2013 Business Meetings
Business Meeting - April 2013
- Business Meeting Agenda
- Secretary's Report (Trusted Servant Positions)
- Listkeeper's Report
- Treasurer's Report
- OIAA Representative Report
- Business Items
- First 4-day Period
- Summary of 1st 4-day Period
- Second 4-day Period
- Summary of 2nd 4-day Period
- Third 4-day Period
- Summary of 3rd 4-day Period
- Summary of Business Meeting
Greetings, and welcome to the April 2013 Business Meeting of Grateful Recovering Online Women (GROW).
I am Laura G., a recovering alcoholic, and your Business Chair for this meeting. Thank you for participating!
This is a closed meeting, open only to members of GROW, for the discussion of business as it relates to our group. Our business meetings run in four-day segments and last no more than 29 days.
I will post each Agenda item one by one in separate emails and ask that you respond to each accordingly. This makes it easier to "tally" the responses and suggestions to each item. We will have a four (4) day period of open discussion on the Agenda items. This, hopefully, allows all members regardless of work schedules, time zones, etc. to participate and comment. At the beginning of the 5th day, I will post the results/consensus of our discussions.
Before we begin, let's have a moment of silence to reflect on why we are here, followed by the Serenity Prayer.
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen.
In this Business Meeting, let us be guided by The Twelve Traditions:
- Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity.
- For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
- The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.
- Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.
- Each group has but one primary purpose - to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
- An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
- Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
- Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
- A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
- Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues, hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
- Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films.
- Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
- 12 Step Volunteer Listkeeper (04/13 - 10/13): Tanya tanyaq42@gmail.com
- Birthday Listkeeper (04/13 - 10/13): Sarah bestsar@gmail.com
- Business Meeting Chair (10/12 - 10/14): Laura G. lmgraham1989@rogers.com
- GSR / OIAA Back-up (10/11 - 10/13): Mother Kate Ammakate@yahoo.com
- Greeters (04/13 - 04/14): Gigi telperion2@comcast.net; Suzanne lemos@goldrush.com
- Listkeeper (04/13 - 04/14): Laura B. laurabrendon@gmail.com
- Listkeeper Alternate* (04/13 - 04/14): Jean L. afgo@cfl.rr.com
- OIAA Representative (10/12 -10/13): Lori W. loriwilliams7478@yahoo.com
- Rotating Backup (10/12 - 10/13): Joan B. joanb333@gmail.com
- Secretary (10/12 - 10/13): Alison B. alisonburke@live.com
- Sponsor Listkeeper (10/12 - 10/13): Elizabeth M. meadowseliz@gmail.com
- Temporary Mentor (4/13 - 4/14): Sue W. scwill@optonline.net
- Treasurer (10/12 - 10/14): Kirsten S. specialkchicago@gmail.com
- Webkeeper (non-rotating position): Danna M. dmcd9999@tx.rr.com
- Webkeeper Back-up (non-rotating position): Cheryl D. cdematt@earthlink.net
- Weekly Leader Listkeeper (4/13 - 4/14): Nachelle nachellew@gmail.com
- Immediate Past Business Meeting Chair: Susan G. srger@sbcglobal.net
- Immediate Past GSR/OIAA Backup: Judy B. judydoll@me.com
- Immediate Past Secretary: Colleen V. MRSV586@aol.com
- Submit a Treasurer's report to the Steering Committee each month;
- Make the monthly Treasurer's report available to the meeting-at-large each month on the "Member Only" section of the GROW website;
- Maintain the last six (6) months of Treasurer's reports on the website.
- 5 were in agreement
- 3 were opposed with the following 2 comments:
- There are only 2 places on the website that would need to be changed: Greeter #2 Letter and the FAQ's. If these are the only places that might be changed, they are consistent with our practice, and there is no need to change them.
- I do not think it is necessary to 'codify' the Saturday posting language on our website or in our letters. The Weekly Meeting Listkeeper can let people know when to post. My concern is that it will be confusing to post two different times for meeting topics: the formal start of the meeting on Sunday vs. the early posting on Saturday to assure the meeting gets out on Sunday.
- 10 of the 27 members present agreed with this Proposal.
- 4 members responded with the following comments/questions:
- Is it limited to what happens when more than one person volunteers to fill an unexpectedly vacant TS position? Does the proposal assign specific duties to the Secretary when this situation arises? I can't really comment because I'm not sure what specifically is being proposed.
- Is this Proposal meant to cover only the positions taken care of by the Rotating Backup, or all the positions? Also, I suspect the Secretary will be responsible for posting such a position and calling for volunteers. The Secretary is really the person who handles all such matters, whether it's at normal elections or in between times, if I am not mistaken.
- I am thinking it would be better if it read: ".......on behalf of the Steering Committee the Secretary seeks out volunteers and presents a volunteer to the Steering Committee for confirmation and appointment until the next Business Meeting."
- The rest of the text seems fine to me, but we have so many people on the SC who is to actually post the position and call for volunteers? Just a little confusing to me the way it is written.
- Isn't this what the Rotating Back up is supposed to do?
- This can provide an anonymous avenue to newcomers or members who have a few years in the program to ask questions as it can be more embarrassing to them as they may feel they 'should' know the answer by now. It will create another service position as service is an essential part of recovery.
- Isn't this what the TM position is for? Doesn't she already do this?
- If approved, could a link to the Listkeeper's position be included in the TM Welcome Letter?
- A few members wondered if it could be incorporated into the TM position?
- Can we try it for 6 months to decide if we want to make it a permanent position?
- Confusion about the term of Listkeeper and that the proposal needs to be re-worded. Is it really necessary that the responses to individual inquiries should go out to everyone rather than just the person asking the question?
- There are many women with years of experience who are available just by sending an e-mail. We already have a list of women who are willing and available to sponsor people online. We have a temporary mentor. We have a 12-step list who write to women who are in crisis. We have created several avenues for people to find help, and I assume many of us write to other members on a regular basis as part of our own program. What more can or should we do?
- Are these questions similar enough to warrant a Frequently Asked Questions for members only on the website with a link to send an e-mail to the Ask-It-Basket when the FAQ doesn't cover the question?
- I too will retract my approval of the 4.1 Proposal, as it does not have the overwhelming support and thus would not succeed even on a trial basis.instead I would very much like to support Sue's recommendation of adding a link to the sponsor list in the Temporary Mentor welcome letter.
- There are a lot of resources within GROW but one struggling may not know where to find the sponsor list, for instance. It is labeled in the correct area under "Trusted Servant" but "what is a trusted servant?"...a new struggling alcoholic may ask.
- Submit a Treasurer's report to the Steering Committee each month;
- Make the monthly Treasurer's report available to the meeting-at-large each month on the "Member Only" section of the GROW website;
- Maintain the last six (6) months of Treasurer's reports on the website.
- Submit a Treasurer's report to the Steering Committee each month;
- Make the monthly Treasurer's report available to the meeting-at-large each month on the "Member Only" section of the GROW website;
- Maintain the last six (6) months of Treasurer's reports on the website.
- 11 out of 13 members decided against this Proposal.
- The opposing comments were that we should create this position; that our GROW Steering Committee can make decisions regarding any involvement with the Public/Professional community as they arise and how they might be in keeping with AA Traditions.
