A simple New Year’s wish for all of my family, friends and colleagues around the world.

Here’s to the bright New Year, and a fond farewell to the old; here’s to the things that are yet to come, and to the memories that we hold. May you have a happy, healthy and prosperous 2008.

Earlier this week, I posted on how I felt text messaging had reached a tipping point. Today, I found a recent post from David Pogue of the New York Times on The Next Generation of Online Shorthand and thought it was a fitting extension to my original post. We’re all familiar with text shorthand such as LOL, OMG, BRB, and AFK, and anybody that texts, twitters or IM’s on a regular basis knows just how convenient the shortcuts really are. However, the problem is, as Pogue states: “they are pretty ancient.”

He set out to create a updated list of online shorthand with the help of two of his summer interns. They surfaced a number of keepers like:

• GI — Google it
• MOP — Mac or PC?
• FCAO — five conversations at once
• IIOYT — is it on YouTube?
• DYFH — did you Facebook him/her?
• CMT (CMF, CMM, CMB) — check my Twitter (Facebook, Myspace, blog)
• CYE (CYF, CYM, CYB) — check your email (Facebook, Myspace, blog)

They went on to also create some specifically for iPhone owners.

• SPLETS — send pics later; Edge too slow
• CSVUI — can’t send video, using iPhone
• BPWMI — boss playing with my iPhone
• SIK — sorry, iPhone keyboard
• OOM — out of messages (for iPhone users who haven’t upgraded their AT&T “200 messages a month” plan)

And for all of the parents out there who saw the following commercial and thought the mom and daughter were speaking a foreign language:

They even formulated some shorthand specifically for parents. My favorites from that list:

• NIWYM — no idea what you mean
• NCK — not a chance, kid
• AYD? — are you drunk?
• LODH — log off, do homework
• DYMK? — does your mother know?

It’s not really the most productive post that I have done in a while, but I found the abbreviations to be a great Friday afternoon distraction. Check out the David’s full list at the NYTimes website. My only question is: should we add some of our own to the list? Knowing that Bmart is pretty proficient with his phone and does like to txt, I bet he has more than a few.

Imagine that…on your birthday you post to your blog apologizing for not posting on your birthday. Then you follow-up with an offer to give gifts instead of asking for them…

Well, that really is the kind of guy Jeff De Cagna is, at least based on my conversations with him and reading his blog for a while now. He is really a genuinely nice guy and a voice of reason and innovation in the Association world. Jeff, I really hope you enjoyed your birthday (regardless of how many years old/young you are)! While few have come out publicly and said it, I wanted to be the first to wish you a happy birthday and give you some cake via my blog.

Thanks for doing what you do…and working so hard to keep Association Executives moving, thinking and improving. Hope you are recovering from your jet lag. From firsthand experience I know just how tough it can be.