{"id":11004,"date":"2020-12-07T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-12-07T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/?p=11004"},"modified":"2020-12-06T12:25:19","modified_gmt":"2020-12-06T17:25:19","slug":"student-insight-prssa-celebrates-national-native-american-heritage-month","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/2020\/12\/07\/student-insight-prssa-celebrates-national-native-american-heritage-month\/","title":{"rendered":"Student Insight- PRSSA Celebrates National Native American Heritage Month"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/NNAHM-Banner-1024x574.jpeg\" alt=\"National Native American Heritage Month: Combatting Misconceptions and Overcoming Challenges.\n\nBlue-orange gradient background. White text. Headshots of Ken Lingad, Joely Proudfit, PH.D., and Jim McCarthy.\" class=\"wp-image-11006\" width=\"560\" height=\"314\" srcset=\"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/NNAHM-Banner-1024x574.jpeg 1024w, https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/NNAHM-Banner-300x168.jpeg 300w, https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/NNAHM-Banner-768x430.jpeg 768w, https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/NNAHM-Banner.jpeg 1365w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 560px) 100vw, 560px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>The Combatting Misconceptions and Overcoming Challenges Confirmation Panel, celebrating Native American Heritage Month, was an eye-opening conversation about the obstacles, experiences and stereotypes Native Americans encounter in the media and in the public relations field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When I first saw this panel advertised on Twitter, I was immediately intrigued. I had never seen PRSSA or PRSA do an online event like this before. Digging a bit deeper, I read more about each featured panelist: <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Nativeprof\">Joely Proudfit<\/a>, Ph.D., chair of the American Indian Studies Department at CSU San Marcos, Ken Lingad, Founder\/Chief Communication Strategist at <a href=\"https:\/\/1680pr.com\/\">1680PR<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JMacNYC\">Jim McCarthy<\/a>, president at Counterpoint Strategies. After learning more about each panelist, I knew that this panel would be phenomenal. Sure enough, it was. I gained cultural awareness and insight, but also professional advice. Here\u2019s just a few takeaways from the panel:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Building Relationships is Key<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Building trustworthy and respectful relationships is, as Joely mentioned, the cornerstone of public relations. When developing these relationships, and especially when working with Native Americans, the connections need to be meaningful. It\u2019s just as important that each side invests time into establishing these worthwhile relations. Time invested can be done in small steps, like listening and learning stories. However, time can also be invested in larger strides, like spending time in the communities your clients\u2019 communities are targeting. No matter the relationship, building trust and value with others can help advance any professional.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">You\u2019re Not an Expert<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>If you\u2019re not part of the culture, you cannot be an expert in the field. It\u2019s as simple as that. As public relations professionals, we cannot learn all 600 tribe languages. Like Ken Ligad mentioned, that\u2019s practically learning the languages of 600 different countries. Tribes differ in languages, belief systems and usually traditions. You\u2019re not an expert and you never will be\u2026 and that\u2019s ok. Instead, what you can be is sensitive, respectful and willing to understand.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Don\u2019t Assume Stereotypes<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>No matter if the stereotype is negative or positive, never assume it\u2019s true. When dealing with stereotypes, the first step is, as Joely mentioned, to go to the source or people and simply listen. As communicators, it is imperative to check the source and information before assuming anything. Stereotypes can be avoided if we, as professionals, take time to understand who we are working with and the environment we\u2019re in.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Invest in Yourself<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Above all, professionals pursuing public relations must invest in their selves and in their practice. Understanding what you do, being serious about what you do and following through with what you do will put you farther ahead. Focus on being the best professional you can be, as everything else will eventually follow.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\"\/>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text alignwide has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile\" style=\"grid-template-columns:auto 20%\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"768\" height=\"1024\" src=\"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Alyssa-Headshot-768x1024.png\" alt=\"Alyssa Gormley headshot\" class=\"wp-image-11005\" srcset=\"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Alyssa-Headshot-768x1024.png 768w, https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Alyssa-Headshot-225x300.png 225w, https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Alyssa-Headshot-1152x1536.png 1152w, https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Alyssa-Headshot-1536x2048.png 1536w, https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/12\/Alyssa-Headshot.png 1814w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 768px) 100vw, 768px\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p>Alyssa Gormley is a third-year strategic communication student at the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. Currently, she serves as the executive vice president of Scripps PRSSA, as a PRSSA National District Ambassador and a member of PRSSA&#8217;s Social Media Squad. Connect with her on&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/gormleyalyssa\/\">LinkedIn<\/a>.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Combatting Misconceptions and Overcoming Challenges Confirmation Panel, celebrating Native American Heritage Month, was an eye-opening conversation about the obstacles, experiences and stereotypes Native Americans encounter in the media and in the public relations field. When I first saw this panel advertised on Twitter, I was immediately intrigued. I had never seen PRSSA or PRSA do an online event like [&hellip;]<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":29,"featured_media":11006,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2893,2895],"tags":[3311,2759,3309,3307,3310,3308,3312],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11004"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/29"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11004"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11004\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11019,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11004\/revisions\/11019"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11006"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11004"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11004"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/progressions.prsa.org\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11004"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}