A Time for Resilience
Thank you to the fantastic industry professionals who joined us for the NARS 2025 Annual Meeting on May 7-9, 2025 at the Swissotel Chicago.
We were thrilled to welcome back Chicago’s own Dilla Thomas to start our event off with his own brand of storytelling about Chicago history! Dilla has become a Chicago social media sensation by going viral on TikTok. His 60 second Chicago history videos have been viewed over 20 million times, and he has amassed a following of 210K followers across all social media platforms. Dilla has also appeared nationally on both The Today Show and The Kelly Clarkson Show. Dilla is a proud life long resident of Chicago’s South side.
NARS’ 2025 Annual Meeting also featured the following speakers:
Ed Elkins, Chief Marketing Officer, Norfolk Southern
Patrick Fuchs, Chairman, Surface Transportation Board
Anthony Hatch, Founder & Analyst, abh Consulting
Joe Hinrichs, President & CEO, CSX
Eric Starks, Chairman & CEO, FTR
Todd Tranausky, Logistics Procurement Manager, AmSty
John Turner, Senior Vice President of Operations, Union Pacific Railroad
Tom Williams, Executive Vice President & Chief Marketing Officer, BNSF Railway
Rebecca Wingate, CREATE Program Manager, Association of American Railroads
MANY THANKS to the speakers, sponsors, volunteers and attendees who helped NARS’ 2025 Annual Meeting to be a success.
HOTEL INFORMATION
Swissotel Chicago
323 East Upper Wacker Drive
Chicago, Illinois 60601
