When we rolled out our special “CMEpalooza Feed the People” promotion yesterday, we only required two things of people to qualify for our $15 Grubhub gift cards (a few are still left if you want one – just take a look at yesterday’s post for the form):

1. Provide us with your email
2. Tell us a secret

I wasn’t expecting people to really tell us any interesting secrets, but we actually got some that were quite entertaining and introspective. And since I made no promise to keep these secrets, well, secret, I figured those of you who need some Friday morning entertainment might get a chuckle out of the best of these. It would be too mean of me to tell you who submitted these “secrets,” so I’ll just present them to you anonymously in Derek’s favorite “Top 5” list style:

5. I really truly own a Village People record.

4. I was a volunteer puppet director for over 30 years. Retired this year.

3. I ate a cookie dough ball for breakfast as I was running out the door to deliver my youngest to school before settling in at my home office.

2. I am not a vegan like I claim to be. Can’t tell anybody though… (My aside: Oh, but I so want to. This would rock the world!)

1. (My aside: Take a deep breath before reading this one) This is not so much a secret but just something interesting that has been on my mind recently. We, as humans, can only experience time linearly (back to front, past to future). But, considering our range of experiences, knowledge, and the theory of interconnectedness, we could in theory be thinking about multiple points at once. With onset of AI and considering the ~ get ready for it ~ ability for continuing education to teach humans how to perceive current time, we can in theory be learning at multiple time points. I know this sounds like a bunch of mumbo jumbo and I am just a pharmacist interested in medical writing, but the ideas of learning on an interdimensional plane has the ability to reshape teaching, communication, and learning.

So chew on that for a minute or two. And then explain it to me using littler words (note from Derek: I think this is the plot from Spider-Man: No Way Home.)

Back early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, Derek and I had one of the brilliant decent mediocre ideas that we’ve become known for over the years. Since we’re all stuck at home, we figured, why not do some good and offer up a special sponsorship that we would call CMEpalooza Feeds the People?

The concept was that we would pass along a few Grubhub gift cards to be used during our live CMEpalooza broadcasts. This way, people wouldn’t have to run out and miss one of our live sessions. Plus, they’d get a nutritious, delicious meal brought right to their front door (who am I kidding? Lots of you probably ordered Taco Bell.)

The initial response to this program in 2020 was excellent, but we shelved things at the start of 2021 figuring that, well, we’d be back to working in the office again by the time CMEpalooza Spring and Fall came around. The vaccines were rolling out, and all would be right again with the world.

Whoops.

So, with many of us still pounding the keyboard from the comfort of our own homes/apartments, we’re again trotting out our CMEpalooza Feeds the People program this spring. Thanks to our friends at Academic CME who agreed to sponsor this giveaway, we’re giving 25 of you the opportunity to earn a $15 Grubhub gift card. All you need to do is complete this extremely thought-provoking survey below. We’ll be in touch with our winning recipients shortly.

First of all, let me apologize for the noise issues that may have interrupted your work day yesterday. I told Derek that the 5000 watt speakers he had “found in the trash” after a Metallica concert in 1994 would be a bit much for our CMEpalooza Pursuit (Master Edition) prize drawing festivities yesterday, but does the guy ever listen to a word I say?

(This is what we call a rhetorical question, people – the answer is obviously “No” [note from Derek: once he told me he thought St. Anger was “good” I just stopped listening to everything else.])

But just in case you happened to miss the very loud announcement of our winners,  here are the lucky folks who each collected a $100 Amazon gift card thanks to their successful completion of our Sponsor event:

• Amanda Doughty, MLS — Medical Librarian & Clinical Education Specialist (CME), Eastern Connecticut Health Network
• Jackie Farley — Educational Project Coordinator, Center for Continuing Education, University of Nebraska Medical Center
• Ron Murray, Ed.D, CHCP, FACEHP, CBiol, MRSB, PGCE — Independent CPD/CME Professional
• Vanessa Gray, MHA, CMP, CHCP — Director of Continuing Medical Education, Des Moines University
• Christina Casanova — Manager, Development Support, PeerView Institute for Medical Education

Congrats to them all. And for anyone interested in the answers to our clues, here is the answer key for you.