- Out of the 15 responses received, 14 were in agreement about establishing a Survey Policy. Most members agreed that we should have NO participation in any survey or inquiry from "students of higher education and/or medication organizations outside of AA." This distracts us from our primary purpose. Members might feel threatened about their anonymity being broken. We should adopt a general policy not to participate and post this policy on the public area of the website.
- The opposing suggestion was that we should consider each request we receive as one answer may not work for every request and that we should establish a policy on how to respond to such requests. One answer will not work for every request and that the Steering committee would make a decision on a case by case basis as the requests come in.
- Proposal: "The Listkeepers shall conduct a roll call every year; the particulars of when and how shall be left to the discretion of the Listkeepers." All who responded were in agreement with this Proposal; therefore, a Roll Call will be conducted annually by our Listkeepers.
- Proposal: for discussion and a decision concerning what modifications / changes, if any, should be made to our GROW literature regarding our recently approved (in April 2012 Business Meeting) practice of posting the weekly meeting on "Saturday, no later than Sunday morning", to ensure that ladies in various time zones will receive the meeting on Sunday. During the first and second weeks of discussions, most members thought that no modifications were necessary but we are now able to say that everyone is in agreement that we will not make any modifications to our GROW Literature. One member deferred to the majority opinion.
- Proposal: "In accordance with a previous Group Conscience Decision (April 2008), if a Trusted Servant needs to step aside from a position, or if a position becomes vacant for any reason in between Business Meetings, the Steering Committee (SC) seeks out volunteers and appoints them until the next Business Meeting. If we have more than one member volunteering for a group position, it is proposed that this process be handled by our Secretary. As a member of the SC, our Secretary will submit the names of the volunteers to the SC so that a vote can be taken. Once the candidate has been selected, the Secretary will thank the volunteers for their willingness to serve, inform them of the results, and announce the new Trusted Servant(s) to the group." After a couple of weeks of lots of discussion and questions, our Group Conscience decided that if a Trusted Servant needs to step aside from a position, or if the position becomes vacant in-between Business Meetings and we have more than one volunteer for it, the process well be handled by our Secretary.
- Proposal: "In an effort to help dispel fears or to encourage members who are too embarrassed to ask questions, it is proposed that we create an 'Ask-It-Basket' Listkeeper position in which she would ask if anyone has questions that they would like to have answered privately. The Listkeeper would receive the questions and post them anonymously to the list. To reply, members can respond directly to the list instead of via the Listkeeper so that all members would get the benefit of the responses. Of course, if a member doesn't want her reply to be known, she can write to the Listkeeper; if not, she can post directly to the group." After much discussion and opposition to this suggestion, the Proposal was withdrawn by the Presenting member.
- Proposal "It has been suggested that the job description for Treasurer be modified to include the following:
- Submit a Treasurer's report to the Steering Committee each month;
- Make the monthly Treasurer's report available to the meeting-at-large each month on the "Member Only" section of the GROW website;
- Maintain the last six (6) months of Treasurer's reports on the website." Although one member thought that a Quarterly Report would be sufficient, it was pointed out that it was the Treasurer's suggestion to submit it monthly and have it posted on the website in order to be accountable to the group as a whole, as it will make the position transparent and help to educate others. Knowing this, the member withdrew her objection. Therefore, this Proposal was accepted by the group and was inserted in the Treasurer's Job Description by our Webkeeper.
- Proposal "It was suggested that GROW create a Public Information/Cooperation with the Professional Community (PI/CPC) position address requests from individuals and/or institution for survey participation from our members. This person could gather information to help GROW make decision regarding an involvement with the Public/Professional community as they arise and how they might be in keeping with AA Traditions." - AND --
Proposal "It was proposed that GROW establish a policy regarding our stand on survey requests from students of higher education and/or medical organizations outside of Alcoholics Anonymous for the purpose of information gathering and research".
We linked these two proposals because of their similarities but could not come to agreement on either so a member suggested we deal with both in Proposal 8. (See #8 below). - Proposal: It was suggested that we add a link to the Sponsor List in the Temporary Mentor's Welcome Letter." All were in agreement with one abstainer. This link has been added to the TM Welcome Letter.
- Proposal: "To protect the anonymity of its members and to avoid any appearance of endorsing outside issues, GROW will not participate in research, surveys or similar projects conducted by individuals or institutions outside Alcoholics Anonymous." (This statement is to be posted on the GROW website).
We had various comments on this Proposal and it was felt that even though some may personally choose to participate in this kind of survey, many are uncomfortable with the potential risk to anonymity. A clearly defined policy would avoid the time-consuming discussions that ensue each time a request comes in. Some felt that there are many AA resources that the researcher can take advantage of instead of soliciting information from our group.
The opposing opinion was that the member would like to see us handle these requests on an individual basis rather than pre-emptively say no to them. As a member of the steering committee, she is willing to act as a screener for future requests and, in that role, she would determine the nature of the request, how the requestor would protect the anonymity of the individuals, and present a decision to the entire Steering Committee for each request. She further stated that she could not see how considering each request individually in the Steering Committee could distract the GROW group from our primary purpose.
The Chair then called for a motion from the floor and a seconder, which was done. The Chair announced the motion and opened up a 4-day formal discussion period on it. No discussion resulted so a vote was called for by Head Nods or Head Shakes. The result was: 21 Head Nods and 1 Head shake. Another 4 days of discussion were allowed for the Minority Opinion but no discussion followed. Our Group accepted Proposal 8.3 as written that GROW will not participate in research, surveys or similar projects conducted by individuals or institutions outside Alcoholics Anonymous. - Business Meeting Agenda
- Secretary's Report (Trusted Servant Positions)
- Listkeeper's Report
- OIAA Representative's Report
- Business Items
- Minutes of First Week
- Week 2 Proposals
- Minutes of Second Week
- Week 3 Proposals
- Minutes of Third Week
- 4th and Final Summary
- October 2013 Meeting - Minutes & Adjournment
- Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity.
- For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express Himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern.
- The only requirement for A.A. membership is a desire to stop drinking.
- Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or A.A. as a whole.
- Each group has but one primary purpose - to carry its message to the alcoholic who still suffers.
- An A.A. group ought never endorse, finance or lend the A.A. name to any related facility or outside enterprise, lest problems of money, property and prestige divert us from our primary purpose.
- Every A.A. group ought to be fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions.
- Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever non-professional, but our service centers may employ special workers.
- A.A., as such, ought never be organized; but we may create service boards or committees directly responsible to those they serve.
- Alcoholics Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues, hence the A.A. name ought never be drawn into public controversy.
- Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films.
- Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.
- Birthday Listkeeper - 6 month term, 6 months of sobriety Carol C. compton.carol@gmail.com
- 12 Step Volunteer Listkeeper - 6 month term, 1 year sobriety Tawnye tawnyerichards@yahoo.com
- GSR/OIAA Backup - 2 year term, 2 years sobriety Theo theo7383@gmail.com
- OIAA Rep - 1 year term, 2 years sobriety Mother Kate Ammakate@yahoo.com
- Rotating Back-up - 1 year term, 1 year sobriety Tanya tanyaq42@gmail.com
- Secretary - 1 year term, 2 years sobriety Joan B. joanb333@gmail.com
- Sponsor Listkeeper - 6 month term, 1 year sobriety Nydia
nydia701@gmail.com
- Immediate Past GSR/OIAA Back-up Lori W. loriwilliams7478@yahoo.com
- Immediate Past Secretary Alison B. alisonburke@live.com
- Immediate Past Business Chair - Susan G. srger@sbcglobal.net
- How can the author of the proposal know what the anticipated outcome will be? I ask this because I have proposed things that went into a completely different direction than I expected.
