Part of the motivation behind CMEpalooza is to provide a presentation platform for individuals who aren’t big fans of public speaking and tend to shy away from opportunities to present at conference like the ACEHP’s Annual Conference. If you fall into this category, I encourage you to consider giving CMEpalooza a try. The only other person you will see during your presentation is me…and I can hide if you want me to! It will just be you and your webcam. There might be a few others watching the live stream, but you won’t really know unless I tell you and I’m perfectly capable of lying to you if that makes you feel better.

I personally think that CMEpalooza is a great, low risk format for trying out a presentation, especially for those who think they get too nervous speaking in front of a crowd. It truly is open for anyone to present, not just polished, experienced speakers. So, why not give it a try? Or at least consider it. If you want to run your idea past me before submitting it, I’d be happy to take a look at it. Just shoot me an email at dwarnick@theCMEguy.com. I’m thrilled to see a few new names on the agenda – I hope to see a few more!

This is how I envision CMEpalooza working:

Each presentation will be streamed individually on the CMEpalooza Google+ page and then archived there and on this website. It will not be one continuos live stream that goes on for hours and hours. It a presentation is 15 minutes long, then the live stream will end after 15 minutes. There will be a delay of a couple of minutes while I get the next presenter set-up – during which there will be no video – and then we’ll start up again. You will need to refresh the page you’re on (the CMEpalooza Google+ page) to see the next presentation available for live streaming. The videos will be automatically archived on the Google+ page, which happens fairly promptly.

I’m really not expecting that participants will sit in front of their computers for an entire day and watch every presentation (I wouldn’t). At some point before the start of CMEpalooza, I plan to put together a scheduled agenda with an anticipated start time for each presentation (heavy emphasis on anticipated). People can then pop in and out, tuning in for the specific sessions they’re most interested in seeing. I really have no clue how many people will watch live – I’m not anticipating very many (though I do hope at least a few with G+ accounts do. There’s a cool Q&A app for Hangouts I’d like to try out). My guess is that the archive will be more watched and of more value to the CME/CE community. But, if if I’m completely wrong and a hundred people tune in to the live presentations, that would be fantastic!

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions, please feel free to leave them in the comments below.

What the heck is CMEpalooza? Who is it for? When will it be? Where will it be? How are you doing it? Why are you doing it? Your questions answered below.

WHO
Anyone with an interest in continuing education – specifically CE for health care professionals – is invited to participate and/or present.

WHAT
As the tagline says, CMEpalooza is a conference for CME/CE professionals that lets anyone talk about anything, any way they want. Presentation topics should have some connection to continuing education for health care professionals. That’s the only guideline. CMEpalooza isn’t big on rules.

WHEN
March 20, 2014. Start time depends on how many people sign up to present. Current plans are to start at 1 PM ET. [UPDATE (10/30/13): We already have more than an afternoon’s worth of presentations, so start time will likely be some time in the AM.]

WHERE
Your home, office, or home office. Through the magic of the interwebs, CMEpalooza will be a virtual conference, viewed entirely on the device of your choosing in a location of your choosing.

WHY
Because I really like the idea of giving people the freedom to present on a topic of their choosing with no strings attached. I want to provide a platform for those who have an idea they think is really great (or even just pretty good), but have never had a chance to present it. I also thought this format might be a nice presentation opportunity for those who aren’t comfortable getting up in front of a crowd of people and talking. You can read more here about the “why” behind CMEpalooza.

HOW
CMEpalooza will be a virtual conference, utilizing Google+ Hangouts On Air (HOA) live streaming capabilities. Presentations will be streamed live on the CMEpalooza Google+ page. You will need a Google+ account to present, but you will not need a Google+ account to view the presentations. The presentations will then be archived within a day or two here on the CMEpalooza website.