I am a bit sunburned and my ears are clogged with ocean water after 2 days at the beach, so I’m a little crankier than usual this morning (and I’m usually quite cranky anyway). Plus, it’s still 95+ degrees here in Philadelphia, which makes us all a bit more on edge. I mean, I love the long days and nights of summertime as much as anyone, but it’s hard to enjoy being outside when you come back drenched in sweat after a quick walk around the block.

Derek was just whining to me about it’s been soo soo hard to readjust to the heat after spending the first part of July traipsing through the countryside of Ireland where the thermometer never cracked 65 degrees. Poor baby. Drown your sorrows in another pint of Guinness why don’t you, laddie? (note from Derek: excellent idea!)

Anyway, before my cranky-o-meter accelerates even more, let’s run down a few things that have been going on with CMEpalooza. But before we do, how’s about a quick top 5 list of the best ’80s songs with the word “summer” in their title, if only because I know how much I know it bothers Derek when I steal his “top 5” gimmick, especially with my questionable musical tastes:

5. Summertime (DJ Jazzy Jeff & The Fresh Prince) – Technically, this wasn’t an ’80s song since it came out in 1991, but I couldn’t find anything else for this list that I had heard of that wasn’t by Richard Marx, and I absolutely refuse to include Richard Marx.

4. Boys of Summer (Don Henley) – Even as a kid, this song depressed me. The book of the same title is quite good.

3. Suddenly Last Summer (The Motels) – I knew the song but have never heard of The Motels before. Let’s assume this was their biggest hit (note from Derek: it’s not. Their biggest hit was/is Only the Lonely.)

2. Cruel Summer (Bananarama) – The girl bands of the ’80s were the best. Love the outfits, ladies.

1. Summer of ’69 (Bryan Adams) – Bryan Adams was my favorite singer growing up (like I said, questionable music tastes), and this is probably his most beloved song. Even if it isn’t about the summer of 1969.

With that thought-provoking list behind us, let’s move onto a few announcements that are actually related to CMEpalooza.

First off, we’ve been working hard on the agenda for CMEpalooza Fall (Wednesday, October 16). We’re almost there. Hopefully, we’ll have something preliminary out in the next week or two. There are some typically quirky session concepts out there, and topics you won’t hear about in other venues. We march to our own beat (in other words, We Got the Beat).

Secondly, we wanted to announce a very special event that we are hosting this fall in conjunction with the Alliance Industry Summit (AIS) right here in Philadelphia. Thanks to an anonymous donation in memory of longtime CME professional Jason O’Grady, we will be hosting our very first CMEpalooza Trivia Night from 6-7:30 pm on Tuesday, September 17, in the Skyline Room at the Philadelphia Free Library’s Central Branch. It’s a short 5-minute walk from the conference venue and one of the coolest spots in the city, even if you are not as big a fan of libraries as I am. There will be Philly-themed snacks and drinks, as well as cash prizes for the winners.

Because this is the not-to-be-missed event of the year, we’ve invited some of Philly’s favorite sons and daughters to hang out with us on the outdoor terrace during breaks in the action, so this is what the general atmosphere may look like.

Derek is an introvert until the end. (note from Derek: Bryce Harper is allowed to come sit with me.)

Please note that you need not be attending AIS to come to our free event. We will have more details, as well as a link to registration, as the date approaches.

Here is a list of the things I did today after I told myself it was time to focus and write a blog post about updating the CMEpalooza Archive:

• Called my wife, who is spending a few days in Maine, even though I just talked to her a few hours ago. Sad news: she is working on a sewing project and the hem of the skirt she is making is crooked. It’s a good thing I called to help her through it.
• Finished Wordle. Got it in four. Not my best work. (Side note: My opening word is always STARE and I never change it. Last week, finally, FINALLY, I thought my moment had come as S, then T, then A, then R lit up in green. Alas, the E stayed a soul-crushing gray. Curse you, STARK!) (Note from Scott: Apparently, Derek and I have spent wayyyy too much time together over the years. I could have written this same item almost verbatim, although I very rarely will choose a somewhat random starting word just for kicks)
• Took the dog for a walk. Was she staring at me begging to go out? No, but look at her. She clearly is full of energy and needs some exercise to calm her down.
  
