The trip to ICON 2025 in Washington D.C. was the most unique event I’ve experienced while attending Arcadia University, perhaps only next to preview. While we were only allotted enough funds for our chapter to stay 3 / 4 conference days, the time that we did spend at the Hilton was amazing. Prior to the conference, Challan and I arrived in DC two days early to meet with some friends and family we had over there. I personally went to watch the new Demon Slayer movie with my cousins, then had them pay for my dinner! A completely underrated aspect of attending a conference is getting to explore a city you’ve likely never stayed in for very long. It may seem jarring to those who have never done so but it is considerably fun.
The entire conference took place within the Hilton Hotel, which surprisingly had gigantic event halls, expo and meeting rooms! While just about only one event was mandatory for the group (presidents two) the events would start around 8am and go on until 6pm, all optional. While being optional, any and every event had attendees there willing to listen, and presenters ready to engage. I specifically remember the keynote speaker Lauren Graham and her talk of good storytelling, connection, and communication within her field and her life. Another event that stuck out to me was on Tuesday when a few of us attended the DEI Fireside chat featuring Doug Melville. This specific one was interesting as Doug spoke on the challenges with DEI in recent years but also the importance of having and maintaining DEI departments of organizations, as a former employee of Arcadia AEDI his words spoke volumes to me.
There were two mandatory events for my co-president and I, while everyone else was only mandated to attend the Star Chapter Recognition brunch. This Brunch included a multicourse meal in a huge event hall with butlers and very many speakers. Every Star Chapter was recognized and the Student Leader board discussed plans for the future of PRSSA. The Leadership Recognition dinner was much more relaxed, we were left to mingle amongst the other leaders invited and ended up meeting some of the most interesting people in the room (in my opinion)! I valued the chance to network with leaders in the PR field and other peers from around the world. IICON was genuinely an experience I will never forget and I hope that those still invested in 1853 try their best to attend ICON 2026 in Orlando!