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  Native Broadcast Summit

Agenda

May 2-4, 2023 • Hyatt Regency, Phoenix, AZ 

Tuesday, May 2

Welcome Reception

6:00 - 7:00 p.m.       Pre-Registration

6:15 - 6:25 p.m.      Welcome Remarks

6:25 - 6:35 p.m.       50-Year Celebration Remarks

6:45 - 7:30 p.m.       Networking

7:30 - 8:00 p.m.      Closing & Announcements

Wednesday, May 3

7:00 - 8:00 a.m.      Registration

7:30 - 8:30 a.m.      Prayer & Breakfast (provided)

8:45 - 9:00 a.m.       NPM Welcome Remarks

Loris Taylor, President/CEO

9:00 - 9:30 a.m.      Keynote Address

Denise Bambi Kraus, Chief, Office of Native Affairs and Policy, Federal Communications Commission (Invited)

9:30 - 10:45 a.m.    IPAWS/EAS Panel

Panelists: Antwane Johnson, Division Director/Program Manager of FEMA Integrated Public Alert and Warning System Program Office; Kathy Merritt, Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB); and Harland Cleveland, Emergency Management Director, Navajo Nation Department of Emergency Management.

10:45 -11:00 a.m.   Break

11:00 -12:15 p.m.   Addressing Climate Change Issues in Indigenous

   Communities

Panelists: Antonia Gonzales, Anchor and Producer of syndicated radio program National Native News; Emily Schwing, Reporter for KUAC in Fairbanks, Alaska; Jaclyn Sallee, Koahnic Broadcast Corporation and KNBA's President and CEO; and Alexis Sallee, Host, and Producer of INDIGEFI.

11:00 -12:15 p.m.    We'll Get Back to the Music after this Message

   about the Fires and Floods in the Area

Presenter: Brian Brashier, Director of Broadcast Productions for KCNP.

12:15 - 1:45 p.m.     Regional Meeting/Lunch (provided)

2:00 - 3:15 p.m.      Planting the Seeds Collaboration and Meaningful

   Ways to Partner & Share Content

Panelists: Sara Solovitch, Executive Director and Editor of Searchlight New Mexico; Dr. Dolly Manson, Lecturer of Navajo Linguistics at the University of New Mexico; and Dave Rosenthal, Managing Editor (Denver) of the Mountain West News Bureau.

2:00 - 3:15 p.m.       Story-led Models for Collaboration

Presenter: Colleen Thurston, Documentary Storyteller, Producer, and Project Coordinator for Native Lens.

3:15 - 3:30 p.m.       Break

3:30 - 4:45 p.m.      Video Killed the Radio Star. JK-

    They're Good Friends!

Presenters: Darren Brown, Senior Content Producer for Cheyenne and Arapaho Television; and Frank Blanquet, Producer/Director of First Nations Experience (FNX).

3:30 - 4:45 p.m.      The Warrior Radio Show

                                       Presenter: John BraveBull, Station Manager of KLND.

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Wednesday Evening - Cultural Night

5:30 - 6:00 p.m.      Arrival

6:15 - 6:30 p.m.      Opening & Guest Remarks

6:20 - 7:00 p.m.      Dinner (provided)

7:00 - 8:30 p.m.      Talent Show & Entertainment

8:30 - 8:45 p.m.      Closing Announcements

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Thursday, May 4

8:00 - 9:00 a.m.       Breakfast (provided)

9:00 - 9:15 a.m.       Morning remarks

9:15 - 9:45 a.m.       Plenary Speaker

LA Williams, Radio Program Manager at Diné College's KXWR. 

9:45 -10:00 a.m.      Break

10:00 - 11:30 a.m.   Community Service Grant Lab

Presenters: TBD

10:00 - 11:30 a.m.   Everything You Always Wanted to Know About

   the FCC

Presenter: Brad Deutsch, Foster Garvey Law Firm.

  11:30 a.m.   Closing

Grainy Surface

Plenary Speaker

LA Williams 4.png

 LA Williams was recently inducted into the Media Category of the 2023 North American Indigenous Athletics Hall of Fame.

LA Williams is a longtime Diné broadcaster, sports announcer, commentator, and public speaker from the Navajo Nation. She has worked as a sports radio broadcaster for nearly 30 years, bringing sports events to the Navajo people through the radio airwaves.

She started her broadcasting career while attending Fort Lewis College in the early '90s before becoming the sports voice of the Navajo Nation as the sports director at KTNN. While at KTNN, she attended many sporting events, commenting and announcing in the Navajo language. During the 1993-1994 NBA season, she signed a contract with the Phoenix Suns and worked closely with Al McCoy. She broadcasted the Phoenix Suns game play-by-play entirely in Navajo. Williams also regularly broadcasts in Navajo at the Wrangler National Finals Rodeo and has broadcasted several NFL games in Diné. She was dubbed the "The Voice of Navajo Sports" with KTNN.

During the 2021-2022 NBA season, Williams returned to Phoenix and provided play-by-play during the NBA Playoffs. Williams is now the program manager at Dine College's KXWR station. She trains Navajo students to become the next generation of Navajo radio broadcasters in hopes of continuing the Dine language.

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