Well, we're here in New Orleans. My name is Ned Amendola. I'm currently the president of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. Welcome to the 2026 AAOS Annual Meeting! The Academy meeting is the biggest orthopaedic gathering worldwide. As the president of the Academy, I get to attend all these regional meetings, international meetings, but the American Academy is really the largest meeting. It's got a large international component, got a large national component. It really encompasses everything that you can get from these smaller regional meetings. I'm most excited about going to the lectures. I'm excited about all the knowledge that I can learn this week. There's so much educational. We have ICLs, we have symposiums, OVT, Ask an Expert, OrthoDome. Whether you want more technical aspects of surgery or if you want the new up- to-date research that's coming out, you can find it. You can engage experts from across the country. So whatever you're looking for, we have it at this meeting. We continue to evolve and make the meeting better every year. We've shortened up the sessions so that you can attend all the sessions. We have a lot of events for the young members of the Academy, including the students, residents, and candidate members. As I looked through the whole schedule, there is so much, and then just a wide breadth of vendors who could come and you can explore new tools, new techniques. The Exhibit Hall is where innovation comes to life. Look at this place. It's the most immersive hands-on orthopaedic experience that anyone can have. It's one of the few opportunities where surgeons and attendees can interact directly with industry. You get to not just hear about the new technology, you get to play with it in your hands. Every manufacturer brings their A game. These are their most comprehensive exhibits. It's really the full diversity of their products. There's so many great industry sessions this year. We have Bioskills, adding a skills lab where you get very specialized one-on-one time, tips and tricks and techniques using, you know, implants, which we will use is a great way in a stress-free environment to really kind of pick up on these little extra nuances. We have Lunch and Learns. We have Ask the Expert. We have OrthoPitch. What a fun experience. The room was packed. We just won OrthoPitch! And a brand new Investment Forum. We very much are invested in your success. This year, the Exhibit Hall is all about engagement. You spoke, we listened. You no longer have to choose between educational content and engaging with industry and learning about new technology. We've created space so that you can attend all the academic sessions that you want. But also come to the Exhibit Hall and interact with industry and network like you need to. My favorite part of the meeting is this right here, is that I don't walk 5 feet without running into an old colleague or friend and seeing all the amazing things and sharing all the knowledge we've gained in practice every year. The camaraderie with everyone, I think is one of my favorite things to do here at the Academy, just inspiring the next generation of orthopaedic surgeons. To me this is the highlight of the year and one of the things that we do emphasize is the international collaboration and having international participation in the meeting. We have our Guest Nation, the Dominican Republic, and we have a Guest Nation every year to really build up that international collaboration. This year obviously is our Presidential Guest Speaker Arnold Schwarzenegger. I think the message that he delivers is really what we need as orthopaedic surgeons. He's achieved the American dream through hard work and dedication and passion, and I think those are qualities that we all have as orthopaedic surgeons. Our primary goal is really to take care of our patients. So for me, coming to this meeting is really essential to maintain my skill level and maintain everything I need to really do what's best for my patients. This has been an amazing week. Can't wait to see you guys next year in Las Vegas. Las Vegas is going to be bigger, bolder, better, even than this amazing meeting this year. See you in Vegas!
