Dear Colleague, The word synergy is from the Greek, meaning “working together.” Its origin is as a scientific term, to explain the phenomenon where a whole is greater than the sum of its parts. We in the hearing health profession are in a unique position to harness synergy — to work together to increase the health and wellness of children. It’s with this, the idea that it takes each of us working together to make a difference, that we are proud to announce the 12th International Symposium on Cochlear Implants in Children, hosted June 17–20, 2009 by The Listen for Life Center at Virginia Mason, a center of excellence at Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle, Washington. As technology is developing to provide much improved sound quality for children with cochlear implants, we at the Listen for Life Center have focused our energy to bring together needed services for children within the community and in the Northwest region of the United States. Our commitment to uniting local agencies, manufacturers, hearing health professionals and patients is grounded in a desire to optimize the development of speech, language and hearing in children of all ages who use cochlear implants. We are indeed excited to host this important symposium, which will bring professionals together from around the world to share ideas and engineer the next breakthroughs in the treatment of children with hearing loss. Above all we will focus on ways we can better understand the work of our peers, to work in sync to advance care for all children. CI2009 will offer many unique and enriching opportunities for professionals from all facets of hearing health care. We think you will also find that our meeting location of Seattle mirrors our theme. The “Emerald City” is really two cities in one. Combining the best of both worlds, it features a cosmopolitan urban center surrounded by snow-capped mountains and beautiful water views. We believe you’ll find that Seattle is a vibrant, progressive and diverse city that offers a wide variety of appealing attractions and learning opportunities. In Pursuit of Synergy… together we can achieve extraordinary results. We hope you will join us in Seattle for CI2009, the 12th International Symposium on Cochlear Implants in Children. Sincerely, Douglas D. Backous, MD, FACS CI2009 Course Director Director, The Listen for Life Center at Virginia Mason For ongoing updates and information about the meeting, registration, hotel and exhibits as well as upcoming dates for online abstract submission, continue to visit www.ci2009usa.com In this day and age, it is important to recognize the environmental impact of our meeting. Thus, we are proud to announce that CI2009 will be a green meeting. Conference is managed by the American College of Surgeons