The 59th Annual Pittsburgh Conference and Exposition on Analytical Chemistry and Applied Spectroscopy (Pittcon 2008) will be held at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, New Orleans, Louisiana, USA, from 2–6 March, 2008. Pittcon 2008's Technical Program will be in the format of invited symposia, organized contributed oral sessions, contributed oral sessions, workshops, new product forums and poster sessions to cover the latest developments in the traditional and emerging disciplines of analytical chemistry and applied spectroscopy. Following on from last year's success, the networking sessions will be expanded.