Hey, guess what? It’s my birthday today.

You know what you can get me for my birthday? That’s right — you can submit an abstract for CMEpalooza Spring today instead of waiting for the last day like everyone else.

Or you can wait for the last day like everyone else.

I guess it doesn’t matter.

Just remember that abstracts for both regular presentations and for the Pecha Kucha-type session are due by the end of the day on Monday, February 1. The next morning (that would be Tuesday, February 2), we’ll open things up for public voting on the submitted sessions.

Submissions are slowly rolling in, and we spoke to lots of folks who said they were working on something (you know who you are), so we’re hoping to at least match last year’s mark of 30 submissions. Only six days to go!

(If you don’t want to give me an abstract submission for my birthday, I’d also like The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins, a new watch, and a 1983 powder blue Mike Schmidt jersey from Mitchell & Ness. It’s glorious.)

 

 

Not long after we opened up the abstract submission process for CMEpalooza Spring, the questions started pouring in:

1. “What are you guys looking for in an abstract?”
2. “Do I need to have a bunch of co-presenters?”
3. “Is it better to propose a 30-minute session or a 60-minute session?”
4. “Do you take bribes?”

The first three questions were all accompanied by the same well-reasoned, pithy response – “I dunno” (as for the last one, of course we accept bribes, as long as you expect nothing in return).

But really, I don’t have a ton of astute guidance to give on the abstract submission process. It’s not like we have any more influence than anyone else specific to the selection process – when the morning of Feb. 2 dawns, all of the abstracts that are submitted through our online portal will be posted on our website and the public voting will begin. You get people who are interested in the description of your session and vote for it, you are in. You don’t, you aren’t. This ain’t magic, people.

But since I hate to let down our adoring public, I did a quick analysis of successful abstracts from last year to determine some patterns/trends and offer some advice. Writing a good CMEpalooza abstract is a little bit different than submitting an abstract to a faceless group from a conference committee. You need something that is going to read well and sell others on your session.

For what it’s worth, here are some ideas that may or may not be helpful:

1. Be creative. Come up with a catchy title, find a unique way to describe what you plan to cover, make fun of Derek. Any of those can work.
2. Funny is good. Make someone laugh and they’ll read your abstract twice.
3. Don’t overdo it with details. I know it can be hard to summarize your idea in 50 or even 100 words, but people don’t want to read Jane Eyre here.
4. Spelling and grammar count. If you call your session, “Incorporating Patience Into Your CME,” I will make fun of you.
5. Think about what you’d like to learn about. Remember that it’s an audience of your colleagues that will be doing the voting. What interests you probably interests them as well.

That’s about the gist of it. As you watch the snow fall this weekend, give some thought to how you want to describe your proposed session.

Oh, and I like cash (Derek asked for old t-shirts from your neighborhood 5K 3 years ago. He takes a large).

 

You’re all in for a special treat today (no, it’s not ice cream). I’m going to let you in on the creative process Scott and I go through when we’re planning CMEpalooza. Below is a paraphrased version of how we decided to do a Pecha Kucha during the last CMEpalooza Fall. Feel free to try and replicate our brainstorming process in your own professional life.

Me: We should do a Pecha Kucha during CMEpalooza Fall.

Scott: I have no idea what that is.

Me: 20 slides, 20 seconds per slide, auto-advancing.

Scott: Sounds dumb.

Me: It will be great.

Scott: Whatevs.

End scene. Of course, I was right and it was great and you should all immediately go and watch it now, if you haven’t already done so.

In all seriousness, we did get a lot of feedback that people enjoyed the Pecha Kucha format and would love to see it again. So, your wish is our command — we’re doing a Pecha Kucha at CMEpalooza Spring! Here are some of the details:

• Go here to submit a Pecha Kucha abstract. This is not to be confused with an abstract for a regular CMEpalooza Spring session, which can also be submitted today, tomorrow, or next week.
• Submissions are due by the end of the day on February 1. Same deadline for the regular abstracts.
• What is a Pecha Kucha? Go here for more details on the format.
• We’re leaving the topic open ended. It should relate to CPD/CME, but otherwise, it’s up to you.
• As with everything palooza-related, the process is fluid. We plan to have five presentations during the Pecha Kucha. If we get more than five submissions, we’ll do a similar crowdsourcing process as we are doing with the regular CMEpalooza Spring submissions.

If you have never done a Pecha Kucha presentation before — and I’m guessing most of you reading this have not — I encourage you to challenge yourself and give it a try. It’s not easy, but I think most of the presenters from the CMEpalooza Fall Pecha Kucha would agree that the experience of preparing and presenting a Pecha Kucha was an interesting and rewarding experience. If you have any questions about, please feel free to reach out to me.