 The audiology program for the 2009 convention in New Orleans promises to be one of the best ever. Two important themes will underlie the selection of our special sessions and other platform presentations. First, the special sessions will highlight the importance of "translational research" in our profession. That is, research that leads from bench to bedside, or in our case, bench to (sound) booth! These sessions will feature presentations by our leading scientists and clinicians on current research in important areas, and how this new knowledge and technology are being applied in clinical populations. Second, many of our sessions will be designed to attract an audience of both audiologists and speech-language pathologists. Our convention represents the largest forum in the country that brings together our two professions for a learning experience, and we intend to take advantage of this unique opportunity. I have assembled an outstanding group of Topic Coordinators and generalized the specific topics to attract a broader range of submissions that will have common appeal to audiologists, speech-language pathologists and speech and hearing scientists. Our topics and their coordinators include: Pediatric Diagnosis—Richard Folsom; Treatment of Hearing Loss and (Central) Auditory Processing Disorders in Children: (Re)habilitation and Educational Issues—Tiffany Johnson; Adult Diagnosis—Chris Bauch; Adult Rehabilitation/Treatment—Emily Tobey; Hearing Science—Anthony Cacace; Business, Management and Professional Issues—Dennis Burrows and Ann Kummer; Academic and Educational Issues—Richard Talbott, who will be teaming with Celia Hooper to develop discipline-wide offerings in this important area; and Issues in Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Populations—Luis Riquelme. Come join our party in the "Big Easy," and learn a lot in the process!
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