My son — who is 14-years-old and should be past this by now — has a favorite knock-knock joke that he is constantly trying to use on people, including me, whom he has told it to multiple times before. He clearly thinks I’m an idiot. Anyway, here it (WARNING: it is terrible.)

Knock knock.
Who’s there?
Interrupting cow.
Interrupting cow w-
MOOOOO!!!

I sigh deeply, roll my eyes, and think, “Here we go again…” every time he tells it. It’s very similar to how Scott and I react every time we begin planning the next CMEpalooza agenda. Not that we don’t love CMEpalooza, but getting the agenda together can be a chore, which is why the spring palooza is always my favorite. We make all of you do most of the work for us! Yay!

As always, our goal with the CMEpalooza Spring agenda is to have the CME/CE community intimately involved in its development. This year, as we did last year, we are releasing a Request for Proposals (RFP) for anyone to submit an idea for a CMEpalooza Spring session. This perhaps sounds more impressive than it actually is since the RFP being “released” is just this blog post, but work with me here.

We are going to try to keep the process pretty simple. If you have an idea for a session that you would like to lead at CMEpalooza Spring (Wednesday, April 17), just complete the RFP submission form below by the end of the day on Friday, February 1. After February 1, Scott and I will review all of the proposals that we have received and select at least six for the agenda. Yes, we have gotten drunk on our own self-proclaimed power and will do all the selecting ourselves.

Here are a few guidelines:

1. This is an online conference and all sessions are done via YouTube Live (Google Hangout). All presenters must have a computer, access to a decent internet connection, and a webcam. Most laptops produced after 2010 have one built in.
2. Proposals will only be considered if they are submitted via the RFP submission form below.
3. The deadline for proposals to be submitted is by 9 p.m. ET on Friday, February 1.
4. We are open to pretty much any idea as long as it’s possible for us to do via YouTube Live and it relates in some way to CME/CE. The more creative, the better.
5. Interactive formats with multiple presenters, such as panel sessions and interviews, are encouraged. Single-person PowerPoint lectures are discouraged, unless you can convince us that it’s going to be really, really good.
6. Please verify the availability of all presenters for the date of CMEpalooza (April 17) before submitting their name in your proposal. If you don’t, we won’t be happy. Scott will probably scowl at you when you email to tell us one of your speakers is not available. You don’t want that. Trust me.
7. There are six categories we are looking to fill for a well-rounded agenda. They are: Outcomes, Educational Design, Technological Innovations, Commercial Support, Accreditation, and CME Potpourri (anything that doesn’t fit in the other five categories). Your proposal should align with one of these categories. Ideally, we will select one proposal for each category, but we might decide to choose multiple proposals for one category based on what we receive. It’s our conference and we can do what we want.
8. We don’t want to limit creativity, so there isn’t a limit on the number of proposals you can submit, but use common sense and be reasonable. We will likely only choose one proposal for which you are listed as the lead contact, so don’t submit 10 proposals or something crazy like that.
9. We will try to notify you within a week of the deadline if your proposal has been accepted or not.
10. If you have any questions, feel free to email Derek (thecmeguy@gmail.com) or Scott (scott@medcasewriter.com) or find us at the Alliance conference in a couple weeks.

I think that about covers it. I especially want to encourage people who have never presented at CMEpalooza to submit a proposal. We are always happy to have new presenters participate, and now is as good a time as any. The RFP submission form is below. Have fun!

Folks, I’m going to be completely honest with you here. Scott and I have been doing this for a long time now (incredibly, this upcoming CMEpalooza Spring will be the 5-year anniversary of the very first palooza. You can check out the archive for that first one here and here.)

Sometimes, I sit down to write a blog post and the words just pour out of my fingertips and I can bang it out in 15 minutes. Other times — like today, and yesterday, and the day before that, and the day before that — I sit down and stare blankly at my laptop for 15 minutes before I close it and go do something else (by “something else,” I usually mean watching highlights from last year’s Super Bowl for the umpteenth time. Did you know that the Eagles won? It’s true).

I haven’t written anything for the blog since October, and I’m definitely feeling a little rusty. I don’t even have any clever anecdotes from my little holiday break, which was very pleasant and relaxing, but bereft of much action and excitement. Would you like to hear about the 1000-piece puzzle of the London skyline I worked on? Everything was going fine until someone who will remain nameless (my wife, who denies it, even though it was definitely her) left the family room door open, and the cats laid waste to Big Ben like Godzilla rampaging through downtown Tokyo. Cats, man…

Where was I? Oh, right – CMEpalooza Spring is coming on Wednesday, April 17! Woohoo! Mark it on your calendars now!

Will it be a special Game of Thrones themed CMEpalooza in honor of the final season of GoT, which is also starting in April? YES!

Hold on a minute…

[…]

OK, I’m being told by Scott that it will definitely not be a special GoT themed CMEpalooza, as that would be “ridiculous.” Fine.

What we are going to do is have an open abstract submission process for anyone to submit a presentation idea for CMEpalooza Spring. We’ll open up the submission form in a week or so and keep it open until sometime after the Alliance conference, which ends on January 26 (which also happens to be my birthday, but please don’t send me any presents like air pods, a Joel Embiid City Edition jersey (I wear a large) or a pair of size 13 Air Jordan 1 Retro High OG  Storm Blue’s). Scott and I will then review all the submissions and pick the ones we think will make up the best agenda for CMEpalooza Spring.

So, start thinking up your clever and creative ideas now! We’ll have six categories that you can submit for: Outcomes, Educational Design, Technological Innovations, Commercial Support, Accreditation, and Game of Thrones.

Hold on a minute…

[…]

OK, I’m being told by Scott that Game of Thrones is not a category and it’s actually CME Potpourri, which sounds much less fun to me. Whatever. I’m also being told by Scott to mention that CMEpalooza Fall is currently scheduled for Wednesday, October 16, so make sure you mark that in your calendars, too.

Stay tuned for more abstract submission details next week!

Scott and I are still in recovery mode after a great CMEpalooza Fall on Wednesday, so I’ll keep this brief.

If you watched any of the CMEpalooza Fall sessions, we would love to have your feedback on our survey. It is only 7 questions, and I promise it won’t take you more than 5 minutes to complete. We have 95 completions so far which is, quite frankly, a stunning amount. I’m not even sure how to process that number right now, But we still want your input if you haven’t filled it out yet.

PLEASE CLICK HERE TO TAKE OUR SURVEY!

As is tradition, here are the jokes that have been submitted on the survey thus far. They are all terrible, which means they are perfect.

Vandals destroyed the Origami Institute in Japan. We’ll keep you posted as the story unfolds.

Why did the scarecrow win an award? Because he was outstanding in his field.

What kind of dog does a scientist have? A lab!

Why don’t bears wear shoes? Because they have bare feet!

What’s the difference between the Philadelphia 76ers and a dollar bill? You can still get four quarters out of a dollar bill. (NOTE: whoever wrote this is now banned from CMEpalooza.)