Wikipedia describes doldrums the following way:

The doldrums is a colloquial expression derived from historical maritime usage for those parts of the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean affected by the Intertropical Convergence Zone, a low-pressure area around the equator where the prevailing winds are calm. The low pressure is caused by the heat at the equator, which makes the air rise and travel north and south high in the atmosphere, until it subsides again in the horse latitudes. Some of that air returns to the doldrums through the trade winds. This process can lead to light or variable winds and more severe weather, in the form of squalls, thunderstorms and hurricanes. The doldrums are also noted for calm periods when the winds disappear altogether, trapping sailing powered boats for periods of days or weeks.

The first instance of the word doldrum came into the popular lexicon during the early 19th century. In it’s original usage, it was used to describe a dullard: a dull and sluggish fellow. It was likely derived from “dol”, meaning dull while it’s form was taken from “tantrum” or a fit or display of bad temper. A doldrum was quite literally an individual who engaged in a fit of dullness. The term came to be used to describe a general state of low spirits. In The Island, a poem about that described in part the mutiny on the Bounty, Lord Byron used the term in a nautical context:

“From the bluff head where I watch’d to-day, I saw her in the doldrums; for the wind Was light and baffling.”
[Note: baffling winds are those which are shifting and variable, making progress under sail impossible.]

Shortly after that usage, the phrase “in the doldrums” came to be used to refer to sailing ships that were becalmed and not able to progress. After reports of ships becoming becalmed in the horse latitudes, it was mistakenly thought that the reports were actually describing the location as opposed to the actual state of the vessel. This colloquialism came to be inextricably tied to the region after being referenced in Matthew Maury’s The physical geography of the sea written in 1855:

“The ‘equatorial doldrums’ is another of these calm places. Besides being a region of calms and baffling winds, it is a region noted for its rains.”

So what does this lengthy dissertation on doldrums have to do with associations, technology, knowledge management, learning, social media or my blog in general? Right now it seems to perfectly describe my state of mind personally and professionally. As I referenced in an earlier post, I recently transitioned positions and am responsible for a high priority and highly contentious project concerning the future of our online communities. As a result I have had a very hard time managing my days. In fact, the sentence from the Wikipedia entry: “this process can lead to light or variable winds and more severe weather, in the form of squalls, thunderstorms and hurricanes. The doldrums are also noted for calm periods when the winds disappear altogether, trapping sailing powered boats for periods of days or weeks” seems to accurately describe the past few weeks. I no sooner survive a storm at sea and begin to regain my composure and start thinking about my blogging when I either can’t find my flow or simply lose some of my motivation. I suspect it’s simply a matter of time until I get back into a routine and am once again able to integrate blogging into my daily routine. When I return look for a new look and feel for the site and some added features on the site.

Until then, I simply wanted to let everyone know where my head was at. And keeping with my theme of sharing some of the more interesting finds that I come across, I’ll share with you something that really got my attention this evening: Yahoo’s! oneConnect. According to TechCrunch:

OneConnect will pull together contacts from your mobile phone, Yahoo address book, and social networks, including: Bebo Dopplr Facebook Flickr Friendster Hi5 Last.fm LinkedIn Myspace Twitter You will be able to see whether your contacts are online, recent messages, status updates, uploaded photos, and other activity streams for each one. Of course, you will also be able to send them messages via e-mail, IM, and SMS. The mobile app will save SMS and IM conversations as a single thread, even if you are texting and the other person is using Yahoo Messenger. The app also supports AIM, MSN Messenger, and Google Talk.

Yahoo didn’t invent anything here, but simply integrating all of these services is powerful stuff. If you think about it, oneConnect is a mobile portal for the social Web. It connects you to your friends online and then gets out of the way.

You can read more at TechCrunch or at Yahoo! I have been contemplating the idea of Social Network Fatigue, and suspect I am not alone. I think that applications like this would likely go a long way to helping relieve or eliminate that.

I had planned to hit the ground running after the ASAE Technology Conference and post not only my notes but also a lot of associated thoughts, learnings and observations. That was until I got home. My entire family has been sidelined with a pretty nasty virus.

Stay tuned, as I am going to do my best to get my thoughts posted in the next day or two.

Anthony Williams co-author of Wikinomics was the opening session speaker. Overall, I was really impressed with his presentation style and the content. He alluded to the fact that we are currently in the midst of a perfect storm where Web 2.0, the net generation, the social revolution, economic revolution have all converged. He went on to elaborate on two of the more salient points that are impacting associations.

Web 2.0 has democratized the creation of value and no longer do you have to be a programmer to program the internet. Similarly, the net generation is a result of a demographic shift. Gen-Y is now growing up in a very unique time in history, they are as Don Tapscott stated, growing up digital. This is a generation of content creators. Growing up online has had a significant impact on how their brains are wired. Studies have shown that there are marked changes in their perception and cognitive abilities, how they learn and acquire skills, how they demonstrate empathy, altruism and other fundamental human traits.

Perhaps most valuable of all was the pragmatic way he applied key concepts from his own work and the book to Associations. Below are a few examples and key questions / statements to get the conversation started:

Wikinomics for Associations.

• Peering - How can you unleash the power of your association by using the collective knowledge of your members?
• Ideagoras - How can you tap into your members and help them become solution-providers?
• Prosumers - Create Ideastorms for customers and partners
• Wiki Organizations - Collaboration starts at home…set an example of effective collaboration by using the technology yourself.

The opening session definitely set the tone for the remainder of the day: collaboration, content, and change.

There was a break between the opening session and the afternoon educational sessions so I took the opportunity to catch up with the Blogoclump - Jeff, Jamie, Maddie, Zach, Matt, and Lindsey. That is one of the best parts of conferences, catching up with your colleagues.

The afternoon held three afternoon slots each with a number of interesting sessions so I had to pick the ones that I would attend carefully. Never an easy decision to make but important to get the most out of the conference. Ultimately I decided to stick with topics that would benefit me in the short-term as opposed to topics that I am simply interested in but may not have a practical use for.

I’ll post a overview / synthesis of each of the sessions that I attended as well as what I did Friday in a follow-up post. Stay tuned.