Fine, nobody liked the poem I posted yesterday (I tried to convince Scott I was building up anticipation for the various CMEpalooza Spring announcements that are forthcoming. He wasn’t buying it.) So, lets just move on.

Here is announcement #1: the dates for both 2015 CMEpalooza Spring and Fall (This is, obviously, Scott’s doing. I break out in hives when I try to schedule something this far in advance.)

CMEpalooza Spring 2015: April 8, 2015
CMEpalooza Fall 2015: October 21, 2015

I suggest you call your local Hampton Inn right now, reserve a conference room, invite your entire office, project the CMEpalooza sessions onto a giant screen, and serve wings, hoagies (that’s a “sub” or “grinder” for you non-southeast Pennsylvanians), California rolls (for the vegetarians) and lots of coffee. But that’s just me. At the very least, do mark it in your calendars and plan to spend a little time with CMEpalooza on those dates.

Announcement #2 will be coming early next week and will cover the specifics of how we plan to develop the agenda for CMEpalooza Spring. It’s definitely a departure from how we planned CMEpalooza Fall 2014. I think you’re going to like it.

The ice-king trembles on his throne,
And holds his rod with loosened hand;
For there are murmurs in the air
Of one who cometh, sweet and fair,
To break with smiles the monarch’s band.

The skies are dawning a new blue,
To welcome her whose dancing feet
Thro’ cloudland hasten from afar,
Guided by sun, and moon, and star,
Her waiting friends once more to greet

The timid violets lift their heads,
And heavenward turn their gentle eyes,
And catch the fragrance newly born
Which cometh with the Spring’s glad dawn,
And steal their color from the skies.

The merry birds on twig and branch
Trill out the news with fluttering wings,
While Robin seeks the early fruit,
Impatient watching the green shoot,
And the glad tidings gaily sings.

The brook, grown weary of restraint,
Has burst its weakened bonds at last,
And rushing down the mountain-side,
Lends its fresh influence far and wide,
And Winter’s icy reign is past!

– Mary Dow Brine, The Coming of Spring

CMEpalooza Spring is coming…

“So, how many people did you have watching CMEpalooza?”

That is probably the most frequently asked question Scott and I heard after CMEpalooza Fall (contrary to popular belief, it was not “Did Derek get more handsome this year or was it just the lighting?” Hard to believe, I know.). Anyhoo, it’s actually a harder question to answer than you might expect. We don’t do registration, we don’t require evaluations (though a big thank you to the 100+ who did complete our optional survey!), and more than one person can be watching the same video feed. It makes determining the actual amount of “participants” rather complicated and a mess to explain.

With that in mind, I’m delighted to be able to share with you the CMEpalooza Fall 2014: Key Takeaways infographic designed and created for us by the wonderful folks at infograph-ed (Check ’em out. They’re new!). They have done a fantastic job of combining our data points from multiple sources and using the key takeaways from that data to create a really cool visual representation. I always thought it would be neat to create an infographic as an outcomes report for a CME activity — but never managed to get it done — so seeing this was a big thrill. Drop us a note in the comments and let us know what you think.