On the don’t side is Stephen Lewis, MA, CCMEP, president of Global Education Group and a regular Medical Meetings columnist. Here’s a video he posted to his company’s video blog that outlines why he thinks we need to be careful not to fall too in love with the shiny new social media toys. (Watch for his column in the June issue for more.)

On the more pro-social-media-in-CME side we have Derek Warnick, who posted a response video outlining why he feels there is a valid role for social media in CME.

I’d guess it’s no secret that I lean more toward Derek’s line of thought than Stephen’s, especially in that I don’t think anyone is really saying that social media will replace other formats for CME, especially not face-to-face education, and that there are a lot of ways we can and likely should be taking advantage of the technology.

But, while I haven’t seen it happen in the CME arena, I have seen other types of educational activities make the mistake of using social media just because they can, not because it provides another way to help their learners learn.

As with anything else, social media is only useful to the extent that it can be be used to meet the goals and objectives of the activity and achieve the outcomes you set out to achieve. As Stephen points out, it is just the medium, a tool, not the message.

So, what do you think? Leave a comment or drop me a line.

P.S. I’ll be attending the Global Alliance for Medical Education annual conference and the CME Congress 2012, both in Toronto, later this month. I hope to see you there!

Calculating Effect Size for Your Activities, in which Jason introduces us to the concept of Cohen’s d, and how it can help slice and dice all that outcomes data into something you can use.

Calculating Effect Size, Part II, in which Jason applies Cohen’s d to a real-life example and gave some hints on how to interpret the results.

Effect size, Part III: Putting It All Together, in which he shows how you can use effect size data to demonstrate the effectiveness of your CME program, thereby meeting the ACCME’s accreditation Criterion 11.

What, More About Effect Size?. Just when you thought there was nothing more to say on the topic, Jason talks about how to apply Cohen d to other scenarios.

Even math-phobics like me can follow along!

The ABCs of Accredited CME, which offers 10 short modules (most less than a half hour) on everything from who all the players are in the CME game to educational formats to PI-CME and, of course, ensuring your activities are fair and balanced. Developed by the American Academy of Dermatology and The France Foundation, both ACCME-accredited providers, the idea, according to the Web site, is “to clarify that the intent of the ‘rules’ is that accredited CME be based on the principles of adult learning and be independent of industry influence.” It was easy to sign up for, and it looks like it’s free of charge. I know what I’ll be doing this weekend!

To further strengthen his point, he exhorted the audience to “be meeting managers, not meeting planners. Be in on strategy, not just execution.” In short, he said, you need to put yourself in a position to get the proverbial seat at the table. And you can if you understand the value you bring to that table, including:

* You are the compliance gate-keepers. Whatever the company’s policies, you are the ones to ensure they are carried out.

* You own and can leverage the relationships on which this business still runs.

* You can help the company deliver the most benefit at the least cost, while still ensuring that the meeting’s, and the company’s goals, are met.

Shawn Seipler showed us a short video and explained how he and Paul Till decided in 2009 to form a 501(c)(3) organization to collect and recycle soap and shampoo products discarded by the hospitality industry, and distribute them to those who, because they don’t have access to the products necessary for good hygiene, now die from poor-hygiene-related illnesses around the world daily.

How many times have I looked at that barely used soap bar and thought about what a waste it was to have it just thrown out, but it never occurred to me to take it to the next level, as Shawn and his partner did. It was just astonishing to see how much good they could do out of what didn’t look like a slick operation: Just boxes of used soaps, some machines to disinfect and melt the soap and reshape it into new bars, and a group of volunteers eager to scrape the outer layer of yuck off the soap so it could begin the process, and assemble bags of donated hygiene-related products for distribution to shelters. (I’ll post some pics when I get them downloaded from my camera. It’s really pretty amazing.)

The whole thing was fascinating, and, as my first real CSR (corporate social responsibility) event, I could see how we started to build some relationships with each other as we scraped and bagged. I got a little too into it and had to finish filling up our last box of packaged bags, so I missed the final total of what we had accomplished, but I did get a hug from the staff person I had been working beside as I dashed after the group to get on the bus, which felt better to me than having hard numbers to talk about.

P.S. We also had the chance to do a quick site of the Gaylord Palms, which in addition to all the glorious meeting space it already had has recently opened a very cool sports bar that can be bought out for events, and an soon-to-open water park that looks like every kid’s wildest dream.

P.P.S. Many, many thanks to our hosts at Hyatt for the lovely food, music, and company last night. It was the perfect way to end an all-around great pre-con day.

They’re going to talk about the basic items you need to include; how to estimate variances based on the type of program; what you need to do to ensure your budget aligns with corporate, state, and federal regulations, as well as industry guidances; tips and techniques for ensuring you get the most value for your meeting spend; and how to avoid common budget pitfalls.

I hope you can make it (register/more info here)! If you’re busy at 1 ET tomorrow, you can always sign up to watch it on demand later; it should be posted within a couple of days.

Now that ACCME has tamed the wild frontier of information available on its own Web site, what’s next? Someone recently reminded me of an editorial I wrote a few years back about how interesting it would be if the ACCME started blogging.

Now we have Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest—what if someone from ACCME, say its chief executive, Murray Kopelow, MD, actually did start interacting via social media?

It could be done, but while we all want ACCME’s doings to be transparent to us, would it be great or a little unnerving to be tweeting along in a Twitter #CMEChat and all of a sudden have Dr. Kopelow chime in? Would that make CME providers even more hesitant to participate in social media, or would they view it as another opportunity to get their questions answered?

I got curious and created this quick three-question poll. Please click through and share your thoughts on the ACCME and social media. I’ll let you know the results as soon as I have them. Thanks!