When you’ve been doing something for a while — beekeeping, beer making, basket weaving, something else that starts with the letter B — you can sometimes take things for granted. “Surely, everybody knows the four things that beehives need to flourish! Why would I waste time telling anyone about that!”

(In case you are interested, those four things apparently are sun [or afternoon shade], access to fresh water, protection from the wind, and privacy. I am neither a beekeeper nor particularly interested in bees, but that’s what the Google tells me.)

You may have heard that we are celebrating our 10th anniversary at CMEpalooza here in 2024, which may not sound like a really long time in the grand scheme of things, but it’s not nothing either. So yes, there probably are some things that Derek and I took the time to explain in the early days of CMEpalooza that we simply assume everyone knows by now. And you know what they say about people who assume…

So this one is for you, the CMEpalooza newbie.

How do I get updated information about CMEpalooza? I don’t think I’ve ever gotten an email from you, and I don’t feel like going to your website every morning to see if you have posted something witty.

It’s true that we don’t have any sort of mailing list that we’ve painstakingly accumulated over the years to jam your inbox with useless information. So unless you want the latest CMEpalooza updates, you won’t hear from us. But let’s assume you want to know every time there is a new blog post that has come out. All you need to do is scroll down to the bottom of our homepage and click the “Follow” button. There, you will join the 967 other lucky folks who get that periodic morning ping to get their day started (note from Derek: Yes, you read that correctly. Almost a thousand people intentionally follow the CMEpalooza blog and voluntarily receive our blog posts in their inbox. It’s crazy. I try not to think about that too much whenever I am writing a new post.) You could also choose to follow our LinkedIn page — we typically will post something to notify people when a new blog entry is available there as well.

I saw you published your CMEpalooza Spring agenda last week. Looks great, though I’ll ignore the fact that half of the sessions have some “TBA” fields. I desperately want to tune in on Wednesday, April 24. Is there anything I need to do? Someone I need to pay?

It’s true that there isn’t much in this world that is free. There was a guy outside my house this weekend who was trying to charge me a dime to “breath the air.” I bargained him down to a nickel. Shrewd, I know. But CMEpalooza indeed is one of those rare freebies that requires almost nothing (and $0) from our audience, thus proving accurate the old axiom that the best things in life are free. On the day of our live events, you don’t have to register and you don’t have to pay anything. You simply go to our Live page and click on the link to the session you want to view. They aren’t there yet, but they will be. Patience, please.

But April 24 is my wedding anniversary and my spouse will kill me if I plan anything that doesn’t entirely revolve around them.

You sound just like my wife (she’s the best, even though she never reads our blog and will never see that I just complimented her). You don’t have to have a good excuse to miss our live broadcasts. Life happens. The good news is that you can watch all of our sessions from CMEpalooza in our Archives. It’s pretty much updated as soon as each live session wraps up.

I’m bored, but I’m on the clock so I need to do something that is related to my job. You got anything for me?

Of course. We’re happy to help. For starters, you can mosey on over to our Archives, where you can watch any session since our meager beginnings. Yes, yes, I know, I used to have hair. That’s what a “Decade of Derek” does to you.

If you want to check out what some other CME-related organizations are up to these days, you can peruse our current Sponsor listings. It’s basically a who’s who of everybody who is anybody in our industry. If you are bored at work, maybe you are also looking for a job. Can’t hurt to see what sorts of options may be out there for you. We won’t even take a finders fee.

Wait, you guys have sponsors? That’s cool.

Isn’t it though? Yes, there are currently 29 organizations who have sponsored CMEpalooza in 2024. It’s a lot of medical education companies, but there are some other folks sprinkled in there as well. Maybe you even want to talk to your boss about becoming a CMEpalooza sponsor (note from Derek: Smooth, Scott. Very smooth.) We accept new sponsors all the way up to our live broadcast days. Just point your boss to our Sponsor Prospectus where we have lots of lots of cool opportunities available. That’s sure to help your upcoming performance review, so go for it!

One of my co-workers said something about how we can win money through certain events you guys have. She’s kidding, right? (But I am behind on my rent)

Nope, not kidding. We’ll have a special event for our sponsors sometime in early April along with the CMEpalooza STEPtacular Challenge, sponsored by Talem Health. You can win money through both of those events. There may be other fun opportunities that pop up, too. Just tell your landlord to be patient.

Is there any way you can reference something from like, within the last 30 years in your blog? You do realize that I have never watched Happy Days or Hoosiers, I don’t know who Dr. J is, and I wasn’t alive to watch the Berlin Wall fall. For the love of Olivia Rodrigo, please make it stop.

Sorry, this one you’ll have to live with.

Ugh, fine. At least it gives me something to talk to my grandparents about.

Low blow.

Sorry not sorry. Anything else you forgot to mention? 

Hmm, blog subscription, no registration, free to watch, April 24, archives, sponsors, the ’80s were the best. I think that covers it. You are now a CMEpalooza veteran. Congratulations.

 

 

The first time that Derek and I kicked around the idea of having our community submit abstracts to us for potential inclusion in the CMEpalooza Spring agenda maybe 6 or 7 years ago, there was no grand plan that this would be the permanent path forward. In fact, I’m fairly certain that after our first or second try, we temporarily shelved the idea because there simply weren’t enough people willing to step forward and try something bold.

