Hi, Bruce!  Associates are just a way to keep track of people.  If you like what someone has to say, you can subscribe to their blog and every time they post it will move their blog to the top of your list of subscribed blogs on the Blogs page.  Or you can add them as an Associate so that later you can find them quickly if you have a referral to their area or a question about something.  You can also click the (posts) next to the Associates button and see all the posts of your associates as a long list.  You can make different groups under Associates, to separate people by area or job.  To add someone as an associate, just go to their profile and click Add As Associate ... like I just did with you!