The International Symposium on Staphylococci and Staphylococcal Infections (ISSSI) is held every 2 years. This meeting is one of the most highly regarded in the staphylococcal field, drawing a diverse array of outstanding investigators and clinicians in the field to enhance basic science and translational research. ISSSI is one of three cycling meetings for this community, along with the biannual Gordon Conference on Staphylococcal Diseases and the annual NARSA meeting. The NARSA meeting will end in 2014, leaving only two regularly held gatherings to share advances in understanding these important microbes. Knowledge regarding the pathophysiology, treatment and prevention of staphylococcal infections have been topics of exponentially expanding interest both in the US and abroad; as such, this meeting has been held at various sites including Western Europe, Asia and once in the United States. ISSSI does not maintain a formal society or organizational structure, rather each conference selects a leader who forms an organizational structure for the next meeting. The Local Organizing Committee for the 2014 ISSSI consists of Robert Daum MD, Olaf Schneewind PhD MD, Dominique Missiakas PhD, Juliane Bubeck-Wardenburg PhD, MD and Susan Boyle-Vavra, PhD. Moreover, a Scientific Advisory Board has been formed consisting of 19 investigators from 8 countries. The conference will be held in the city of Chicago, where we aim to welcome up to 600 conferees from 41 countries, numbers similar to the highly successful last meeting held in Lyon, France.