Good news, folks! I received an email a few minutes ago notifying me that I have been excused from jury duty tomorrow and do not need to report to city hall. This is especially good news because I completely forgot that I had jury duty until I got this email:

You are probably thinking to yourself right now, wow, that’s super lucky that Derek got excused and what a crazy coincidence that he would have jury duty on the very day of CMEpalooza.

This is the part where I tell you that I actually had been originally scheduled for jury duty back in March and asked to have it moved. When they asked me what day, I looked at my calendar and marveled at how open my schedule was for April 17 and decided that would be a great day to have jury duty.

The lesson, as always, is that I am an idiot.

See you all tomorrow!

Where do I watch CMEpalooza?
You watch it on the LIVE page.

Will people be able to hear me on the Hangout?
No. You are not on the Hangout. You are only watching a video feed of the Hangout. You can play William Shatner’s spoken word version of Rocket Man at full volume and no one will hear you except your neighbors, who might call the police, who might interrupt you while watching CMEpalooza. So, don’t play William Shatner’s spoken word version of Rocket Man at full volume while watching CMEpalooza.

Can I watch CMEpalooza at the office?
Yes.

Can I watch CMEpalooza at home?
Yes.

Can I watch CMEpalooza in a conference room with 150 other people?
Please do.

Can I watch CMEpalooza while at a coffee shop?
That depends. Will you be drinking a skinny latte while watching? If yes, then no, you may not watch CMEpalooza Fall while at a coffee shop.

Can I watch CMEpalooza with Magic Johnson?
I don’t know. Let’s ask him.

I guess he’s busy.

Do I have to pre-register or register?
Nope.

Do I have to pay anything to watch CMEpalooza? I love paying registration fees.

No. You don’t have to pay anything to watch CMEpalooza.

Do I have to take a survey afterward?
Well, you don’t have to, but it would be nice if you did. It’s only seven questions and shouldn’t take you more than 60 seconds. If it takes you more than 60 seconds, Scott will come to your house and perform his new one-man show for you, Game of CMEpalooza Thrones.

Can I get a certificate for watching CMEpalooza?
Actually, yes. Well, kind of. We’re not accredited or certified or anything like that, and we have no way of verifying whether you actually watched any of these sessions or not. But if you want a certificate of completion that you can use to self-report participation in CMEpalooza Spring 2019, here you go. I’ll also post it on the LIVE page tomorrow.

How do I ask questions to the presenters?
Good question. There are three ways you can ask questions:

1. Send a text to the ASiM text line at 267-666-0CME (0263)
2. Tweet a question using the #CMEpalooza hashtag
3. Click on the Google Slides link on the LIVE page and enter your question there

We always get to as many questions as we can throughout each presentation.

Do I have to watch all the sessions?
YES! No. Watch what interests you.

Will the sound quality for each presenter be crystal clear with consistent volume and no glitches?
No. Will it be pretty good for most presenters? Yes. There will be some who sound better than others. There may be a few glitches and hiccups. That’s just how it goes with a free conference where presenters volunteer their time and use their own equipment. Some people aren’t comfortable doing a presentation while wearing headphones and a mic, so we don’t force them to use it. We do the best that we can with what we have available to us. That said, there seems to have been some improvements within Google Hangouts this year, so perhaps we’ll get lucky

What if I’m busy during the day of the live broadcast?
All the sessions will be archived on the website, probably within 15 minutes of the conclusion of each session. How are we able to do it so fast? We have a new intern who is a real crackerjack on the interwebs. Here he is hard at work, writing our latest blog post.

 

We had a record number of entries into our Sponsor event, #CMEpalooza Pursuit, this spring – who knew that people liked free money?

I’m also pleased that our audience learned so much about our 21st president, Chester Alan Arthur. Derek tells me that he is planning to grow muttonchops like Our Most Forgotten President just in time for Wednesday’s live broadcast of CMEpalooza Spring. I think it’ll be an improvement.

Anyway, we gathered a roomful of our trusty interns this morning to witness the highly anticipated drawing for the winners of our Sponsor event, each of whom wins a $100 Amazon gift card. Here are the champions, my friends:

• Jayzona Alberto, EdD, MS, Education Development Specialist, Continuing Medical Education, Stanford Center for Continuing Education
• Judith Orvos, ELS, President, Orvos Communications
• Stephanie Staggs, MHA, CHCP, Program Coordinator,Graduate & Continuing Medical Education, College of Medicine, Texas A&M University
• Allyson Baer, MA, Senior Program Administrator, Data Analysis and Reporting, CE, Education, Science, and Professional Development, American Society of Clinical Oncology
• Katie O’Connell, Senior CME Event Coordinator, Continuing Medical Education, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

For anyone interested in the right answers for the full quiz, here they are.