Thanks for coming, please find your seat. Before our main feature (which is on April 24 — you’re a bit early), here are a few coming attractions we thought you might enjoy. Thank you.

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In a world full of boring and lame promotional events, one man stands alone in his quest to bring entertainment and fun to the masses.

From the strange mind of Scott Kober comes the latest CMEpalooza sponsor event…

CMEPALOOZA GETS CHOPPED!!!

Coming April 8. Prepare now. There will be prizes.

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Let’s all go to the lobby.
Let’s all go to the lobby.
Let’s all go to the lobby.
And get ourselves a treat!

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[DREAMS BY FLEETWOOD MAC PLAYS]

Winter is over, spring is here, and summer is coming. You know what that means don’t you?

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IT’S ALMOST BATHING SUIT SEASON!!!

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From the creator of CMEpalooza STEPtacular Challenge I, II, and III — just in time to whip you into shape for the summer season — CMEpalooza presents…

CMEPALOOZA STEPTACULAR CHALLENGE IV!!!

The CMEpalooza STEPtacular Challenge is coming April 15. More details to follow.

[VERY FAST NARRATOR VOICE]

CMEpaloozaisnotresponsibleforanyinjuriessustainedduringtheCMEpaloozaSTEPtacularChallenge. AllCMEpaloozaSTEPtacularChallengessponsoredbyTalemHealth.

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Despite boldly announcing at the beginning of today’s interview with Wendy Turell, Associate Director, Global Medical Affairs Oncology, Scientific Engagement at Daiichi Sankyo, that this was the last in our “10 Years in 10 Minutes” series, I later realized that it is actually, in fact, not the last one. It is the fifth of six, the last of which will be on Wednesday. Those of you who have been following along closely might remember that I also made a mistake at the beginning of my interview with Brian McGowan a couple weeks ago. The lesson here is that I should probably refrain from talking during these interviews and limit myself to hand gestures and nodding along.

Nevertheless, I was thrilled to have a few minutes to talk with Wendy about her presentation at the inaugural CMEpalooza on Qualitative Research and CEHP. Wendy and co-presenter Alex Howson from Write Medicine were the first “panel” presentation at CMEpalooza (can two people make a panel? Let’s say yes), the success of which helped show some of the possibilities of the Google Hangouts On-Air format. At the same time, Wendy was the first presenter who suffered serious technical issues, to the point that I thought Alex might have to do the presentation on her own, and helped show some of the challenges with the format (side note: if you watch the original presentation, you can see Wendy make a sudden dramatic appearance on screen, tech issues resolved, popping on just as I begin the introductions. High stakes drama!)

Wendy and I discuss all of these things, plus her thoughts on the value of qualitative research in CME today, why we are still fighting the same battles 10 years later, and even a tip for a fun family vacation spot. All that in a neat 10 minutes.

 

Next up on our 10 Years in 10 Minutes interview series is my friend and former colleague from two different stops on our CME journey (Thomas Jefferson University and Pfizer) Beth Brillinger. Beth’s presentation at the first CMEpalooza was on Activity Planning: Improving the Process to Align with Accreditation Criteria and wrapped up in a crisp 16 minutes. While I would never go back to the days of letting presenters choose any random length of time for their presentations, there definitely is something to be said for the type of short informative sessions that Beth and a couple of others did. Maybe instead of eight 1-hour sessions we should do thirty-two 15-minute session? I can hear Scott grinding his teeth from here…

We cover the standard topics during the interview, along with a quick career check-in. Anyone who knows Beth knows she is longtime motorhead, so I couldn’t help finishing up the interview with a little Formula 1 talk. Check out the full interview below.