- As to the anticipated outcome, if the proposer does not anticipate a particular outcome, why are they making the proposal in the first place? I assume the anticipated outcome is the reason they are making a proposal.
- I also feel that we can facilitate the structuring of a proposal by providing a sample on the website including all components necessary for submission. My intent is to provide a good sample as a learning tool.
- I agree with this Proposal; however, the logistics of getting this done so that the Proposals can be properly formulated prior to the opening of the Business Meeting should be addressed. That is, the membership should be made aware that guidelines exist (I know this will be posted on the website . and, sometimes people don't read the website
)
I suggest that when the Business Chair announces an upcoming Business Meeting and encourages participation, she can ask if there are any proposed agenda items and advise of the Proposal Guidelines and offer assistance, etc. Likewise, throughout the year, if a suggestion for an agenda item is made, the Business Chair or Secretary or whoever can advise of these Guidelines and offer assistance.
It seems to me that my suggestion does not require a formal Proposal and vote. If the Proposal 9.4 is passed, the guidelines would be posted on the website, and the membership would be made aware of this new "requirement". There is inherent in the Proposal the presumption that the Business Chair would request that Proposals be timely submitted and to advise members that they can get assistance from the website and the TSs. I can't recall the specific wording of the Business Chair Job Description ~ maybe passing of this Proposal will require modification of that job description, and perhaps, the list of duties (as prepared by Laura Brendon)? - I am in favor of this proposal for the most part. The only thing I would change would be "anticipated" to "hoped for" outcome.
- I think that a new proposal should be written and submitted to the Biz List for approval since we will be adding the verbiage to the Business Chair's Job Description and list of duties.
- I like it. I even like the part about putting in our anticipated outcome. Although I may be wrong about the actual outcome when I make a proposal, if I haven't thought about the outcome, I'm not clear why I would want to propose something. And then it's clear to others in part why I'm making the proposal, so they have clear information to respond to. I think it's a great idea.
- I'm not exactly sure how I feel about this proposal as I just hope it is not something that is going to bring about a bunch more work for whomever may have to be responsible for the outcome if it is passed. I like the idea that Dr. Bob always had to "Keep It Simple". I guess I am afraid if we keep adding more work to the service positions that no one will want to volunteer for them. I hope this makes sense to you gals.
- The wording in the WLL's message regarding "first come, first serve" needs to be removed. (A Proposal will be forthcoming to cover this).
- It was suggested that we change "24 hours" to a "brief delay". The delay would not be necessary when a sober anniversary date has been requested and there is an opening on that date.
- We can over-direct or legislate here. At some point, we have to trust that our Higher Power is doing for us exactly what we need.
- We might address the issue like this: "And should we have more than one volunteer in the 24 hours.the volunteers' names will be put into a hat and drawn at random by the WLL.
- "First come, first serve" can be frustrating but can be the most practical and fair way to select meeting leaders. This is also a good way to avoid hurt feelings.
- We are a global community with 240+ members. A 24-hour waiting period is appropriate to catch all time zones.
- I agree that a 24 hour delay would be good to give everyone a chance to respond. Longer than 24 hours I think would be too long and discouraging for the 1st person who volunteered.
- I do see some of the same people leading and I do believe this comes from the first come first serve.
- I thought we had a stand-by list and I am surprised to find that we do not.
- January, February, and March
- April, May, and June
- July, August, and September
- October, November, and December
- 2 year term
- 2 years sobriety
- Must be a member of Business List
- At least one year as a member of GROW
- Serve on Steering Committee
- Maintain a checking account in the name of the Treasurer, the Secretary, and, if possible, the group. This must be a non-business account used for GROW business only.
- Secure signature from Secretary (to access the group account in an emergency)
- Set up password for the PayPal account; share this password with the Secretary and the webkeepers.
- Receive copies of email messages sent to tradition7@g-r-o-w.com; have access to the GROW PayPal account at https://www.paypal.com/
- Send weekly passing-the-basket announcement to the group, using the 7th Tradition Announcement Template as approved by group conscience. Be sure to include your postal mailing address for mail-in contributions
- Deposit collections in a timely manner.
- Pay all group expenses first, maintain a prudent reserve equal to 6 months group expenses and distribute excess according to group guidelines as follows:
- 20% OIAA (OIAA Inc., P.O. Box 133, Newberry Springs, CA 92365-0133)
- 80% to GSO (The General Service Office, Grand Central Station, PO Box 459, New York, NY 10164-0423; Group Service # 633230)
- (The treasurer need not make the donations if they are less than $5 to each organization at the time the contribution)
- Submit quarterly reports (prior to each business meeting).
- Submit a Treasurer's report to the Steering Committee each month.
- Make the monthly Treasurer's report available to the meeting-at-large each month on the "Member Only" section of the GROW website.
- Maintain the last six (6) months of Treasurer's reports on the website.
- Send copies of deposits, canceled checks and bank statements to Secretary monthly.
- Maintain records of contributions and disbursements, including canceled group checks and bank statements. (Records to be kept for most recent 7 years, per group conscience 1/9/06).
- The treasurer shall pay (if needed) a monthly service fee on the GROW checking account.
- For duties and requirements common to all Trusted Servant positions, see Trusted Servant Common Duties (below).
- Click here for the wording of "form" letters.
- A clear brief statement that summarizes the proposal, including the anticipated outcome of adopting it;
- A statement of how the proposal would be implemented if adopted; and
- Specific language to be presented for discussion and voting in the business meeting (including, as appropriate, language for a job description, form letter, or GROW policy or guideline).
- everyone is in agreement or is willing to support the issue; or
- everyone disagrees and is not willing to support the issue; or
- everyone agrees to disagree
- A non-rotating position that "owns" the GROW bank account and manages access to the GROW paypal account. As treasurers rotate, this position would be responsible for managing access to these accounts for the new treasurer.
- The existing rotating Treasurer position would remain unchanged. Some of the details in the existing position description would need to be changed to match this new arrangement. My recommendations for changes are below.
- 2 year term
- 2 years sobriety
- Must be a member of Business List
- At least one year as a member of GROW
- Serve on Steering Committee
- Manage the GROW bank account
- Receive copies of email messages sent to tradition7@g-r-o-w.com; have access to the GROW PayPal account at https://www.paypal.com/
- Send weekly passing-the-basket announcement to the group, using the 7th Tradition Announcement Template as approved by group conscience. Be sure to include your postal mailing address for mail-in contributions
- Deposit collections in a timely manner.
- Pay all group expenses first, maintain a prudent reserve equal to 6 months group expenses and distribute excess according to group guidelines as follows:
- 20% OIAA (OIAA Inc., P.O. Box 133, Newberry Springs, CA 92365-0133)
- 80% to GSO (The General Service Office, Grand Central Station, PO Box 459, New York, NY 10164-0423; Group Service # 633230)
- ( The treasurer need not make the donations if they are less than $5 to each organization at the time the contribution)
- Submit quarterly reports (prior to each business meeting).
