Actually, SAS is now ISAS, or the International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery. I think they wanted to broaden their appeal and not focus only on motion preservation.
Following my ADR surgery in 2002, I attended every SAS meeting and NASS (North American Spine Society, with the largest spine congress of all) meeting for 6 years... 2003 through 2008. With the onset of more severe problems, my cervical ADR in April 2009, and the thoracic problems I've had since the summer of 2009, it has been more than 2 years since I've attended one of these meetings.
I'm happy to say, that I'll be headed for Las Vegas on Tuesday for SAS-11. I don't know if I'll be able to tolerate the long days, but I think I can. Not working on the computer is huge. The varied activities... lots of walking in between long sits... I think I'll be OK.
The program looks great. They don't have the final program online, but here is a draft schedule:
ISASS.org - Conference Information - SAS11 Las Vegas Scientific Program
These meetings are incredible. I hope I can write about it... we'll see how I do. Wish me luck,
Mark