• Had a staring contest with the cat. He won, as usual. I’m just glad he didn’t murder me afterward. You never know with him.
  
• Stared blankly at the laptop
• Put the duvet cover in the washing machine. Another urgent matter that could not wait another minute and had to be done right now!
• Scrolled through Spotify to find the perfect music to listen to while thinking and writing. I’ve been on a jazz kick lately, so it took me a decent amount of time to sample different albums that would be right for the occasion. I finally settled on the Bill Evans Trio’s live album Sunday at the Village Vanguard, but then put on The National because I always put on The National.
• Got a snack (Chex Mix) and refilled my water bottle

And here we are.

I did update the CMEpalooza Archive with all the sessions from CMEpalooza Spring 2024. Be sure to check it out if you missed any of the spring sessions or because we’re so dang cute that you can’t get enough of us. The archive contains every session from every CMEpalooza since 2014 — that’s a lot — and all for free.

Once we wrap up CMEpalooza Spring each April, Derek and I usually take a mental break for a month or so before we realize that, “Oops, guess it’s time to plan for the next one.” Consequently, we have our luxurious preparatory retreat on a remote island accessible only by water buffalo scheduled for next week, but we do have a few announcements to pass along in the meantime.

As many of you know, the CME community lost two of its most treasured individuals — Ron Murray and Jason O’Grady — earlier this year, so our first two announcements are associated with their memories, while the third announcement is more of a self-promotion kind of thing.

1. Two of Ron Murray’s former colleagues from his time in the Office of Continuing Medical Education of University of Virginia School of Medicine are working on a project to pull together memories and photos of Ron’s professional life and friendships that will be compiled and shared with his family. Anyone who would like to contribute can send information to ronmurraymemories@gmail.com, a special mailbox that has been created for this project. The goal of this project is to give Ron’s family a picture of his legacy and life as a CME/CE professional. They have asked that submissions be sent by early September.
2. Thanks to an anonymous donation in memory of Jason O’Grady, we will be holding our inaugural CMEpalooza Trivia Night in conjunction with the Alliance Industry Summit (AIS) later this year in Philadelphia. We’re still firming up some of the details, but this FREE event will be held from 6-7:30 pm on Tuesday, September 17. There will almost certainly be food and drink served at this event, and not just the bags of stale soft pretzels that Derek picks up outside of the Phillies game this weekend. We will share more details as the date gets closer. We are going to require advance registration as there will be an attendance limit, but we should be able to accommodate lots of folks.
3. Speaking of AIS, last year I led a special walking tour of historic Philadelphia for conference attendees. I have had a few people ask if I would do it again this year. While we’re going to be busy with another event (see #2 above), I am volunteering leading FREE walking tours throughout the summer as part of the Independence National Historic Trust’s Twilight Tour program. While I am only out there about once a week, there are tours every night throughout the summer. But if you really only want to find me and only me, here are the dates and times I’ll be out there for the start of these 1-hour tours (you do not need to pre-register for these):
   • Friday, June 7 at 5:15 pm
   • Friday, June 21 at 6 pm
   • Thursday, June 27 at 6 pm
   • Friday, July 5 at 5:15 pm
   • Friday, July 12 at 6 pm
   • Thursday, July 25 at 6 pm
   • Friday, August 16 at 5:15 pm
   • Friday, August 23 at 6 pm
   • Friday, August 30 at 5:15 pm
   • Friday, September 6 at 5:15 pm

Happy summer everyone!

(note from Derek: I truly was not going to say anything about #3 above because it is a nice thing that Scott does/is doing, but it is driving me slightly nuts that he left out the colons for every “515 pm.” What’s that all about? Does he want me to edit them for him? Is this a Gen Z thing and he’s trying to keep up with the kids? Is he just screwing with me? He’s probably just screwing with me. I’m going back on my CMEpalooza break.)