FIRST TAKE According to Internet World Stats, as of last summer there were more than 1.96 billion Internet
users on all seven continents. Tat figure equates to nearly 29 percent of the world’s 6.9 billion people. Meanwhile, the behemoth Facebook boasts more than 500 million users, or slightly more than a quarter of all Internet users. Talk about making an impression. On a much smaller scale over the past several years social media has begun to make its footprint
Changing the Industry One User at a Time By Ryan Gray
in the school transportation industry. A couple of years ago, STN jumped into the fray with a Face- book page, Twitter account, LinkedIn group and a YouTube channel. I’m the first to admit we didn’t quite know what to do with them all. We just knew we needed them. Te rush towards acceptance of social networking sites, especially in the business world, began
as much as a game of keeping up with the Joneses as it was a desire to positively affect an organi- zation’s bottom line. Most Internet-savvy professionals knew these sites held the promise of a big upside. But few people, if any, truly knew where social media could or would take us. To a large extent this remains true. But, not so slowly and definitely surely, social media is unlocking new monetization avenues for businesses, which holds an especially powerful message in today’s eco- nomic environment. While I’m not going to use this space to discuss the myriad ways to harness the power of social
media sites to increase sales, I will talk about branding and spreading viral messages. As I wrote this column, the American School Bus Council was helping to plan Love the Bus events nationwide, particularly one outside of Washington, D.C., that was to be attended by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. While ASBC took the traditional route of sending a mailed letter inviting LaHood as well as Education Secretary Arne Duncan and EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, the group also has a Facebook page, where it makes announcements to those in the industry about their latest doings, such as a Love the Bus Webinar hosted in January by STN or an online toolkit for districts and bus companies to use to create their own Love the Bus events. But more so, sites like ASBC’s Facebook page — or those owned by STN, the National School
Transportation Association, the New York Association of Pupil Transportation, local school dis- tricts, or companies like First Student or Tomas Built Buses, just to name a few — are also branding tools. With some 500 million users worldwide, who knows who might share an interest with you and surf onto your page. What a great, easy way to spread the school bus and school transporta- tion message. Tis all led up to an idea that we at the STN office like to think of as an industy changer. With so
many social media sites and opportunities out there, what if we developed a new, targeted experi- ence for our readers that offered all the accoutrements of Facebook but that was dedicated entirely to this industry, this community? A place that could work in concert with the Facebooks, Twitters and YouTubes of the world but that also held the exclusivity of a private, members-only club dedi- cated to the safe, efficient and responsible transportation of the nation’s school children? Meet the new STNSOCiAL. As told in our cover story starting on page 40, the idea started as a way to bring together the
school bus technician community as a type of clearinghouse for tips, techniques and best practices. But we quickly realized the site could be and do so much more. Why limit the conversation to just the bus garage when this interactive tool could be utilized by all? At
www.stnonline.com/social, users can enter or create group discussions on any and all indus-
try-related topics and, in doing so, network with friends, associates and business partners or forge new relationships. It’s not meant to replace Facebook and other sites that many of you probably already use but to supplement them. Te end result is what we all make of it. I encourage you to check out the new site, which launches this month, to see what conversa-
tions, ideas, videos, photos and more you can bring to the industry’s table. While it is unlikely STNSOCiAL will ever approach such celestial user numbers as those realized by Facebook, just imagine the possibilities. n
12 School Transportation News Magazine March 2011
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