This is the Opening Session and Welcome for the main conference portion of the GPN 2021 Virtual Annual Meeting. We start this session with a greeting from James Deaton, Executive Director of the Great Plains Network, and information on the virtual meeting. He will recognize our sponsors and provide information on the Sponsors Office Hours that take place on Thursday and Friday of the meeting. James will also provide brief instructions on how to navigate between the Main Room and the Breakout Session Rooms and about the use of Sched to organize and manage your conference schedule.