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.

While I was updating the CMEpalooza Archive with all the recent sessions from CMEpalooza Spring 2026, I noticed we had reached a somewhat notable milestone: CMEpalooza Spring 2026 was the 25th Palooza. Woo. Having realized this momentous achievement, I of course immediately shared the news with Scott (note: these are our actual texts.) Naturally, he was overwhelmed with emotion, as you can easily see from his response. Wow, what a moment. You can really feel the love. We both took a moment to collect ourselves, and then it was right back to business. Be careful, my enthusiasm is contagious. In all seriousness, a big thank you to everyone for helping us make it through CMEpalooza #25! I can’t promise we will do another 25, but then, I also didn’t think we would do more than one, so what do I know?

“Real people don’t really win those contests.” I know that’s the way I feel about those 5 MILLION DOLLARS JUST WAITING FOR YOU IN OUR CUSTOMER SWEEPSTAKES contests that sucker you in. C’mon, those Publishers Clearinghouse videos of Ed McMahon carrying a giant check weren’t real — they were all filmed on a Hollywood set with actors! (If your Uncle Joe or your Aunt Martha actually were winners, you can let me know I am wrong in the comments, but I don’t think I am and I don’t think you will) When Derek and I launched our first CMEpalooza events with real prizes, we wanted to make sure they went to real people, and better yet, real people who work in CME (or at least are tangentially affiliated with CME). So here is the list of our most recent prize winners.

CMEpalooza STEPtacular Challenge (Sponsored by Talem Health)

$50 Amazon gift card winners Amanda Dinsmore, CSM — Business and Project Quality Associate, CE Outcomes Dana Zook — Associate Director, Program Development and Outcomes, American Society of Health-System Pharmacists Danielle Harris — Professional Development Administrator, American Society of Clinical Oncology Emma Shillman — Director of Clinician Engagement, Clinical Connection, LLC Zach Hall — Client Services Manager, Pri-Med

$250 Amazon gift card winner (most steps in 1 day) Joanne Wise — Manager Continuing Education, The Center for Public Health Continuing Education SUNY Albany School of Public Health Joanne stepped 63,368 times in one day. That’s 2,640 steps per hour. Not too shabby.

CMEpalooza Scavenger Hunt (Sponsored by Academy for Continued Healthcare Learning)

$50 Amazon gift card winners Rhea Alexis Banks — Admin Assistant, Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine, Office of Continuing Medical Education Emily Gagnon, PMP — Education Technology Manager at American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery Wendy Macias — Continuing Medical Education Manager, Methodist Healthcare System Andrea Funk, CHCP — General Manager, Global Education Group Laura Dalu — Senior Marketing Manager, Vindico Medical Education Angela Still — Senior Grant Specialist, Vindico Medical Education Daniel DaSilva — Accreditation and Outcomes Coordinator, Med Learning Group Christina Billings, MPH, CHCP Courtney Green — Senior Manager, Education, Canadian Association of Radiologists Michelle Adams — Accreditation and Joint Providership Manager, American Society of Anesthesiologists Just for fun, we asked all scavenger hunters to tell us their favorite word in the English language. The winner, oddly enough, was “pivot.” “Love,” “kerfuffle,” “serendipity,” and “copacetic” were also popular choices. I personally enjoyed “pluviophile,” “dingus,” and “cattywampus.” Feel free to use any or all of these words in your professional conversations today.