Cheer up, sleepy Jean
Oh, what can it mean
To a daydream believer
And a homecoming queen?

OK, I don’t have the faintest idea what the lyrics to Daydream Believer are all about, but I do know that there is an entire industry devoted to chronicling the lives of those who are fulfilling the daydreams of everyone who has ever bought a Powerball ticket.

My Lottery Dream Home. The Lottery Changed My Life. I was personally a big fan of a very hokey and short-lived 1983 series called Lottery! about two lottery officials who crisscrossed the country letting people know they had won a big prize. There was always some sort of dramatic hijinks to spice up the journey, like the winner who was in the hospital with a heart condition and would die if he got too excited about anything. If anyone else remembers Lottery! (besides Derek, who no doubt also caught every episode) (note from Derek: I am embarrassed to admit that this is accurate. There wasn’t a lot to do in the 80’s.), please go out immediately, but a lottery ticket with the winning numbers of 04, 14, 21, 29, and 45, and share 25% of your proceeds with me.

I am actually a bit of a lottery curmudgeon. Many moons ago, I worked for a company where nearly everyone in my department would pool money together to buy lottery tickets when the jackpot got really big. I deferred every time, although I did get in the spirit by telling people as I left the office, “I truly hope I never see you ever again.” Needless to say, I was extremely popular around the office, especially the next morning when all of the “losers” had to show up again a little bit poorer.

But while I am not a fan of actually playing the lottery, I appreciate how it can be fun to daydream about all of the ways that your life would change — presumably for the better — if you suddenly found yourself with a whole pile of money. Would you buy a big house on the beach? Take off on a whirlwind, 3-month vacation? Buddy up to your new best friend, Jeff Bezos? There are lots of options.

But what about if things were tamped down a little bit, and you were given a lesser windfall of, oh let’s say, a $100 Amazon gift card? Maybe that wouldn’t change your life, but you could get a little something totally frivolous to fulfill a much, much smaller daydream.

If only there was a way to fulfill that daydream….

Would it surprise you to know that you are in luck, my friend? Would it shock you to know that this entire prelude has been a dastardly scheme to get you to play our Fall Sponsor Event, CMEpalooza Multiplicity, where we are giving away five of those precious $100 Amazon gift cards?

It’s true – this week is your first chance to get your first financial windfall from our shallow coffers. In case you missed it on Monday morning, CMEpalooza Multiplicity features a series of three quizzes focused on our Fall sponsors. For the first time, you can complete them all online. I did warn people in our earlier post that blindly guessing at the answers to our multiple-choice questions probably wouldn’t earn you enough points to qualify for our prize drawing, but a few people have already tried, nonetheless. They all failed rather spectacularly. So, if you want to play CMEpalooza Multiplicity, please do a modicum of research into our Sponsors — not a lot, but at least a little.

Here, once again, are the links to our three quizzes:

• Gold sponsor quiz
• Silver sponsor quiz
• Bronze (and other) sponsor quiz

Good luck. May all your daydreams come true.

On the heels of another wildly successful CMEpalooza Trivia Night during the Alliance Industry Conference last month, we’re trying something a little different with our Fall Sponsor Event. No more forms to fill out, no more emails to send with attached entries, no more second chances for people who don’t get enough answers correct.

That’s right, we’re (finally) going digital as we debut a very special event I’m calling CMEpalooza Multiplicity. Before anyone gets nervous that you’ll need to do any math, I can assure you that that is not the case. I simply wanted to give this event a snazzier title than “CMEpalooza Multiple Choice Quiz.”

Here is how CMEpalooza Multiplicity works:

1. There are three separate multiple choice quizzes: Our Gold sponsor quiz, our Silver sponsor quiz, and our Bronze (and other) sponsor quiz. Clicking on each individual quiz link here will bring you directly to that quiz.
2. Within each quiz, you will find a series of multiple choice questions related to each of our CMEpalooza Fall sponsors. Sure, you can blindly guess at each answer if you want, but you’ll have a better chance at answering questions correctly if you go to our Sponsor page and do some very basic research. All of the answers to our multiple choice questions can be found either on the sponsor’s homepage or one click away from it. There is nothing should require more than a minute or two of digging.
3. Complete as many quizzes as you want. The Gold quiz is the shortest (but requires a perfect score) and the Bronze quiz is the longest (but gives the most leeway on incorrect responses).
4. If you want to be entered into our prize drawing for a $100 Amazon gift card (we’re giving away 5 of them), be sure to include your real name and your real email address at the top of each quiz. You only get one crack at each quiz, so don’t squander your opportunity.
5. Be sure to click the “Submit” button at the bottom of each quiz. If you don’t, your responses won’t be recorded.

Seems simply enough, right?

You have until 5 pm ET on Friday, October 10 to complete your entries. We’ll compile all of the correct entries, put them into one of those giant Bingo hoppers with the crank, and pull out five winners.

Once again, here are the links to our three quizzes:

• Gold sponsor quiz
• Silver sponsor quiz
• Bronze (and other) sponsor quiz

Good luck. Go Phils. (note from Derek: Go Phils.)

 

I know that many, many of you are worried that the current government shutdown will impact the delivery of the daily mail. Sorting through all of the valuable brochures, flyers, and random other knickknacks that arrive at our homes or apartments on a daily basis (except for Sunday) remains an exciting part of life. I, for one, have a Pavlovian response every time I hear the mail slot open and shut on our front door. It’s usually a race between the wife and I to see who gets there first.

OK, fine, this is all a bit of sarcasm. I receive maybe 2 or 3 items in a given month that don’t go straight into the trash. And you don’t even have to worry about interruptions to mail service once the government shutdown begins — the postal service operates independently of the feds, so you’ll still get your daily deliveries. Phew.

It didn’t use to be this way, of course. I am currently reading a biography focused on the scientific discoveries of Benjamin Franklin (Derek isn’t the only one who can bore you with tales of his latest literary adventures), and there is a short section of all of the ways that everyone’s favorite founding father revolutionized the mail service during his time as our Postmaster General. Two days to deliver a letter from Philadelphia to New York City? Preposterous!

Because so many of you miss the days of writing love letters to your beau overseas, the big brains at CMEpalooza started our Ask Us Anything advice column at the start of the year, giving our community a chance to regale us with their latest professional (or personal) challenges and invite Derek and I to chime in with our thoughts to help rectify the situation.

I can’t tell you how many times this month I have been on a call with a colleague and they said, “You know, this would make a great Ask Me Anything submission.” (OK, I can tell you. It’s 3. I’m terrible at keeping secrets.)

Of these 3 individuals, I can’t tell you how many actually went onto our online portal and wrote up their submission. (OK, I can tell you. It’s zero. I won’t shame the perpetrators publicly, but they know who they are.)

Because of their laziness, that means that our virtual mailbox is not exactly overflowing with advice seekers. In past months, we refereed accreditation oddities, funder conundrums, and other professional miscellany. Surprisingly, we are still awaiting the first person who wants us to chime in with parenting or dating advice or simply wants our opinion on the best Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor (I won’t tell you – you’ll just need to ask.) (note from Derek: I’ll tell you. It’s Peanut Butter Half Baked.)

So, c’mon everyone, don’t be shy. We won’t bite.

Click here to go to our Ask Us Anything submission portal