All papers have been peer-reviewed. WSOF2008 has been planned as an unprecedented forum for the specialty optical fiber community, in which researchers could meet and discuss new research developments and directions. The need for such a forum relates to the recently experienced revival of the fiber optics research, which was triggered by the demonstration of fibers based on innovative structures and/or materials. These advances enabled the realization of waveguides with unprecedented characteristics and opened up new research and application areas. This volume compiles papers presented at that event.