I didn’t formally introduce myself. My name is Niaz, and I’m the social media manager (or ninja) at RoomSync.

I want to talk about everyone’s new favorite website: Pinterest. In the past few months, Pinterest has been slowly taking over my Facebook newsfeed. No, I’m not an active user, but I do enjoy reading some of the funny pictures that my friends post.

When I first heard about companies using Pinterest as another media outlet, I thought it was a horrible idea. How are they going to reach their audience through “pinning” pictures? I couldn't make sense of it until I read a blog post from Higher Ed Live called “Best practices for Pinterest in higher education.”

I learned that Pinterest can be integrated with other social media sites from the article. For example, companies can share pictures they have on their Pinterest boards with Facebook instead of posting them on Facebook which will bring traffic to their pin boards. This sounds like a pretty fun and creative idea to me. I think the most important thing to remember is to maintain your brand’s image and Pinterest diversifies that brand by showing another side of the company.

The article puts this adversitement of brand diversity quite nicely by saying,"Pinterest may be the first and only social media platform where you should routinely promote messages like 'This desk lamp would look GREAT in a dorm room' and 'This Drake blue tie would add oomph to your next business presentation.' It works because you’re doing more than promoting a lamp or a tie: You’re giving your audiences inspiration for how they can fit into, and reflect, the brand culture.”

Maybe this will be my new project for RoomSync? We’ll see!

Until my next post,

Niaz

Here at RoomSync, we take education and student success seriously. Below is a glimpse into the world of educational oppression and what higher ed institutions in the US, including two of our own clients, are doing about it.

Imagine if you were teaching a class and suddenly the police barged in and took you to jail. That is what a religious minority in Iran has to be careful of.

A video called Education Under Fire (EUF) tells the story of Baha’i youth in Iran who are banned from college and arrested just because of their religious beliefs. The Baha’i Institute for Higher Education (BIHE) was created to give those students a chance for a better future.

The showing of the video is slowly spreading to colleges all around the United States. It has already been shown at Columbia, M.I.T., University of Oregon, Boston University, Harvard and Wheelock College. I am lucky enough to be involved in the showing at the University of Florida this semester, and one of my close friends is also organizing a showing at Temple University.

When I heard about this video last semester, I was amazed at all the talk this video started. If these well-known colleges in the US are supporting it, then it must be a big deal and having this type of involvement from influential institutions means a greater chance for positive change. Harvard already announced that it will now accept credit from the BIHE, which is a huge step forward.

These innocent youth and professors are in need of support from everyone. You can help by signing the "Drive to 25" petition to Iranian officials to end persecution of the youth and BIHE. To take action and learn more, visit www.educationunderfire.com.

Thank you guys for helping out!

-Niaz