Because I usually like to be a minimum of 3-5 years behind all trends, I recently purchased a turntable and have joined in the vinyl collecting craze. Spend 30 bucks to listen to something I can already listen to on Spotify? Count me in!.

My last three record purchases are all albums that you would probably expect from a 50-year-old dude who grumbles about the quality of music these days: U2’s The Joshua Tree, Radiohead’s Kid A, and John Lee Hooker’s The Cream. While I do love John Lee Hooker, I have to admit that a big part of the reason I bought it is because of the album cover.

The sundae, the pipe, the suit, the hat, and the grin…it’s all pretty great.

One convenient consequence of owning a turntable is that now I have something to do when my wife wants to go antiquing or flea marketing. It’s amazing how many boxes of old vinyl you can find at these places. It’s also amazing how many terrible albums you can find in those boxes. Some are terrible, some are hilarious. I suppose it’s all a matter of perspective. Here are three terrible/hilarious albums I’ve found during my crate diving last weekend, judged entirely by the album cover.

Yikes.

The great thing about wandering around a giant flea market looking at records by fast food icons is that the steps add up awfully quick. I was over 15,000 steps by the end of the day without even trying, easily qualifying me for the CMEpalooza STEPtacular Challenge, if I was allowed to enter (I’m not [frowny face]).

So, if you’re looking for ways to get over that 10,000 step mark, may I humbly suggest a round of crate diving at your local flea market? Or perhaps an accordion dance party? I know an album you can play!

Also, this is a reminder that the CMEpalooza STEPtacular Challenge ends Sunday. Click here for all the details.

Good luck and happy stepping!

In the last few weeks before each of our live CMEpalooza broadcasts, our blogs typically become spaces where we’re launching events (or reminding you to enter them, or telling you who won prizes) or finding silly ways to entertain you (“cough cough, haiku!”). We probably don’t do enough to actually, you know, whet your appetite for the education you are going to be seeing during CMEpalooza itself.

Well, my friends, today begins a new chapter that more than likely won’t be replicated in future years because I’ll be too lazy busy, so you should take advantage of these insights now into what to expect next week when CMEpalooza Fall takes place.

1. It might help if you refresh your memory by taking a look at our Fall agenda. This will give you a sense of what sort of topics you’ll be hearing about and who you’ll be hearing from. It’s a fairly diverse menu.
2. What might strike you first is what is not on the agenda (at least not in any big way) — AI in CME. This seems to be the year of education about the current/future impact of AI in CME, and we’ll have a sprinkling of it here and there, but no more than that. Frankly, it’ll be good to take a break from thinking about this topic too much – it seems like AI in CME is front and center at every other industry educational event these days. I am sure it will come back around to CMEpalooza in 2025, but our Fall agenda is a good reminder that there are still plenty of other important issues we need to talk about.
3. So then let’s turn to what is on this agenda that you don’t hear nearly as much about these days. Things like millennial perspectives of CME, outcomes claims data, and (my personal favorite) the wild world of podcasts. Why podcasts? Isn’t that, I dunno, kind of a 2010 thing? Well, it might surprise you — I know it surprised me — but one supporter recently told me that the No. 1 proposed delivery mechanism they see in current grant requests is podcasts. Not live activities, not enduring broadcasts, but podcasts. Part of me understands it — podcasts are inexpensive to develop and produce — but I still was not aware of how ubiquitous they have become in medical education. I know how pervasive they are in the broader world (thank you, Kelce brothers), but I’ll be interested to hear from this panel about best practices in planning, recording, and marketing quality podcasts. I used to host a variety of podcasts for clients using just my cell phone to record the interviews. I’m assuming there are better ways to do things (note from Derek: there are [rolls eyes]).
4. We’re going to be trying out some new technology during one or more of the sessions. We love to be experimental during CMEpalooza. Things like our audience response system (sponsored this fall by Horizon CME) are more or less second nature by now, and we’ve done other quirky technology things over the years. I won’t give away what we’re testing out next week, but hopefully it’ll be cool and, well, actually work.
5. Secrets and surprises. One of our favorite things about CMEpalooza being in its 10th year is that we don’t have to personally get involved in the planning of content of each session anymore. Frankly, we don’t have any better idea than you do about how our panels are going to pull off most of these sessions. Will there be costumes? A murder mystery? A special appearance by Taylor Swift? You never know…

you don’t need to find
a C+C Factory
to make a haiku

pumpkin spice lattes,
red leaves, decorative gourds,
and Palooza Fall

turn steps to cash with
the STEPtacular Challenge
thank you Talem Health

9 AM ET – Your Answers are Only as Good as Your Questions

alternate title
“put garbage question in, get
garbage answer out”

10 AM ET – This is Your (Grant) Life!

naming a session
after an ancient game show
is what we do best

11 AM ET – Should I Stay or Should I Go?  When Your Career Aspirations and Current Situation “Clash”

after rocking the
Casbah and calling London
please watch this session

Noon ET – The Role of the Patient in Continuing Medical Education

If patient rightness
and patient leftness fail, try
patient centeredness

1 PM ET – CME Sound Check: From Static to Stereo Learning

we got actual
podcast pros for this session
they make us look smart

2 PM ET – Spilling the Tea: Issues for the Next Generation of CME Professionals

my only request
is that this panel explains
skibidi toilet

3 PM ET – CME Hot Topic Spin-the-Bottle

a true confession
it’s not real spin-the-bottle
you’ll thank me later

4 PM ET – Learning Progression Over Time in Narcolepsy: The Impact of Environmental Changes and How We Evaluate Behavior

we solemnly swear
our last session of the day
will not be a snooze

Sponsors

become a sponsor
get a handcrafted haiku
bet you’re jealous now

Gold

palooza without
MLG is like A-Team
without Mr. T

be they PlatformQ
or be they the new Medlive
we think both are great

yay to Haymarket
their first time as gold sponsor
not their first haiku

Silver

if Healio had
a headquarters in Philly
they’d be Heali-yo

Projects in Knowledge
is a much better name than
To-Dos in Wisdom

a film about docs
fleeing boring CME
is The Great Medscape

it’s often been said
you will never be misled
at DKBmed

thank you CEA
for the silver sponsorship
and the acronym

Academy for
Continued Healthcare Learning
perfect syllables

every day at
Academic CME
is a bit Hayes-y

this group does not dote
on unimportant details
they’re the Antidote

what org has three eyes
and is a silver sponsor?
Daiichi Sankyo

if Integrity
switched to work in politics
would they change their name?