Our initial plan was that the abstract submission process would give us a little bit of a break from having to come up with ideas for sessions twice a year. The reality was that we ended up with maybe 3 or 4 viable ideas that we’d then need to supplant with whatever else we were able to cobble together. Don’t get me wrong, everything always worked out just fine (and often, though I’m biased, better than fine) but it wasn’t exactly executed the way we drew things up. We were Norman Dale putting everyone in place to run the Picket Fence, only to watch Ollie dribble the ball off his foot, have it ricochet to Jimmy Chitwood, who then promptly hit the jumper at the buzzer for the win. The final score was all that mattered, though getting there took some doing (note from Derek: While Norman Dale was the head boys basketball coach of Hickory High in Hoosiers, it was drunken assistant coach Shooter who ran the Picket Fence. Scott got caught watching the paint dry on this one.)

After benching the abstract submission process for a year or two, we eventually circled back to it because, well, coming up with an agenda on our own twice a year was hard. And yes, slowly but surely, people began to get it. A CMEpalooza abstract is not your traditional meeting abstract. First of all, you don’t have to have a fully formed concept or title. You may have some “TBA” panelists joining you. You don’t need to list learning objectives, or experience levels, or expected outcomes. Yet though we ask for very little, we often get quite a lot.

Our longest abstract submission this spring clocked in at a whopping 386 words. That’s not an abstract, that’s a senior year English thesis! But it was funny and creative and really interesting so, yes, it made the cut.

We’re proud to unveil the working agenda for CMEpalooza Spring this morning. There are still some Ts to be dotted and Is to be crossed (strike that… reverse it), but the gist of things is here. I am not entirely sure what some of these sessions are going to look like or how our panelists are going to pull things together, but it’s those unknowns that we hope makes CMEpalooza something to look forward to. If you like NPR shows, or Ted Lasso, or Disney rides, we’ll be riffing off of each of those this spring. If you like always hot topics such as outcomes design, or the future of AI in CME, or the dreaded “another year of overcoming funding challenges,” we’ve got that as well.

Whatever else you have to do this morning as you celebrate Leap Day, please take a minute to peruse our Spring agenda and put a circle around every “can’t miss session” (again, I’m biased, but that should be all of them). We’ll see you on Wednesday, April 24.

Earlier this week, Scott wrote a blog post (The Art of the CMEpalooza Abstract) in which he made multiple references to characters (The Fonz and, of course, Potsie) from the hit TV show Happy Days, which first aired…

[Hold on, I’m calculating]

[Still calculating]

…FIFTY YEARS AGO! Once again, we have our finger firmly on the modern culture pulse of the hoi polloi.

(SIDE NOTE: I asked my 17-year-old daughter if she had ever heard of Happy Days or The Fonz. I got an eyeroll worthy of Mr. C.)

One of the things that Happy Days is known for (in addition to providing the origin for the saying “jump the shark” when a water-skiing Fonz literally jumped a shark while wearing his signature leather jacket. The ’80s were wild, man.)

is their crossover episodes with other popular shows, many of which got their start on Happy Days. Laverne and Shirley from (duh) Laverne & Shirley made numerous appearances on Happy Days, and vice versa. Who can ever forget the L&S episode where Richie and Potsie from Happy Days made a guest appearance to participate in a dance competition? (SPOILER ALERT: hilarity ensued.)

My personal favorite crossover episodes were when Robin Williams’s Mork from (duh) Mork & Mindy would make a surprise appearance with the Happy Days gang down at Arnold’s (SPOILER ALERT: hilarity ensued). Check out these special effects:

The ’70s were wild, man.

We are hard at work finalizing the agenda for CMEpalooza Spring 2024 and hope to be able to release it by the end of next week. Meanwhile, in the spirit of crossovers and cross promotions, there are two upcoming educational events for CME/CE professionals that we thought may be of interest to the CMEpalooza community. Here are the details:

ACCME Learn to Thrive 2024
The ACCME invites the accredited continuing education (CE) community to come together in Chicago for three days of meaningful discussion, collaborative learning opportunities, and connection with peers at Learn to Thrive 2024, ACCME’s annual meeting, taking place on May 14-16, 2024, at the Hyatt Regency Hotel Chicago. At Learn to Thrive 2024, you’ll have opportunities to discover actionable strategies that will optimize your role in helping clinicians deliver quality patient care.

Check out www.accmemeeting.org for more information – including what to expect, frequently asked questions, and the meeting agenda – or to register.

Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education (SACME) 2024 Annual Meeting
The Society for Academic Continuing Medical Education (SACME) invites you to its 2024 Annual Meeting, March 10-13 in San Diego, California.  The theme for this year’s conference is “Exploring the Expanding and Evolving CPD Ecosystem.”

The meeting will address the opportunities and challenges of artificial intelligence (AI); how CPD/CE can impact the climate crisis; the influence of power and privilege on academic medicine; and best practices for organizations and learners to address complex care needs in under-resourced settings, including migrant, refugee, and displaced communities.

Through research and best practices sessions, CPD/CE colleagues will present innovative strategies they have developed, including interprofessional and team-based education, working in the evolving CPD/CE environment using data driven CPD, and incorporating quality improvement and patient safety.

The meeting will feature the following:

• In-person pre-conference meeting workshops (included in the registration fee)
• Keynote speakers and panels
• Interactive sessions
• Short research and best practices presentations and posters
• Networking opportunities
• Social engagement in-person and virtually

Check out the speakers and the program and register today! Visit sacme.org/page-1859750 for more information.