- Submit a Treasurer's report to the Steering Committee each month.
- Make the monthly Treasurer's report available to the meeting-at-large each month on the "Member Only" section of the GROW website.
- Maintain the last six (6) months of Treasurer's reports on the website.
- Send copies of deposits, canceled checks and bank statements to Secretary monthly.
- Maintain records of contributions and disbursements, including canceled group checks and bank statements. (Records to be kept for most recent 7 years, per group conscience 1/9/06).
- The treasurer shall pay (if needed) a monthly service fee on the GROW checking account.
- For duties and requirements common to all Trusted Servant positions, see Trusted Servant Common Duties (below).
- Click here for the wording of "form" letters.
- Cheryl D. - Treasurer (10/13 - 10/15) cedmatt@gmail.com
- Tanya Q. - Webkeeper Back-up (non-rotating position) tanyaq42@gmail.com
- Lori W. - 12th Step Volunteer Listkeeper (10/13 - 04/14) loriwilliams7478@yahoo.com
- Proposal 2.1 - Language for Proposal 1.1 re Delay in Assigning Chair Dates. There was a lot of confusion and many comments made on the language to be used and where the information was to be placed on the website. We were not able to achieve consensus. A motion was made, and seconded, for amendment to the Proposal 2.1 regarding the Language to be used in Assigning Chair Dates which reads as follows:
"The sentence which reads, "These dates will be filled on a first-come first-served basis," will be removed from the Weekly Topic Leader's letter and the WLL's Job Description; and, after the letter " Request for Chairs"
has been sent to the group, a waiting period of at least 24 hours is encouraged so that all members may have a chance to reply. This change to be made to the WLL job description."
We are now at the voting stage and, so far, 20 out of 20 members agree with this Amendment. If you haven't voted yet (Head Nod - Yes) or (Head Shake - No), please do so at your earliest convenience. - Proposal 3.7 - Split the Treasurer's Job into Two Positions. We had very friendly, amicable, thoughtful and interesting discussions on this Proposals. A motion was made and seconded to table proposal 3.7 and propose taking what Danna suggested earlier in this discussion and "create a working group to develop" a recommendation to the business meeting in April to address the:
- Treasurer duties (whether that means splitting the position in two positions or not),
- recommendations on backing up the treasurer's position (whether that is the second treasurer position if decided to split it into two or if the best solution is having the secretary backup the treasurer) and
- recommendation of the wording of the description and duties of treasurer(s) position(s) and
- recommendation if any to the secretary description of duties to align with the treasurer.
Proposal 3.7 has been tabled for discussion at our April 2013 meeting.
The Chair is looking forward to the resolution of Proposal 2.1 and would like to thank everyone for their participation in this meeting.
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4th and Final Summary
===============================The Chair is pleased to announce that we have now filled all of the open volunteer positions. Our latest volunteer is:
Teresa P - Rotating Back-up (10/13 - 10/14) tpenbrooke@gmail.comThe Chair sincerely thanks Teresa and is very grateful for her interest in serving our group. If you wish to thank Teresa and welcome her into her new position, I'm sure she'd be delighted to hear from you.
During this fourth week, we had only one item to resolve. Because we had no consensus on Proposal 2.1, a motion was made to amend the language we should use on our website regarding the Delay in Assigning Chair Dates. The motion was seconded and we had four more days of discussion before we voted on this Amendment:
Language re Delay In Assigning Chair Dates
The sentence which reads, "These dates will be filled on a first-come first-served basis," will be removed from the Weekly Topic Leader's letter and the WLL's Job Description; and, after the letter " Request for Chairs" has been sent to the group, a waiting period of at least 24 hours is encouraged so that all members may have a chance to reply. This change to be made to the WLL job description.The Chair then called for a vote which lasted four days to allow all of the Business Members to send in their Head Nods (Yes or Agree) or Head Shakes (No or Disagree). On October 20th, the results of the vote showed that we were unanimous with Head Nods on this motion so have achieved consensus on this amended proposal.
This final summary concludes our GROW October 2013 Business Meeting. The minutes of our meeting will be sent out a bit later.
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October 2013 Meeting - Minutes & Adjournment
===================================The Business Meeting opened on schedule on October 1, 2013 with 27 members in attendance - 3 members left (1 due to volume of emails) and 3 members joined, leaving 27 members in total.
Semi-annual Reports were received from our Secretary (with a revised list of incoming and outgoing Trusted Servants), Co-Listkeeper, OIAA Rep and Temporary Mentor. Our Listkeeper sent an addendum to their report regarding the Annual Roll Call which will be performed from November 11th through to December 6th. As she stated: "Information about the roll-call will be sent to the group several times during that period, and members who do not respond will be contacted off-line at the end of the roll call, before anyone is unsubscribed." This is done to be sure that our list is kept "clean". Apparently, addresses can be (and have been) hacked into when members abandon their e-mail addresses and don't unsubscribe themselves. So, if you wish to remain on our list, please be on the look-out for the Roll Call and respond to it before December 6th.
Four vacant positions were filled during this meeting: Treasurer, Webkeeper Back-up, Rotating Back-up, and 12th Step Volunteer Listkeeper. The Chair thanks those who have stepped in to fill the vacancies, as well as all of our Trusted Servants who are currently serving our group.
Proposal. This Proposal was brought forward from our last Business Meeting in April 2013. This was to facilitate the decision-making process in GROW Business Meetings by adopting a set of Guidelines for Writing Proposals, but we ran out of time before we had an opportunity to discuss it. It was proposed that the group adopt the following points to be included in the GROW Business Meeting Guidelines on the website and in the Business Chair communications at the opening of the meeting:
"Proposals to be considered during GROW business meetings should include the following:
- A clear brief statement that summarizes the proposal, including the anticipated outcome of adopting it;
- A statement of how the proposal would be implemented if adopted; and
- Specific language to be presented for discussion and voting in the business meeting (including, as appropriate, language for a job description, form letter, or GROW policy or guideline).
Before submitting a proposal, meeting participants are encouraged to consult with the Business Chair, Secretary, or Steering Committee members to formulate their proposals if they need help."
We received overwhelming support for this Proposal in that 19 out of the 20 who responded were in favour of it so we have achieved consensus on this item and it is now a part of our Group Conscience decisions.
Proposal "In addition to the existing language in the Weekly Topic Leader's Message, it is proposed that we change the existing paragraph (We try to give thoughtful attention.) as follows:
'We try to give thoughtful attention to those who would like to lead a meeting around their A.A. anniversary. In an effort to accommodate all members, we will wait for a period of 24 hours before assigning a member a chair date they requested. This will give the members in different time zones an opportunity to share around their anniversary date. If the date requested is already filled, they will be offered the next available date. If all dates are filled, we will put them on a standby list to fill in if a weekly leader cannot be available for the time slot for which they have volunteered.'
The following sentence will need to be deleted from the Weekly Topic Leader's Message: "These dates will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis."
The Chair recommends that the revised paragraph be included in the Weekly Leader Listkeeper's Job Description, as well."
