We are hoping that, by now, student members of the International Communication Association have their plane tickets purchased and their hotel rooms booked for the annual conference of the organization to be held in Phoenix, AZ, 24-28 May 2012. There will be numerous activities organized just for students that they simply can’t miss at this conference.

One important activity to participate in is the ICA Opening Welcome Reception, which this year will be held at the Grotto at the Arizona Center (located at 400 East Van Buren Street, across from the conference hotel) on Thursday, 24 May, 7:30-9:30 p.m. This is the first opportunity for you to network at the conference and meet other ICA members, whether students, emerging scholars, or established scholars.

Another key networking activity for ICA student members is the Student Reception, which this year will be held at the held Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication at Arizona State University (located at 555 N. Central Avenue, within walking distance of the conference hotel) on Friday, 25 May, 8;00-10:00 p.m. Student members of ICA will have opportunities to enjoy the taste of local foods, listen to music offered by Live AZ DJ, visit the university which graciously hosts us, discuss with peers, and learn how to better navigate the ICA conference!

Those interested in a specific area of communication studies should identify the division mainly focused on that area, and attend the division’s business meeting as well as the division’s reception. There, you will hear from and about scholars in the respective subdiscipline of communication, and might find opportunities to get further involved with topics that you are passionate about. Additionally, many division receptions are held in places outside of the conference hotel, providing student members of ICA with chances to learn more about the culture of this year’s host city of the ICA conference.

This year, the Organizational Communication Division of the International Communication Association is organizing a New Members' Breakfast, which will be held at Arizona State University Mercado Downtown Campus, CZ, on Saturday, 26 May, 7:30am - 8:45 a.m.

In addition to the networking activities, there are general sessions of interest for ICA student members. There is the New Member and Graduate Student Orientation, held in Phoenix Sheraton Downtown Hotel, Laveen B, on Friday, 25 May, 10:30-11:45 a.m., which will offer details about the organization, the conference, and opportunities for participating in ICA.

There is also the Annual Awards and Presidential Address, held in Phoenix Sheraton Downtown Hotel, Valley of the Sun C on Saturday, 26 May, 4:30-5:45, during which the contributions of various top scholars will be honored by our organization, and Larry Gross, the President of ICA, will give a speech.

And there is "Meet the Editors of ICA Publications," held in Phoenix Sheraton Downtown Hotel, Valley of the Sun C on Sunday, 27 May, 3:00-4:15 p.m., which will be devoted to addressing questions that you may have about specific ICA publications.

As we have announced in a previous article for the ICA newsletter, there are also the ICA Master Classes organized specifically for students, this year featuring Mark Knapp, Chi-Chuan Lee, Dafna Lemish, Jack McLeod, James Curran, and Stan Deetz. The Master Classes will be held on 26 and 27 May, 6-7:15 p.m.

We also hope you will not miss the miniplenaries, which are special programs that focus on a key issue in communication studies. The following miniplenaries will be held simultaneously on Friday, 25 May, 1:30-3:00 p.m.: "Engaging and Sustaining Community in Contexts of Extreme Need," at Phoenix Sheraton Downtown Hotel, Valley of the Sun B; "ICA Fellows' Panel," at Phoenix Sheraton Downtown Hotel, Valley of the Sun E; "Infusing Social Signals Into Search," at Phoenix Sheraton Downtown Hotel, Valley of the Sun C; and "Sound, Activism, and Community at the Arizona-Mexico Border," at Phoenix Sheraton Downtown Hotel, Valley of the Sun D.

Last but not least, we are hoping that you will attend many paper and panel sessions of your choice, as well as the interactive paper or poster sessions held in Phoenix Sheraton Downtown Hotel/Phoenix D on Sunday, 27 May, 13:30-14:45 p.m.

Some final pieces of advice: Look for the top papers and the top student papers awarded by your divisions of interest, and also do not hesitate to look for (and talk to) the leaders of ICA. Have a productive and rewarding ICA conference in Phoenix!