In so many, many ways, it’s been a month like no other. We’ve had to change pretty much every routine in our lives in a manner that would have seemed unfathomable even weeks ago. I find myself zigzagging around the neighborhood like I’m coming off a 2-week bender as I try to avoid getting too close to anyone. I voluntarily took on an art project this weekend to make a mask out of an old t-shirt. Yes, me, the guy who jokes he was the first person to get a “G” in high school art class because I am about as crafty as, err, someone who is not at all crafty. My DIY mask looks like crap, but it works (sort of).

Yet with all the chaos in our lives, CMEpalooza is perhaps the lone “normal” thing left for some of us. It’s nothing more than dumb luck that we were already a virtual meeting and we already had faculty who could participate from just about anywhere before our world came crashing down. Our faculty had all committed to our Spring agenda before the worst of the Covid-19 crisis hit, and they’ve fortunately all stayed with us (thanks to all of them). It’s almost been business as usual across the board.

I know it’s been a bit of a personal salvation to be able to turn to the blog and lean on our panelists, sponsors, and other friends when things get a bit too heavy, to be able to turn to CMEpalooza to help breathe and calm myself down a bit. We hope that we’ve brought a smile and sense of calm to your lives, at least a little, in this past month and that our Spring broadcast from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. ET this Wednesday, April 15, will help you feel a little bit normal again too.

We’ll have some more specifics coming up in the next 2 days to help you navigate through things, but here are a few tips to help you settle in to join us on Wednesday:

1. If you haven’t done so already check out the full Spring agenda. Yes, you’ll be hearing a good deal throughout the day about how Covid-19 is impacting our industry and will continue to do so in the near future, but we also have some sessions planned where you may not hear much about it at all. I think we can all agree that sometimes we just need a break from all the talk about the current health pandemic to focus on other things that are going on in the world.
2. There is no pre-registration or forms to fill out to watch any of our sessions. Just go to LIVE tab to tune in. It’s all free, as it always has been. Maybe you’ve got a fancy office setting like Derek with a TV and a Roku Stick so you can beam our sessions on the big screen while you “work.” That’d be pretty cool.
3. If you miss any of our sessions, fear not. They land in the Archives pretty quick (like, within an hour).
4. We’ll be using Poll Everywhere for several of our sessions to bring some interactivity to our panels. You’ll be able to participate either on your laptop/desktop through their website (www.polleverywhere.com) or on your tablet/phone through their app (you can download it here). The meeting code this Spring is cmepalooza000 (we’ll remind you on Wednesday).
5. We’ve got a few new features we’ll be introducing this year. I am personally giddy with anticipation for the debut of CMEpalooza Stretch. I won’t tell you when it’s happening. Just know that Derek is really, really excited about it too (Note from Derek: I am…less excited about it than Scott.)
6. If you have a few minutes and want to check out the “best of the best” in CME, poke through the work our Sponsors have been doing. Crises often beget innovation, and I’m proud to see some of the education our community has been able to share in recent weeks to the knowledge-starved medical community and general public.
7. Make sure you have plenty of toilet paper, paper towels, tissues, construction paper, papier mache, and paper airplanes lying around. Because, you know, the paper product line is going to be the first thing to go in time of national emergency. I really don’t get this one.

Don’t forget that we’ll be hosting a special, live CMEpalooza Company Spotlight broadcast this morning from 11-11:30 a.m. ET. Joining me will be three of the wise men from Educational Measures to talk about the challenges of the live, virtual conference.

To view this free broadcast, just go to our LIVE tab – we’ll start the broadcast right at the top of the hour. No need to register or fill out anything beforehand. Just drop in and listen. We’ll even take questions as we go along.

And hey, if your organization likes this concept and wants to work with us to develop a broadcast of your own, just shoot me an email. We’re happy to keep this going beyond our CMEpalooza Spring broadcast next week.

As we head into week 4 of our national hibernation, I’m noticing a few new trends. Yes, my social media feeds are still primarily dealing with the day-to-day of current Covid-19 pandemic, but I am also slowly seeing the emergence people who are wondering what’s going to happen when we finally get a handle on things.

Will we revert back to our old ways, packing sidewalks, restaurants, and arenas like nothing ever happened? (I doubt it, at least not right away). Will wearing masks in public become a regular occurrence? (doubt that too). Will we react more quickly the next time we’re threatened with a health pandemic? (I assume so).

And then there are those of us in the CME industry trying to crystal ball our future. Look, I know that there are a lot of us who rely heavily on face-to-face meetings for a significant chunk of our revenue. We’re all perhaps crossing our fingers that in the summer, fall, and foreseeable future we’ll be able to hold all of these live events that have been planned for months and months, and that people will once again be willing to travel thousands of miles to attend them.

I suspect that that is a bit overly optimistic.

For years, there has been a general reluctance to offer much in the way of live, online, accredited education for healthcare providers. As the theory goes, our learners already spend a considerable number of hours at live, in-person meetings/conferences, so there is no way they would be interested in a live, online conference. Plus, how do you replace the value of face-to-face interactions?

I’m not sure I have the answer to that second issue (though I have some ideas), but I think the last few weeks have shown us that that first theory may not necessarily be true. Admittedly, these are unusual circumstances, and there are quite a few healthcare providers who work off the front lines of emergency care who have more time on their hands than usual right now. I mean, I have been able to schedule calls with some rather prominent clinicians on the same day as I reach out to them. When was the last time that happened?

In the last 2 weeks, I’ve watched parts of several live, online events geared at least in part of the healthcare community. The meeting organizers are consistently overwhelmed with participation, which has typically numbered in the thousands. I suspect some of the attendees have simply been those in the general public who are interested in high-level education, but you have to also believe that a number of providers are also watching, as often evidenced by the types of questions being fielded from the audience.

So what does that all mean for the future? Well, it could, could mean that we’ll need to start looking at hybrid solutions for live events. There are likely going to be lots of people who are leery of airline travel, especially international travel, which is going to put a damper on attendance for some of our larger conferences. So as live attendance takes a hit, how do you supplement things with an online solution?

Join us from 11-11:30 a.m. this Wednesday, April 8 for a special CMEpalooza Company Spotlight broadcast where I’ll be joined by the bright minds from Educational Measures. We’ll take a look at what the future holds for live, online conferences and steps that we may all need to take to adapt at least in the short term to best meet the educational needs of our learners. Since this may be a big part of all of our futures, it’s something we all need to learn more about.