The Chair received many comments on the language to be used and where the information was to be placed on the website but we were not able to achieve consensus. A motion was made, and seconded, for amendment to the Proposal which read as follows:
"The sentence which reads, "These dates will be filled on a first-come first-served basis," will be removed from the Weekly Topic Leader's letter and the WLL's Job Description; and, after the letter " Request for Chairs" has been sent to the group, a waiting period of at least 24 hours is encouraged so that all members may have a chance to reply. This change to be made to the WLL job description.
We had 4 days for discussion on this motion and 4 days to vote on it. The final tally was unanimous in that 21 out of 21 members agreed. Therefore, we have consensus on this item and the above changes will be made to our website.
Proposal. Our Treasurer became very ill and could not carry out her job commitment so we did not have instant access to her files at that time. The Steering Committee felt it necessary to review the details of the Job Description to see if they could tighten up some of the requirements of the position. This Proposal reflects their decision to put it to the Business Meeting to split the Treasurer's Job Description into two positions as follows:
- A non-rotating position that "owns" the GROW bank account and manages access to the GROW paypal account. As treasurers rotate, this position would be responsible for managing access to these accounts for the new treasurer.
- The existing rotating Treasurer position would remain unchanged. Some of the details in the existing position description would need to be changed to match this new arrangement. My recommendations for changes are below.
Discussion:
This arrangement would be similar to the Web page arrangement which is a non-rotating position. The purpose is to alleviate some of the overhead in establishing new accounts each time the Treasurer rotates through and maintains a long-term bank account for the group.
This Proposal has been tabled for April 2014 to allow our Treasurer to "create a working group to develop" a recommendation to discuss splitting the Treasurer's duties, back-up, wording, etc. We had some very thoughtful and interesting discussions on this item, and the Chair looks forward to more discussions which will lead, hopefully, to a resolution at our next meeting in April.
This final summary concludes our GROW October 2013 Business Meeting. Thanks so much to all who joined our Business List and participated in the discussions; it's been a pleasure to have you with us. Special thanks to our Webkeepers, Danna M. and Cheryl D., for posting the Group Conscience decisions and minutes on our website. Also, thanks to our Listkeepers, Laura B. and Jean L., for their work in getting members signed up for the meeting. By the way, you do not have to advise the Listkeepers to unsubscribe you from the Business Meeting; they will do the unsubs in a couple of days.
The meeting is now adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Laura G.,
GROW Business Chair
Let us all to keep in mind our Unity of Service from the Grapevine of September 1998.
"Unity seldom means that we all agree on everything. Nor is unity served by setting aside our concerns and conforming to the majority opinion (or the vocal minority) . Unity is best achieved by a full hearing of all points of view . time for all of those involved to step back from emotional responses ... as well as careful consideration and prayer for that which will best serve the group or AA as a whole."
Thank you for being here and for your dedication to GROW.
Respectfully submitted,
Laura G.,
Business Chair
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GROW BUSINESS MEETING AGENDA: April 2013
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Secretary's Report - April 2013
Our Trusted Servants
(bold indicates new Trusted Servant)
Trusted Servants who make up the Steering Committee:
* Becomes Listkeeper at end of term.
REVISED 3/31/13
Listkeepers' Report -- October 2012 to April 2013
In October 2012 we started the month with 361 members.
Our server, OSO-AA, had a technical problem that resulted in our list being transferred to one server on a temporary basis for a few days, then transferred back to the original server, Oct. 19 - 21. The server problem did not originate from our group. It was a bug that came from somewhere in northern Europe.
Digests were coming several times a day so the size of the digest was enlarged to 90 Kb on Nov 1. Now 1 digest is created every day; on busy days there are 2.
November 2012 continued with list problems, mostly Spam. A roll call was taken between Nov. 16 and Dec. 5. Any non-responding members were removed from the list on Dec. 5 with a grace period until the last day of December. Some of the long-time members were sent a special letter. One responded with the wish to remain on the list.
January 2013 began with 167 members. Since roll call, there is less Spam. Much of the problem with Spam comes when members no longer use an address but fail to close the email account or notify us. These unused email accounts are hacked and every address in them spammed. The GROW listkeepers started requesting every unsubbing member to please remove our addresses from their address books or contacts list. They can bookmark our website for future reference.
GROW had 189 members March 1, 177 Regular and 12 Digest.
It has been my pleasure to work with Laura B., Alternate Listkeeper, and also with Jean L. and Louise H., Greeters. Thank you for allowing me to be of service to this group.
Respectfully,
Gigi D., one of the GROW listkeepers
Treasurer's Report - October 2012 to April 2013
Submitted by Kirsten Schwiesow, GROW Treasurer
Date of Report: March 30, 2013
Report Date Ranges: October 1, 2012 - March 30, 2013
Beginning Balance as of October 1, 2013 = $ 10.00 (Opening Amount) (a)
Deposits:
Contributions October 2012 = $323.79
Forwarded Balance from Previous Treasurer October 2012 = $729.88
Contributions November 2012 = $179.69
Contributions December 2012 = $0
Contributions January 2013 = $121.47
Contributions February 2013 = $58.83
Contributions March 2013 = $479.69
Total Contributions = $1893.12 (b)
Expenses:
Expenses October 2012 = $884.03
(GSO Contribution: $351.66, OIAA Contribution: $351.66, OSO-AA Contribution: $175.33, PayPal Payment Fee: $5.38)
Expenses November 2012 = $83.39
(OIAA 6 months of Service: $74.39 and Fee for Checking Account Checks: $9)
Expenses December 2012 = $0
Expenses January 2013 = $0
Expenses February 2013 = $0
Expense March 2013 = $0
Total Expenses = $967.42 (c)
Current Balance = $900.70 (d)
Formula:
(a + b - c = d)
($10 + $1893.12 - $967.42 = $935.70)
OIAA Report
April 2, 2013
Finance Committee: The 2013 budget was passed.A It was reported that some expenses have gone up.
OIAA Treasury: There is no new report from OIAA Treasurer.
Steppers Committee: The 12th Step Committee Report, dated January, 2013, sees the Steppers indefatigably continuing to answer Urgent calls from poor sick alcoholics all over the world. We sent 1442 replies to 379 Urgent calls.
Listkeeper: As of January 31, 2013, there is subscribed list of 157 members and 51 AA groups.
Public Information: In January 2013 PIC responded to 18 requests for information.A The number is a little low, usually the average is 30.
Respectfully,
Lori, an alcoholic
Below are Proposals received to date that we will discuss during the Business Meeting. If you have an item that you would like to have addressed, or if I have not accurately represented an item that you recommended, please email me privately and I will add it to the Agenda.
As we move to each new 4-day period, the number of the proposal will change. For example, what was Proposal 1.1 in th first 4-day period will become Proposal 1.2 in the second 4-day period, Proposal 1.3 in the third 4-day period, and so on.
To follow a single proposal through the entire meeting, "find" the appropriate proposal number.
Proposal 1.1. It is proposed that the Listkeepers shall conduct a roll call every year. The particulars of when and how shall be left to the discretion of the Listkeepers.
Proposal 2.1. Discuss and decide about what modifications / changes, if any, should be made to our GROW literature regarding our recently approved (in April 2012 Business Meeting) practice of posting the weekly meeting on "Saturday, no later than Sunday morning", to ensure that ladies in various time zones will receive the meeting on Sunday.
