You may be wondering why you haven’t heard anything from Derek or I since we wrapped up CMEpalooza Spring back in April. Here is a brief story to explain…
I was recently out for a secluded hike in the North Carolina woods with a few friends of mine on a drizzly morning when we began to hear a few crackles in the distance.
Gunshots? (There were legal hunting grounds a few miles away)
Thunder? (It was raining, but no threatening dark clouds)
We concluded that the noises were most likely caused by falling trees, even though there wasn’t a wisp of wind. Of course, one of us had to trot out the old adage, “If a tree falls in the forest but no one is around to hear it, does it make a sound?”
During one of our rigorous, full-day planning meetings to discuss CMEpalooza, I relayed this anecdote to Derek. He perked up immediately with one of his “Great Scott!” expressions as if he was Dr. Emmett Brown from Back to the Future.
Me: What? What did I say?
Derek: I have an idea. Bear with me for a minute. It may sound crazy. But what if we plan a Palooza, but don’t tell anyone about it. Did the Palooza still happen?
Having nothing better to do as real work piled up around us, we bandied this question back and forth for a while. I said it definitely did happen. Derek said it didn’t. We bickered like two crotchety old men in line at the grocery store (“Can you believe they are charging $3 for an avocado?”).
But then we decided, hey, let’s take the theoretical and make it practical. We’ll plan sessions, recruit panelists, schedule times, but…and here’s the key… we tell no one. No blog posts. Nothing on LinkedIn. No mentions at CMEpalooza Trivia Night coming up during AIS in September (more soon on this).
Total. Silence.
Riveting, right? You are hooked now, aren’t you? I will admit that it is amazing how creative I can be when I want to cover up for the fact that we simply have been too lazy to write up our usual cadre of new blog posts. Plus, during my hike, a tree actually fell about 10 feet from where I was walking. Fortunately, it fell away from me. Otherwise, this post would be coming to you from a hospital bed, at best (note from Derek: missed again!)
So yes, never fear, my good friends, our lazy streak is over and we are back with a very important CMEpalooza announcement.
LeBron James is a Philadelphia 76er!
Wait, wait, that’s not the one (though still quite important). Ah, here it is.
The 2026 CMEpalooza Fall agenda is officially live.
Now before you get too excited, I should include the caveat that this agenda is a work in progress. Our Gold sponsors — Med Learning Group and Daiichi Sankyo — are still finalizing the details for their sessions, while several of our other panels are filling in some of the final presenter slots. This is par for the Palooza course. But what you will see on our Agenda tab is at least a glimpse of the variety of topics and formats we have in store for you on Wednesday, October 21. We promise to have our usual fun while covering educational topics that resonate across the gamut of providers.
And yes, vacations be damned, we promise not to hibernate for the summer for too much longer.
CMEPALOOZA 