Verizon Business Sponsors '2008 Global Marathon For, By and About Women in Engineering'

    BASKING RIDGE, N.J., March 19 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon Business is once
 again joining with the National Engineers Week Foundation to present the
 2008 Global Marathon For, By and About Women in Engineering, which educates
 and informs women worldwide about opportunities in science, technology,
 engineering and mathematics.
 
     As honorary chairperson for the event, Judy Spitz, Verizon Business
 senior vice president and chief information officer, will kick off the 2008
 Global Marathon from the Verizon Corporate Center in Basking Ridge, N.J.,
 March 26 at 12 p.m. Eastern time. The event will end the next day at 12
 p.m. Eastern time with Spitz, joined by Dean Kamen, inventor of the
 Segway(R) Personal Transporter, iBOT(R) Mobility System and other medical
 technology devices and founder of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of
 Science and Technology).
 
     The event, now in its fourth year, will be webcast in its entirety for
 the first time. (Some sessions also will be available via telephone.)
 
     "Young women today have an array of choices when it comes to careers,
 but because of myths, misinformation and inexperience, many of them aren't
 considering technical fields," said Spitz. "The 2008 Global Marathon is an
 effective and easy way to expose young women to the broad range of
 opportunities and careers open to them."
 
     Joining Spitz for a panel discussion during the opening ceremonies will
 be Virginia Ruesterholz, president of Verizon Telecom, and Jeannie
 Diefenderfer, vice president of global network operations for Verizon
 Business, as well as women executives from ITT Corp., Avis Corp., Texas
 Instruments and IBM.
 
     Following the panel, the online sessions will begin with Verizon
 Business executives sharing career and lifestyle information, increasing
 awareness of educational and career opportunities for women, and dispelling
 myths about women in technical fields.
 
     After the Global Marathon's start in North America, the event will
 "follow the sun" through five regions, each with a corporate sponsor
 responsible for developing programming and promoting the event in its
 region:
 
 

     North America: Verizon Business
     Mexico/Latin America: DuPont
     China: Chinese Institute of Engineers
     India: Motorola
     Africa/Middle East: IBM
     Europe: British Petroleum
     Speakers from a variety of technology backgrounds will discuss in 30-
 or 60-minute increments a number of interesting topics, all providing a
 female's view of science and technology. The complete schedule of speakers
 and how to access their presentations can be viewed at www.eweek.org.
 
     Verizon Business will provide the underlying technology for the
 portions hosted in North America, Europe and parts of South Africa via the
 company's IP-based global network, enabling participants from around the
 world to access the webcasts and net conferences.
 
     To help reach as many participants as possible, the Verizon Business IT
 Diversity Council will promote the Global Marathon in the council's local
 areas. These Verizon Business employees, based around the world, are
 committed to educating and promoting a corporate culture of diversity and
 inclusion.
 
     In conjunction with the Global Marathon, Verizon Business also will
 host at its headquarters in the Basking Ridge Corporate Center a Technology
 Fair for middle school, high school and college students. Interactive
 displays and demonstrations will be available for the students on March 26
 from 1:30 p.m. to 5 p.m. Eastern time
 
     About Verizon Business
 
     Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE:   VZ), is a
 leading provider of advanced communications and information technology (IT)
 solutions to large business and government customers worldwide. Combining
 unsurpassed global network reach with advanced communications, security and
 other professional service capabilities, Verizon Business delivers
 innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world.
 For more information, visit www.verizonbusiness.com.
 
     VERIZON'S ONLINE NEWS CENTER: Verizon news releases, executive speeches
 and biographies, media contacts, high-quality video and images, and other
 information are available at Verizon's News Center on the World Wide Web at
 www.verizon.com/news. To receive news releases by e-mail, visit the News
 Center and register for customized automatic delivery of Verizon news
 releases.
 
 
 

SOURCE Verizon Business

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