The Struggle

With very basic knowledge on what public relations is, I have founded myself excited and overwhelmed. 

With only a week in, I have been struggling with time. With a full time job in communications, working for my home First Nations community Rama,  I really don't want to fail.  Not to disappoint my community, but the high standard I have for myself.    

I do learn better in a practical setting.  In my current role my responsibilities,  are limited.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the research I do to educate the community on environmental awareness, plus assembling the monthly community newsletter, is a timely challenge.  The communications department,  handles the majority of the events though out the year. I do undertake a lot of the planning process. 

In the chapters that I have read so far, 'values' sticks out - values: establish the boundaries within which we are willing to operate.

The other day Rama's Communications Department had a meeting.  What we were going to dicuss was a page layout for the Orillia Packet and Times. The Packet and Times has a yearly progress 'magazine', and because Rama is in the immediate area, we have always added a page. This process was just indroduced to me, and I have been with the department going on two years! Its as though with the recent education I am getting on public realtions, I'm aloud into a club that controls the info flow.  

The Progress Edition Packet and Times. Questions I had to think about, obvious criteria, our logo.

a side note on our logo; its been just this past year where we have dropped the 'mnjikaning' officially.  In turn every department had to change letterheads, business cards, vehicle signage, email signatures!  Purchasing and Communications where incharge of the circulation.  Only by reguest was the new logo permitted to be used by other departments.

The objectives I was to have for our brain storming session for progress edition was simple.

• To promote the Chippewas of Rama First Nation as a proud progressive First Nation community, open for business and partnership opportunities
• Vibrant community continues to foster growth
• Future home of major regional health care training facility
• Commited to environmental awareness
• Creating opportunities for individuals to grow and succeed 

I thought about my values, how I see my community, I thought about the role of values in public relations.  I thought about values - driven management of realtionships between an organization and the public...that can affect its success.

My formal training was as a Native Social Service Worker, part of my training was personal healing, and inward elvaluation.  Now I am far from being an expert on any one elses personal healing/healthy states. But I know that my community is not a proud progressive community, in the sense that I know these words.  That was my struggle, and I dealt with my perosnal feeling and still produced two layouts. Layouts my manage praised, and will take forward, for approval from Chef and Council.  

How far do I bend my own values?