give mobile giving a try and let us know which organization receives your donation.

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Another New Year's Eve has come and gone with some of us still thinking fondly on the myriad of text messages, calls, and mobile photos we received from family and friends.

If you're fortunate enough to be a Sprint, Virgin Mobile or Boost Mobile customer, you probably have even more to smile about. Why? Because our network performance was seamless when clocks across the country struck 12:00:00 a.m. on January 1, 2010 .

So seamless that Boost Mobile customers sent over 84.8 million text messages on New Year's Day without interruption. That's over 12x more than the 6.7 million messages than Boost Mobile customers sent last year. Boost's $50 unlimited plan sure brought in a lot of new subscribers.

As for Sprint and Virgin Mobile customers, they logged in a whooping 775 million SMS messages - over half a million more compared to last year's figures.

Here's what Sprint did in a few key cities to make this all possible:

• New York City: In addition to the cell sites added around New York’s Times Square over the last two years, Sprint enhanced all its network properties surrounding the Times Square area with additional radio equipment to support the approximate 50% voice traffic increase and the 90% SMS traffic increase that occurred between 12:00 and 1:00 a.m. ET. 
• Los Angeles: Sprint's engineers in the Los Angeles market added extra network capacity along Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena to help with the Rose Parade event as well as the New Year's Eve traffic. One COW (Cell on Wheels) was deployed to the Rose Bowl Stadium - doubling Sprint's existing network capacity in the venue.
• Las Vegas: During New Year's Eve, the peak traffic surge occurs immediately after 12 midnight and along the Strip where more than 250,000 people create a mass calling event - hitting the network simultaneously. Sprint's Las Vegas team deployed two COWs (Cells on Wheels) to handle the expected traffic surge of the New Year’s celebrations. The COWs supported an additional quarter of a million minutes of use as well as increased 3G data traffic on New Year’s Eve.
• Washington, D.C.: Sprint's Washington DC core area maintains extra capacity at sites that serve the metropolitan area, in particular the National Mall during special events (e.g. The 2009 Presidential Inauguration). In preparation for New Year's Eve, the Sprint network team augmented additional network capacity 25 to 30% for cell sites that surround the National Mall.

Think this is impressive? Stay tuned to see what we do for Super Bowl XLIV in Miami, Florida.  

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It's almost certain that residents of Miami, Florida have less than a 1% chance of seeing snow this holiday season. So wouldn't it be better to give them the gift of Sprint 3G, instead of the usual diamond tennis bracelet or professionally-fitted golf clubs? 

We seem to think so... That's why Sprint is giving the public schools, residents and football fans of Miami the ultimate holiday gift:

1. Donations of 300 Sprint 3G Mobile Broadband Cards and 3 months of free wireless service to the students of Miami-Dade County Public Schools. Read more about this education initiative at The Miami Herald and MCDPS, and see photos from the December 16 kick off event at Flickr.

2. Strategic investments, enhanced wireless service, and new cell towers for Florida's Miami-Dade, Broward and Palm Beach Counties. Read more about Sprint's work in Florida from The South Florida Sun-Sentinel and The Miami Herald.   

3. Increased network coverage and capacity in Miami for the 2010 Super Bowl. As the official wireless sponsor of the NFL, Sprint is aggressively preparing for Super Bowl 2010 with plans to augment CDMA and iDEN network capacity and coverage in and around Land Shark Stadium with base radios and Cell on Wheels (COWs).

Additionally, Sprint is taking every opportunity this holiday season to make it a great one for all wireless consumers. We want drivers to use caution with their wireless devices, newly wireless tweens and teens to be safe, and we'll see you all in the New Year!

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Photo courtesy of http://www.wgntv.com/news/cyberguy.

When you were a teenager did you ever wish you had a day like Ferris Bueller's Day Off? 

Check out how WGN's CyberGuy did it using Sprint 4G in Chicago!

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The My Name is Crystal and I'm a Distracted Driver post from earlier this week was also used on Sprint Space - Sprint's internal social media community for employees.  

Employee response to Sprint's "anti-texting" and "don't drive distracted" campaign has been overwhelming with comments ranging from insightful and hilarious to quite useful and a little combative.

One Sprint employee suggested HTC Hero and Samsung Moment users download one of Android's auto-reply applications (e.g. SwiftReply or SwiftReply Deluxe) to instantly alert callers and texters that they're driving and unable to immediately answer. Not a bad way to train yourself to drive safely and allude that overbearing babysitter.

However, one suggestion while simplistic has caught the attention of a few of the company's decisionmakers. What is this suggestion?

A bumper sticker... Yes, folks. A bumper sticker. Great idea, right? Not exactly. Some think bumper stickers themselves are equally distracting. No matter their statement...

• Political Hopes
• Raising Awareness
• Ethnic or Hometown Pride
• Athletic Goals
• Even a Crappy Mood

Could a split second look at a gently suggestive "Don't Drive Distracted" bumper sticker be that disruptive?

Perhaps. But think of the not so nice alternative.

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They say the first step to overcoming an addiction is admitting you have a problem. I have a problem...

I'm an all-knee/no-hand driver with a Samsung Moment w/ Google Android in one hand and a Nextel Blackberry chirping away in the other. While doing time on DC's 395, 495 and during hometown drives up the New Jersey Turnpike, BQE and Belt Parkway, I've come way too close to harming myself and other drivers due to constant emailing, texting, and talking without a earpiece or Bluetooth device.

Really not proud of it, but it has become an unintended consequence of my need to stay connected and informed. And it's hard to ignore the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration's findings that distracted driving kills 5,800 Americans and injures another 515,000 people each year. 