Proposal 3.1. In accordance with a previous Group Conscience Decision (April 2008), if a Trusted Servant needs to step aside from a position, or if a position becomes vacant for any reason in between Business Meetings, the Steering Committee (SC) seeks out volunteers and appoints them until the next Business Meeting. If we have more than one member volunteering for a group position, it is proposed that this process be handled by our Secretary. As a member of the SC, our Secretary will submit the names of the volunteers to the SC so that a vote can be taken. Once the candidate has been selected, the Secretary will thank the volunteers for their willingness to serve, inform them of the results, and announce the new Trusted Servant(s) to the group.
Proposal 4.1. In an effort to help dispel fears or to encourage members who are too embarrassed to ask questions, it is proposed that we create an 'Ask-It-Basket' Listkeeper position in which she would ask if anyone has questions that they would like to have answered privately. The Listkeeper would receive the questions and post them anonymously to the list.
To reply, members can respond directly to the list instead of via the Listkeeper so that all members would get the benefit of the responses. Of course, if a member doesn't want her reply to be known, she can write to the Listkeeper; if not, she can post directly to the group.
Proposal 5.2. It has been suggested that the job description for Treasurer be modified to include the following:
Proposal 6a.1. It is proposed that GROW create a PI/CPC (Public Information/Cooperation with the Professional Community) position to address issues such as requests from individuals and/or institutions for survey participation from our members as well as other Public Information interests that may arise. This person could act as a liaison between GROW and GSO in gathering information to help GROW make decisions regarding any involvement with the Public/Professional community as they arise and how they might be in keeping with AA Traditions.
Proposal 6b.2. It is proposed that GROW establish a policy regarding our stand on survey requests from students of higher education and/or medical organizations outside of Alcoholics Anonymous for the purpose of information gathering and research. We occasionally receive requests to provide our members with a link to participate in said surveys which result in sometimes lengthy discussions of whether or not we should offer this information to our members. Below are some links to literature on the AA website as well as Service Material from GSO concerning survey participation from AA members.
Proposal 7.2. It has been suggested that we add a link to the Sponsor List in the Temporary Mentor's Welcome Letter.
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1st 4-day Period
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Please keep in mind that during this 4-day session, we will only be discussing the four (4) Proposals: 1.1., 2.1, 3.1 and 4.1. I had made a mistake by numbering these Proposals when I originally sent out the Agenda and am still trying to correct it. The other Proposals will be presented during our next 4-day session. Please know, though, that any comments you have already submitted are in my files.
1.1 Proposal. It is proposed that the Listkeepers shall conduct a roll call every year. The particulars of when and how shall be left to the discretion of the Listkeepers.
We will now have four days to discuss this Proposal. I look forward to your comments.
2.1 Proposal. We did not reach consensus on Proposal 2.1 during our Business Meeting in October 2012. Hopefully, we will be able to finalize it at this meeting. The following is the original Proposal:
2.1 Proposal for discussion and a decision concerning what modifications / changes, if any, should be made to our GROW literature regarding our recently approved (in April 2012 Business Meeting) practice of posting the weekly meeting on "Saturday, no later than Sunday morning", to ensure that ladies in various time zones will receive the meeting on Sunday.
We still have not reached consensus on this proposal. Though this GROW group had previously decided that our meetings would be posted as follows: "Each Sunday a meeting leader sends out the week's topic" . as a practical matter, when we experienced some weeks without a Sunday meeting being posted, we further decided (in April 2012) that meetings should/could be posted on "Saturday, no later than Sunday morning," in an effort to ensure there is a meeting posted by Sunday morning.
The current proposal (2.1) ONLY concerns whether to make a change to the website and/or the letter(s) that are sent to members to reflect this information.
We will have four days for discussion on this Proposal. I look forward to receiving any comments directly associated with this Proposal.
3.1 Proposal. In accordance with a previous Group Conscience Decision (April 2008), if a Trusted Servant needs to step aside from a position, or if a position becomes vacant for any reason in between Business Meetings, the Steering Committee (SC) seeks out volunteers and appoints them until the next Business Meeting. If we have more than one member volunteering for a group position, it is proposed that this process be handled by our Secretary. As a member of the SC, our Secretary will submit the names of the volunteers to the SC so that a vote can be taken. Once the candidate has been selected, the Secretary will thank the volunteers for their willingness to serve, inform them of the results, and announce the new Trusted Servant(s) to the group.
We will now have four days to discuss this Proposal. I look forward to your comments.
4.1 Proposal. In an effort to help dispel fears or to encourage members who are too embarrassed to ask questions, it is proposed that we create an 'Ask-It-Basket' Listkeeper position in which she would ask if anyone has questions that they would like to have answered privately. The Listkeeper would receive the questions and post them anonymously to the list.
To reply, members can respond directly to the list instead of via the Listkeeper so that all members would get the benefit of the responses. Of course, if a member doesn't want her reply to be known, she can write to the Listkeeper; if not, she can post directly to the group."
We will now have four days to discuss this Proposal. I look forward to your comments.
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Summary of 1st 4-day Period
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Now that I have the numbering system figured out (thank you for your patience), the following is a summary of our discussions during the first week.
Proposal 1.1 It is proposed that the Listkeepers shall conduct a roll call every year. The particulars of when and how shall be left to the discretion of the Listkeepers.
Everyone who responded is in agreement. Therefore, we have achieved consensus on this Proposal.
Proposal 2.1. Proposal for discussion and a decision concerning what modifications / changes, if any, should be made to our GROW literature regarding our recently approved (in April 2012 Business Meeting) practice of posting the weekly meeting on "Saturday, no later than Sunday morning", to ensure that ladies in various time zones will receive the meeting on Sunday.
Only 8 of the 27 members present responded with the following results:
We do not have consensus on this Proposal, therefore, we will have an additional four days of discussion in an effort to reach consensus. Since we had less than 1/3 of the members who responded to this Proposal - all members of the Business Meeting are encouraged to contribute their thoughts regarding this Proposal.
Proposal 3.1. In accordance with a previous Group Conscience Decision if a Trusted Servant position becomes vacant for any reason in between Business Meetings, and such position cannot be filled temporarily by the Rotating Back-up (Group Conscience Decision November 2010), the Steering Committee (SC) seeks out volunteers and appoints them until the next Business Meeting (Group Conscience Decision April 2008). If we have more than one member volunteering for a group position, it is proposed that this process be handled by our Secretary. As a member of the SC, our Secretary will submit the names of the volunteers to the SC so that a vote can be taken. Once the candidate has been selected, the Secretary will thank the volunteers for their willingness to serve, inform them of the results, and announce the new Trusted Servant(s) to the group.
Therefore, we do not have consensus on this Proposal, and will have an additional four days for discussion in an effort to reach consensus.
Proposal 4.1. In an effort to help dispel fears or to encourage members who are too embarrassed to ask questions, it is proposed that we create an 'Ask-It-Basket' Listkeeper position in which she would ask if anyone has questions that they would like to have answered privately. The Listkeeper would receive the questions and post them anonymously to the list.
To reply, members can respond directly to the list instead of via the Listkeeper so that all members would get the benefit of the responses. Of course, if a member doesn't want her reply to be known, she can write to the Listkeeper; if not, she can post directly to the group."
