9/6/2017

Dear Colleagues and Friends,

How time flies!

The year is half over but not one day has passed without my thinking of our Congress, which is due to take place in September 2018. Naturally, many aspects are already organised: the venue, the date, the general programme and, of course, the place, Munich, which is one of the most beautiful and dynamic cities in the world. However, the scientific programme still remains to be organised. Luckily, this challenge is completely different from the one that I had feared; the difficulty in setting up the programme is based not on a lack of possible contributions but on an excess. Which speakers and themes should be chosen from the rich offer? Where do the borders of Europe lie? Where are the boundaries of our specialty?

Cranio-Maxillo-Facial Surgery and its associated clinical and scientific subjects are evolving quickly and new technologies, specialisations and interdisciplinary partnerships and projects are being developed. All these advances are being achieved by clinicians and scientists world-wide, not just from Europe. Thus, the 2018 European Congress in Munich is clearly a meeting that colleagues from the whole world should attend. The symposia, guest society meetings and keynote speakers will be announced on our Congress website by the autumn. I can assure you that this programme will demonstrate the extensive scope and high performance of our wonderful specialty.

One of the greatest privileges of being President of our Association is to be invited to many international conferences. It is a pleasure to note that, despite the current political trend to egoism and self-interest, our conferences repeatedly bear witness to our use of a common language; the language of science, which is based on facts and evidence. It is this language, which binds us together. We also have a common purpose, namely to provide our patients with the best possible therapy now and in the future. We cannot yet see exactly where the pathway to this objective will lead, but to be successful there is only one way to face this future of EACMFS: We have to work together.

With best wishes,
Yours

K.-D. Wolff