Abstract Cephalopods represent a unique opportunity in comparative neuroscience. They are the only branch of the animal kingdom besides vertebrates to have evolved large brains, and they have remarkable sensory, motor, and cognitive capabilities. They can independently control eight flexible arms, they can rapidly change their skin patterning to camouflage based on the visual environment, and they exhibit learning and flexible behavior unlike any other invertebrates. Despite the many intriguing questions surrounding the cephalopod nervous system, we have relatively little understanding of how their brains function at the mechanistic level. However, the past few years have witnessed a rapid growth in cephalopod neuroscience, due to the emergence of new tools and the availability of several cephalopod species through efforts of the Marine Biological Laboratory. These rapid developments in the field, along with the influx of new researchers, led us to propose the first-ever Cephalopod Neuroscience Conference. This meeting will bring together the growing community of researchers across cephalopod neuroscience, including genomics, neural development, systems neuroscience, as well as computation and tool development. The primary goals of the conference are 1) to communicate research progress, 2) to build an active and diverse community, and 3) to share techniques and resources. To this end, we are planning to combine scientific talks with community-building and career development activities, as well as hands-on workshops. We will also encourage and support attendance for trainees from diverse backgrounds and disadvantaged groups. We expect that this meeting will accelerate research in the field of cephalopod neuroscience through the combination of scientific advances and community building.