We have had lots of healthy, meaningful discussions regarding this Proposal; some members who originally agreed with it have changed their minds once the discussion got going. As a matter of fact, 19 of our 27 participants were involved in these discussions: 6 members think it's a wonderful idea and 13 are not in favour of it. The following is a summary of the comments:
There were some great thoughts presented here for consideration but we do not yet have consensus on this Proposal. Therefore, we will have another four days to discuss this Proposal and all are encouraged to consider and comment on the opinions previously expressed (i.e. the questions and statements outlined above).
In summary, since we do not have consensus on 3 of the Proposals, we will be carrying them over to the second week (or beyond) with a view to putting our heads together and reaching a consensus on them. If we can't all agree, please remember that we will be discussing them again during our October 2013 Business Meeting. Don't forget that the Chairperson has the option - if we are getting close to consensus, but want to verify it, do a "Head Nod or Head Shake" for a 4-day segment . . . or put the Proposal to a vote, if that seems appropriate (i.e. if the majority seem in favour and opposition is not strong.
Respectfully submitted,
Laura G.,
GROW Business Chair
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Second 4-day Period
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It would be very helpful to all of us, especially to me, if we could keep our comments restricted to the intent of the Proposals being offered for discussion. Any changes you would like to make to the wording of the Proposals will not be considered at this time. If you would like to make a change, please prepare a new Proposal to cover your suggestion. Send it directly to me and it will be added to our Agenda. Many thanks in advance for your co-operation in this matter.
Proposal 2.2 for discussion and a decision concerning what modifications / changes, if any, should be made to our GROW literature regarding our recently approved (in April 2012 Business Meeting) practice of posting the weekly meeting on "Saturday, no later than Sunday morning", to ensure that ladies in various time zones will receive the meeting on Sunday.
There was very little discussion and/or comments on this Proposal during the first week. We've made the decision about when to post the meeting - now we have ONLY to decide if there should be any changes made to our website. (I believe we've already identified 2 places where the change could be made: Greeter Letter #2 and our FAQ's). Hopefully, we can reach consensus this week.
We did not achieve consensus on Proposal 2.1 which was a carry-over from Oct. 2012 Business Meeting; therefore, we will have an additional four days of discussion in an effort to reach consensus.
Proposal 3.2. In accordance with a previous Group Conscience Decisions, if a Trusted Servant position becomes vacant for any reason in between Business Meetings, and such position cannot be filled temporarily by the Rotating Back-up (Group Conscience Decision November 2010), the Steering Committee (SC) seeks out volunteers and appoints them until the next Business Meeting (Group Conscience Decision April 2008).
If we have more than one member volunteering for a group position, it is proposed that this process be handled by our Secretary. As a member of the SC, our Secretary will submit the names of the volunteers to the SC so that a vote can be taken. Once the candidate has been selected, the Secretary will thank the volunteers for their willingness to serve, inform them of the results, and announce the new Trusted Servant(s) to the group.
We did not achieve consensus on Proposal 3.1; therefore, we will have an additional four days of discussion in an effort to reach consensus. Do we want the Secretary to handle a situation in which we have more than one volunteer if a TS leaves the position before her term has ended? That can be either a 'yes' or a 'no'.
Proposal 4.2. In an effort to help dispel fears or to encourage members who are too embarrassed to ask questions, it is proposed that we create an 'Ask-It-Basket' Listkeeper position in which she would ask if anyone has questions that they would like to have answered privately. The Listkeeper would receive the questions and post them anonymously to the list.
To reply, members can respond directly to the list instead of via the Listkeeper so that all members would get the benefit of the responses. Of course, if a member doesn't want her reply to be known, she can write to the Listkeeper; if not, she can post directly to the group.
The Chair has been advised by the individual who submitted Proposal 4.2 recommending the Ask-It-Basket that she would like to withdraw the suggestion. The comments and discussion from all concerning this issue have been helpful and are appreciated. No further discussion is required at this time.
Proposal 5.2. It has been suggested that the job description for Treasurer be modified to include the following:
We will now have four days to discuss this Proposal. I look forward to your comments.
Proposal 6a.2. It is proposed that GROW create a PI/CPC (Public Information/Cooperation with the Professional Community) position to address issues such as requests from individuals and/or institutions for survey participation from our members as well as other Public Information interests that may arise. This person could act as a liaison between GROW and GSO in gathering information to help GROW make decisions regarding any involvement with the Public/Professional community as they arise and how they might be in keeping with AA Traditions.
We will now have four days to discuss this Proposal. I look forward to your comments. (If you have already commented on this Proposal, I have your comments on file so there is no need to publish them again.)
Proposal 6b.2. It is proposed that GROW establish a policy regarding our stand on survey requests from students of higher education and/or medical organizations outside of Alcoholics Anonymous for the purpose of information gathering and research. We occasionally receive requests to provide our members with a link to participate in said surveys which result in sometimes lengthy discussions of whether or not we should offer this information to our members. Below are some links to literature on the AA website as well as Service Material from GSO concerning survey participation from AA members.
We will now have four days to discuss this Proposal. I look forward to your comments. (If you have already commented on this Proposal, I have your comments on file so there is no need to publish them again.) Many thanks.
Read an article by Bill W. on working with the professional community: "Let's Be Friendly with our Friends: Friends on the Alcoholism Front"
Read conference-approved AA pamphlet: " How AA Members Cooperate with Professionals: Cooperation, but not Affiliation"
Service Material from the General Service Office
MEMO ON PARTICIPATION OF A.A. MEMBERS IN RESEARCH AND OTHER NON-A.A. SURVEYS
Since the early days of our Fellowship, the participation of A.A. members in research and surveys has been sought - and has occurred. In recent years there has been an escalation of concerns about alcoholism in all parts of our society. As a result, A.A. can expect that requests for participation in research may increase.
In general, within A.A. there is a favorable attitude toward research. As Bill W. wrote, "Today the vast majority of us welcome any new light that can be thrown on the alcoholic's mysterious and baffling malady. We welcome new and valuable knowledge, whether it issues from a test tube, from a psychiatrist's couch or from revealing social studies." Historically, participation has been worked out on a case by case basis. Some of the attempts to cooperate have led to strained relationships while more have been successful, mutually satisfying, and produced new insights.
How A.A. members might cooperate with research has been discussed by the trustees' Committee on Cooperation with the Professional Community. At the suggestion of that committee, we offer this memo both to those who would solicit the participation of A.A. members in research and to those A.A. members who will be approached about such request.
1. The best research relationships between A.A. members and researchers have been those in which the researcher has become thoroughly familiar with the Fellowship before making an inquiry about participation. At the same time, the A.A. members who would be involved have become acquainted with the researcher so that they trusted him or her, and have been convinced of the researcher's commitment, competence, integrity and respect for the Traditions of A.A. The investigator has been forthright in giving the A.A. members all the information about his or her research which they needed in order to make an informed decision about it.