My addiction stops today. I recently signed Sprint's Anti-Texting While Driving Pledge, which states:

As an employee of a wireless provider, I will set a good example in my community and engage in safe driving practices in my personal life by avoiding risky behaviors like texting or emailing while I am operating a motor vehicle.

Furthmore, Sprint's Distracted Driving Policy states:

Any type of "distracted driving" is dangerous, not only to yourself, but to others, and therefore is prohibited under this policy. Therefore, laptops, email or texting devices, or any other work-related equipment should never be used while the vehicle is in motion. The decision to make or respond to phone calls should be made only after assessing driving conditions and local laws and concluding that you can safely and legally engage in those activities. As employees of a wireless provider, we also urge you to set a good example in your community and engage in these same safe driving practices in your personal life.

It's time for myself and every distracted driver to be heros, put down our beloved mobile devices and stop being a danger on the road. If you took drivers ed in high school, but never learned how to truly focus on your driving, take a tip from Sprint and start today.

Update: On Monday, Nov. 23, Sprint issued the following statment urging consumers to focus on safe driving during the busy holiday season.

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Photo Courtesy of http://www.youtube.com/johntaylorpr.

If you haven't heard, Sprint 4G service has finally come to Dallas! Read the latest news from Victor Godinez of Dallas Morning News http://techblog.dallasnews.com/archives/4g. And for those of you in town this week, here are 4 Fun 4G facts you might enjoy:

1. Fantastic Food and Free Stuff: On Wednesday, Nov. 11, Sprint is giving social media and tech enthusiasts from the Dallas-Fort worth area an opportunity to see Sprint 4G in action at Dallas' own Iron Cactus. Attendees will also have a chance to win a Sprint 3G/4G Mobile Broadband Card and a Sprint Personal Hotspot PHS300S. RSVP at http://twtvite.com/0pnv1a/1.
2. A Fabulous Local Partner: The Social Media Club of Dallas will serve as our fabulous partner and co-host for the November 11 event. Huge thanks to Mike D. Merrill for making this event possible.
3. Sprint's in with the NFL, Dallas Cowboys, and Super Bowl 2011: We love reminding our competitors that Sprint is the official wireless sponsor of the NFL and will be ever present when Dallas plays host to Super Bowl XLV. In fact, the new Cowboys Stadium served as the backdrop for a recent Sprint 4G event this fall. See photos at http://www.flickr.com/photos/crystalflicks/sets/72157622521262739.
4. The Sprint 4G Mobile Marketing Vehicle: Make sure to check out the photo above of the Sprint 4G Mobile Marketing Vehicle. Sprint has one of these tricked-out bad boys bouncing around Sprint 4G markets across the country (at the moment - DFW, Philadelphia, Chicago, and Raleigh/Durham/Greensboro) showing interesting consumers Sprint 4G capabilities in video conferencing, using a XBox and much, much more. Check in with Sprint's Twitter Team to see when this vehicle is making a stop near you.

Hope you enjoyed these 4 Fun 4G Facts... See you all in Dallas!

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You probably thought Sprint couldn't top its #15 spot on Newsweek’s Inaugural Green Ranking of America’s 500 Largest Corporations and would simply bask in the green glow of our triumph (and the #1 and #2 wireless carriers' defeat).

Instead, Sprint has dedicated the month of October to literally go on an "eco trip". Similar to an ego trip, this term can mean "to draw extreme attention to one's devotion and work towards a more sustainable and greener environment".

In addition to our work for the 2009 Solar Decathlon and the bird call ringtones with the National Audubon Society, you should check out the videos above and below of Sprint's October 3rd volunteer effort with the Nature Conservancy - clearing plants, trees and vines that are nonindigenous and harmful to the local ecosystem along Washington, DC's Potomac River.

• Eco Trippin with Sprint and the Nature Conservancy Part 2
• Eco Trippin with Sprint and the Nature Conservancy Part 3
• Eco Trippin with Sprint and the Nature Conservancy Part 4

We picked up a few unfortunate bug bites along the way, but they were worth it.

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The 2009 Atlantic Hurricane Season officially ends Nov. 30, but thanks to El Nino, the east and gulf coasts of the United States practically spent the season in meteorological bliss. And like any potential crisis situation, I'm hoping the worries of a pandemic the likes of 1918 turn out to be a lot of hype.

Just in case and as always, Sprint continues to be a wireless leader in handling situations that test our emergency response and disaster preparedness, including pandemic influenza. In addition to preparing our retail stores, call centers and general office employees, Sprint has taken its pandemic preparedness campaign to the streets.

In April 2009, Sprint garnered significant media coverage on its preparedness during the initial outbreak of the H1N1 virus, including CNET.com – Companies plan for possible swine flu pandemic (April 30, 2009) and Marketplace® – Staying home not easy for sick workers (April 30, 2009).  

Following the initial outbreak, the White House hosted a Pandemic Flu Summit as Sprint also saw a need to communicate to the general public and business community steps they can take to prevent the spread of illnesses, ensure a seamless continuation of their every day operations during a pandemic, and how Sprint prepares for such an event.

Sprint released a composite of pandemic flu prep tips and participated as a speaker and sponsor for the National League of Cities H1N1 Town Hall Webcast on September 10, 2009.

A video of Dan Gillison, Sprint’s national director of public sector, giving an overview of Sprint’s pandemic planning and preparations tips at the National League of Cities town hall can be viewed at the following link.

UPDATE: An October 12  H1N1 piece from WDAF-TV (the Fox affiliate in Kansas City) features an interview with Loren Proctor, Sprint's head of corporate security.

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