Every so often when Derek and I chat, one of us will come up with a “Wouldn’t it be nice if…” idea.
“Hey Scott, wouldn’t it be nice if we could design a costume for a CMEpalooza mascot?”
“Hey Scott, wouldn’t it be nice if we required every one of our panelists to write a personal mission statement as a haiku?”
“Hey Scott, wouldn’t it be nice if I juggle during every CMEpalooza session just to change things up?”
Needless to say, Derek’s “Wouldn’t it be nice…” ideas typically don’t make it very far.
But we do have our rare moments of genius (OK, maybe not genius, but mild competence). Probably three years ago, one of us (probably me) suggested that it was perhaps time to update the CMEpalooza website. Since our humble beginnings, we have used the DIY site that Derek designed on his own. And to give credit where it’s due, it always functioned just fine. It was simple and basic, just like Derek (note from Derek: True.)
But it also looked like a DIY site, kinda like that ’74 Chevy Nova that is sitting in your garage with parts from, well, who knows because you can’t get the original panels, wheels, or upholstery. It works, but it sure ain’t pretty.
After poking around informally for a while, we finally took the plunge a few months ago and hired a local designer to give our site a quick tune-up. Nothing major that would require you to re-learn how to navigate around our site (I hate when companies do that), but just a few tweaks that would hopefully improve your overall CMEpalooza experience.
We’re happy to formally unveil the brand new CMEpalooza website today just in time for CMEpalooza Spring next week. You may note the cosmetic differences with fonts and colors, but there are some more substantive modifications as well. The biggest is that we created an archive for our blog, so if you want to go and see what Derek wrote about on the very first CMEpalooza post in October 2013, it’s easy to find. If you search hard enough, maybe you’ll even stumble upon an Easter Egg that will lead you to Derek’s old “Confessions of a Medical Educator” website (note from Derek: the first person to find the old blog post where I adapted Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” to vent about the state of CME wins a prize!)
We don’t think there are any glitches to the new site, but please do let us know if you find anything and we’ll get them fixed faster than you can say, “Donald Igwebuike.” Thanks everyone.
CMEPALOOZA 