Real conversation in the Kober household over the weekend

WIFE: So what are we doing for Valentine’s Day this year? I know that you usually keep all of your incredibly romantic gestures a secret, but do you at least have any hints for me?

ME: Nope, no hints. You’ll have to guess.

WIFE: Are you taking me on another island vacation? You know how much I hate the cold.

ME: Nope. Better.

WIFE: OMG. Do we have reservations at that award-winning restaurant that everyone says is impossible to get into? I saw photos on the ‘gram. It looks amazing!

ME: Nope. Better.

WIFE: Please, please tell me you got me that new Tesla I’ve been dreaming about. I know I have been dropping subtle hints these last few weeks, but I didn’t know if you were paying attention or not. You are amazing!

ME: I am amazing, but it’s not the Tesla. It’s better.

WIFE: OK, now I am really stumped. Not a vacation, not a romantic dinner, not a new car. What could possibly top all of those?

ME: We are going to spend the night snuggling on the couch reading through the abstracts that are submitted for CMEpalooza Spring.

(Door slams)

I guess some people just don’t appreciate how much Derek and I are looking forward to the bountiful and creative ideas that are brewing from you, our loyal audience.

I had many, many conversations (OK, maybe 2 or 3) at last week’s Alliance conference with people who were extremely excited to submit their abstract for CMEpalooza Spring because, “Oh my God, oh my God, I have such a great idea! You guys are going to love it!”

I had many, many conversations (OK, maybe 2 or 3) at last week’s Alliance conference with people who were mildly motivated to submit their abstract for CMEpalooza Spring “if only I could come up with an idea.”

I had many, many people (this one is really many) who scampered the other way when they saw me coming their way so that they didn’t have to admit they hadn’t thought about an idea for a CMEpalooza abstract yet.

No matter which of these groups you fall into, you still have until Cupid runs out of arrows on Wednesday evening to submit your abstract for consideration. I am sure I can win back my wife once she sees how innovative and creative our community can be. Who needs a day on the beach, a filet mignon (medium rare), or a new Muskmobile when you can have a 100-word description of “CME: The Musical”?

Click here to submit your abstract for CMEpalooza Spring

 

By now, you are surely bored with the shameless self-promotion of our 10th anniversary session being presented later today at the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions conference (but if not, it’s taking place from 3:45-4:45 CT in the Nottoway room).

But since we know that the majority of you won’t be able to attend for a variety of reasons, we wanted to at least give you something. That “something” is a fancy schmancy Sporcle quiz that is all about CMEpalooza – our past, present, and future. We’ll be encouraging those of you who do attend our session to complete this quiz while you are waiting for our magic act to begin, but anyone can simply go in and test their knowledge now.

Take the quiz by clicking here 

It’s 10 multiple choice questions. Even Derek didn’t get them all right. Anyone who beats Derek’s score gets free registration to CMEpalooza Spring in 2024 – can’t beat that people.

NOTE: There may be some ads you have to scroll past – just a minor annoyance hopefully.

Good luck everyone.

 

As you may have heard, we have opened our abstract submission process for CMEpalooza Spring 2024, which you can read all about here. Submissions are due by the end of the day on Wednesday, February 14. If you are looking for motivation as to why you should consider submitting an abstract, you are in luck! Here are the Top 5 Reasons to Submit an Abstract to Present at CMEpalooza Spring 2024.

5. We are presenting 10 Years of CMEpalooza: Lessons for the CME Community at the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions conference. Wait a minute, you may be thinking to yourself, this is not a reason to submit an abstract to present at CMEpalooza Spring 2024. This is just a shameless self-promotional plug for your Alliance presentation next Tuesday from 3:45 – 4:45 pm CT in the Nottoway room on Level 3. 

To these accusations, I can only respond as follows: Guilty as charged. You caught me. I apologize. It shan’t happen again.

4. We are featured in the most recent Alliance Podcast, Episode 43 – The Impact of Educating the Educators (with the Founders of CMEpalooza). Now hold on, you are probably thinking to yourself, this is another shameless self-promotional plug that has nothing to do with submitting an abstract to present at CMEpalooza Spring 2024.

Uh oh — outed again! Excellent detective work. I shall endeavor to do better with the rest of the list.

3. Fame and fortune await! That seems unlikely, is what you are likely thinking to yourself, though at least you aren’t promoting another unrelated event.

If your definition of fame and fortune is someone you meet at a conference saying, “Hey, I remember you from your session at CMEpalooza,” then friend, this is the opportunity for you.

2. It’s easy. Hmmmm, you might be thinking to yourself, this one sounds suspiciously similar to what you wrote in a blog post the last time you asked us to submit an abstract for CMEpalooza Spring.  

Maybe it is, maybe it’s not. Who can remember from one year to the next? What I do remember is that the abstract submission process is still easy. I feel confident in saying that you will not find an easier abstract submission process for a virtual conference for CME/CE professionals. Seriously, it’s only 7 questions, and half of those questions are for your contact info.

(Note from Scott: So there are 3.5 questions about contact info (7/2=3.5)? I guess this is the new “Derek math” that they are teaching in schools these days. Thank your teachers everyone)

You don’t have to give us goals (boring), objectives (which are just goals with different verbs), headshots (we don’t care what you look like), or any of that stuff. Just tell us who you are, give us a summary of your program, and let us know if you need anything special to present it. To paraphrase the great Lionel Richie, it’s easy like Sunday morning…

1. It’s a good opportunity. OK, you are thinking to yourself, you are definitely now just copying and pasting from last year’s blog post. But we agree that presenting at CMEpalooza is a good opportunity.

Finally something we can agree on. Speaking at CMEpalooza is a good opportunity. You get to present to a decent sized (think >200 people) audience of your peers in a low stress environment from the comfort of, well, wherever you want to do it from. And…

[discreetly glances left and right]

I’m going to let you in on a little secret. Move in closer so I can whisper it to you.

A little closer.

A little closer.

OK, not that close. I had a lot of garlic for dinner last night.

[whispering] We don’t care where you work or what your title is.

It’s true. You can be a first-year program manager or a CEO with 30 years of experience – it doesn’t matter to us. What does matter is whether or not you have a good idea for a presentation. If you do, submit it to us!