TORRANCE, Calif. – On the heels of a Best Picture nomination for “The Social Network” at the Academy Awards, School Transportation News announces STNSOCiAL powered by Heavy Duty Bus Parts, a new online experience designed exclusively for pupil transportation professionals.
The new Web site, free of charge to users, combines the features similar to Facebook and other destinations like LinkedIn, Twitter and YouTube to provide an online space dedicated to the business and practices of getting children to and from school, ready to learn. It was first developed as a tool for school bus technicians, but it quickly became apparent that the tool could be utilized by the entire community.
“The Social Network” movie made headlines over the past year for its depiction of Mark Zuckerberg’s founding of Facebook, which today boasts more than a quarter of the 1.9 billion Internet users worldwide. The site changed the way we interact with each other; so, too, does STNSOCiAL. It holds the promise of giving school district employees, educators, school bus companies, vendors, manufacturers, and suppliers a central place to gather and converse with each other in a virtual world. The end-game is to increase industry communication and the sharing of ideas to help create more unity that translates into ever-improving education and safety of primary and secondary students.
The new pupil transportation network STNSOCiAL allows professionals from all walks, or rides, of the industry to create personal profiles, join or start industry-specific discussions and network with associates and business partners alike. To access the community, users must be registered and logged in to view the community walls, create profiles and interact with other users. School Transportation News continues to operate a Facebook fan page, a YouTube channel and maintain accounts on LinkedIn and Twitter for the magazine and the annual STN EXPO Conference and Trade Show.
The STNSOCiAL concept began in 2010 as an attempt to open a forum to school bus technicians where they could network, share stories, offer recommendations and troubleshoot. The launch of STNSOCiAL coincides with the release of STN’s March magazine edition that features maintenance topics. But the site quickly evolved into an attempt to link pupil transporters from all segments to open up the discussion. This idea lives on in STNSOCiAL’s groups, which also includes groups for special needs transporters, business managers, Head Start professionals, and more. Users are able to participate in any industry-related groups they want and can invite others to participate in specialized discussions.
“School Transportation News is excited to offer this industry-changing, social-media portal, which will allow industry professionals the opportunity to collaborate with others in a network built especially for them,” said Tony Corpin, publisher of the magazine and president of STN Media Group. “I want to recognize our partner Heavy Duty Bus Parts and thank them for all their hard work on this exciting project. Without their support none of this would have been possible. I would also like to recognize all of our beta users who provided invaluable input and feedback to make STNSOCiAL so special. I hope you will take the opportunity to be a part of this growing social school transportation community and start a conversation of your own.”
“Throughout modern history, the success of the yellow school bus has prevailed, as product technology advanced the safety of our children,” added Brandon Billingsley, president of Heavy Duty Bus Parts, a partner of STNSOCiAL. “At the crossroads of rising fuel cost and diminishing budgets, we now embrace technology to network and share knowledge, thus improving the efficiencies necessary to abound the yellow bus for the future and our children’s safety.”
Internet Safety and Usage Agreements
School Transportation News is responsible for protecting users of the site from harassment or unsolicited requests from the rest of the Internet-using world. STN will regularly moderate the site to ensure the highest level of Internet safety for users of STNSOCiAL as well as to enforce site rules such as prohibiting the use of profanity, harassment or other actions that are deemed disrespectful or harmful of others. Users also agree to abide by all site terms and conditions upon registering.
