Undergraduate students Sam Peterson and Samantha Wirth represented the University of Iowa's Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) chapter at the national PRSA ICON conference.

Peterson and Wirth are the president and vice president, respectively, of the University of Iowa’s PRSSA organization. Involvement with the chapter gives students interested in public relations, communications, and marketing professional development resources as well as networking opportunities to engage with others in the industry.

Peterson, an SJMC student, explained that he joined PRSSA to both gain professional connections and to further hone in on his career interests.

“I want to do PR and corporate communications in finance, and that’s a pretty niche thing to go into,” he said. “You don’t really have an investor relations major or a major that you can hone in on that specifically. I think PRSSA...helps you get those professional connections in a space where we don't really offer a major like that.”

Similarly, Wirth—who majors in communication studies—joined the organization to get more real-world experience in public relations and communications. 

“This year in PRSSA, we're doing the Bateman competition, which is a mock case study, which is good to give people experience for their portfolios and working in an actual PR campaign,” she said. “So especially if you're someone who didn't get into the Adler Agency, or you're not a journalism major, it gives you opportunities to get that hands-on experience you want to get.”

Peterson and Wirth attended the 2025 ICON conference. It featured numerous speakers and panels along with opportunities to network and connect with other attendees. Over 2,000 public relations students as well as professionals from national and international chapters attended this year. 

ICON events began around eleven o’clock with a speaker and lasted through the afternoon with panels and breakout sessions. Attendees were able to choose from a variety of sessions based on their personal and professional interests. Sessions covered a wide range of public relations topics, including general media relations, AI, strategic storytelling, sports media, healthcare communications, and more.

Peterson and Wirth both took away key lessons from a discussion held by Max Marcucci, who leads PR agency Leidar’s crisis communication practice in Washington. Peterson was especially impacted by the speaker.

“It was really cool to learn about his experiences in crisis communications, because it's something I've heard of, but I didn't know could be its own agency function,” he said. “I didn't even know that that was a whole industry on its own.”

One of Wirth’s favorite speakers from the event was Jazz Young, a music industry professor and specialist at Howard University. 

“She (Young) gave us ten lessons and connected each lesson to a 90s hip-hop artist she had worked with,” Wirth said. “She focused on how a lot of times people make connections to try to get ahead, but...who you surround yourself with is either who lifts you up or can bring you down.”

The conference’s keynote speaker was actress and author Lauren Graham, best known for her role on Gilmore Girls. According to Wirth, her speech was about diversity within storytelling and the media, as well as how to connect with an audience.

Aside from speakers and breakout sessions, ICON also hosted various social networking events. These included breakfasts and open networking sessions available to both students and professionals, allowing for maximum connection.

“It was really cool to hear different perspectives from people who are actually working in the industry,” said Peterson about his own networking success. “At the president's lunch, I sat next to a woman who does corporate communications in Detroit, and I got to learn about her experiences working in internal communications, which is what I am really interested in.”

Both students said they learned significantly from talking with other PRSSA student leaders from around the world as well. 

“Every chapter functions differently—some function as an agency, but some are more strictly professional development and guest speakers and things like that,” Peterson said. “It's interesting to see how different chapters in different areas operate too."

As for Wirth, a senior, the people she met at the conference gave her a glimpse into her own future. For students, the conference hosted tables from several public relations and communications agencies as well as graduate programs in related fields. Students could explore what the organizations offered and make connections with their desired placements.

Although the conference was the focal point of the experience, the pair stated that they also learned strong independence from the journey itself. From the plane rides to D.C. to everything in between, Peterson and Wirth went through the entire experience on their own.

“You're so independent. You're figuring out all of your stuff on your own, like traveling, getting accommodations, working with the university to get everything figured out,” Wirth said. “It's just a good learning experience."

When they weren’t at the conference, Peterson and Wirth went sightseeing around Washington—with stops to shop and grab coffee of course. They also met up with recent Iowa graduate Jami Martin-Trainor, who now works in audience strategy and insights at The Washington Post. 

Upon returning from the conference, Peterson and Wirth said they plan to use what they learned from other PRSSA student leaders to improve the University of Iowa’s chapter.

“This is the first time I've ever had any type of full leadership role," Peterson said. “Being able to learn from more established chapters was a big benefit for me because I came back here with a lot of good ideas that I think would be amazing for the University of Iowa.”

Wirth emphasized how the breakout sessions she took side-by-side with professionals taught her that the public relations and communications fields are always changing.

“You have somebody who's fifteen years in their career, and there's still room for them to learn from these people who are younger than them, older than them...I feel like communications is always evolving,” she said. “This is something that is so rapidly changing, and there's always room for growth.”

Both leaders mentioned their appreciation of the guest speakers at the conference. They plan to invite more speakers from the community and from ICON to their own meetings to share their experiences and expertise with others in the organization.