For A.A. members, cooperating with the researcher and being part of research program raises most of the same issues as cooperating with any other non-A.A. professional or engaging in any other non-A.A. undertaking. The questions are amenable to the same kinds of solutions. See: "How A.A. Members Cooperate with Professionals" and the C.P.C Workbook. As long as there is frank communication and attitudes of open-mindedness and flexibility, it has proved possible to work out ways of participating in research which do not require A.A. members to compromise A.A.'s Traditions and which permit the researcher to arrive at valid findings.
The researcher should be aware that Central Offices in A.A. cannot offer the kinds of assistance he or she may be used to from the headquarters of other organization, e.g. access to records, endorsement, etc. However, the researcher may receive some help from the General Service Office, Intergroup Offices, Intergroup Offices, and local offices of other kinds.
a. Individuals in these offices may be willing to give the researcher their opinions about the projects and about their feasibility.
b. Literature can be provided which will prove helpful to the researcher in understanding A.A., what it is, what it can and cannot do, as well as how A.A. members cooperate with non-A.A. undertaking. A copy of this memo can be provided.
4. Decisions about whether or not to cooperate in research are always made at the local level where the research will occur. Almost always the request for participation has been made to individual A.A. members who have then sought the cooperation of other members. In rare instances, the request has been made to a group. When A.A. members have decided to cooperate, it has been in their capacity as private citizens.
5. Those individuals approached about cooperation will want to make an informed judgment about whether to participate and about whether to seek the participation of others. Indeed, with the increased requests for research cooperation, it is necessary that selection take place. Some of the kinds of questions the individual might have are: What is being studied, by whom why and how; who will carry out the research at the local level; what will cooperation involve, e.g. interviews, questionnaires, amount of time; who will evaluate the findings; who will use the findings for what purpose; in the light of A.A. Traditions, is cooperation possible; what arrangements are made to ensure anonymity, etc.?
6. A.A. is concerned solely with the personal recovery and continued sobriety of alcoholics who turn to the Fellowship for help. Meetings are devoted exclusively to the A.A. program. No research which could interfere with this goal could be tolerated. Some groups have permitted questionnaires or interviews to occur after meetings provided that participation is on a personal, voluntary basis.
A.A. and its members are particularly concerned with anonymity. While most researchers are skilled at ensuring anonymity, A.A.'s concerns may raise unique issues. For example, as no A.A. can break the anonymity of another, there may be ticklish issues in soliciting cooperation from others. Some research procedures may also require extra precautions.
And, a final quote from Bill W. about cooperation with non-A.A.'s working to resolve the problems of alcoholism, "So let us work alongside all these projects of promise to hasten the recovery of those millions who have not yet found their way out. These varied labors do not need our special endorsement; they need only a helping hand when, as individuals, we can possibly give it."
We welcome additional information from researchers and from members of A.A. who have experience to share or comments to make.
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Summary of 2nd 4-day Period
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The following is a summary of our discussions and resolutions during the second week of our Business Meeting.
Proposal 2.3 for discussion and a decision concerning what modifications / changes, if any, should be made to our GROW literature regarding our recently approved (in April 2012 Business Meeting) practice of posting the weekly meeting on "Saturday, no later than Sunday morning", to ensure that ladies in various time zones will receive the meeting on Sunday.
There was very little discussion and/or comments on this Proposal during the first and second weeks. We've made the decision about when to post the meeting - let's put our heads together and decide if we want to post the information on the website. Hopefully, we can reach consensus this week.
We did not achieve consensus on Proposal 2.2 during the second week. Therefore, we will have an additional four days of discussion in an effort to reach consensus.
Proposal 3.2. In accordance with a previous Group Conscience Decisions, if a Trusted Servant position becomes vacant for any reason in between Business Meetings, and such position cannot be filled temporarily by the Rotating Back-up (Group Conscience Decision November 2010), the Steering Committee (SC) seeks out volunteers and appoints them until the next Business Meeting (Group Conscience Decision April 2008). If we have more than one member volunteering for a group position, it is proposed that this process be handled by our Secretary. As a member of the SC, our Secretary will submit the names of the volunteers to the SC so that a vote can be taken. Once the candidate has been selected, the Secretary will thank the volunteers for their willingness to serve, inform them of the results, and announce the new Trusted Servant(s) to the group.
We have reached consensus on this Proposal.
One member posted the following favorable comments on our practice of letting our Secretary deal with this situation:
Whether the position becomes available during or between Business Meetings, the process would still be the same: Announce the vacancy, identify the volunteer, and announce the new Trusted Servant. The Rotating Backup covers any time-sensitive positions until a replacement can be installed. The position usually goes to the first person who volunteers if they meet the requirements for the position.
Proposal 4.2. In an effort to help dispel fears or to encourage members who are too embarrassed to ask questions, it is proposed that we create an 'Ask-It-Basket' Listkeeper position in which she would ask if anyone has questions that they would like to have answered privately. The Listkeeper would receive the questions and post them anonymously to the list.
To reply, members can respond directly to the list instead of via the Listkeeper so that all members would get the benefit of the responses. Of course, if a member doesn't want her reply to be known, she can write to the Listkeeper; if not, she can post directly to the group.
This Proposal was withdrawn.
Proposal 5.2. It has been suggested that the job description for Treasurer be modified to include the following:
We have achieved consensus on this Proposal.
Proposal 6a.2. It is proposed that GROW create a PI/CPC (Public Information/Cooperation with the Professional Community) position to address issues such as requests from individuals and/or institutions for survey participation from our members as well as other Public Information interests that may arise. This person could act as a liaison between GROW and GSO in gathering information to help GROW make decisions regarding any involvement with the Public/Professional community as they arise and how they might be in keeping with AA Traditions.
Proposal 6b.2. It is proposed that GROW establish a policy regarding our stand on survey requests from students of higher education and/or medical organizations outside of Alcoholics Anonymous for the purpose of information gathering and research. We occasionally receive requests to provide our members with a link to participate in said surveys which result in sometimes lengthy discussions of whether or not we should offer this information to our members. Below are some links to literature on the AA website as well as Service Material from GSO concerning survey participation from AA members.
Proposal 7.2. It has been suggested that we add a link to the Sponsor List in the Temporary Mentor's Welcome Letter.
Of the 14 members who responded, we had 13 in agreement and one abstainer.
Therefore, we have consensus on this Proposal.
Thank you all for you contributions during the second week.
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3rd 4-day Period
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An issue that has become somewhat unwieldy concerns how GROW should respond to requests for participation in surveys from individual(s) or institutions endeavoring to learn more about alcoholism. The Chair suspects this may be a result of confusing phrasing and/or overlapping of the Proposals related to this subject. In order to facilitate discussion and, hopefully, arrive at a decision, I consulted with Susan G., our Past Chair, and we came up with the idea of linking two proposals into one.
Proposal 6a.2 concerns whether GROW should create a Trusted Servant Position which would interface with individual(s) or institutions who approach GROW for survey participation by our members, as well as other Public Information interests that may arise.
13 out of 15 felt that we should NOT create such a position
A corollary to that Proposal which also generated quite a bit of discussion is Proposal 6b.2 which suggests that GROW establish a "Policy" to deal with requests from individual(s) or institutions for survey participation by our members, as well as other Public Information interests that may arise.
14 out of 15 agreed that we SHOULD establish a Survey Policy to deal with such requests.
It seems that the majority of the comments favor NOT participating in outside surveys. However, in a sincere desire to "Keep It Simple," understand the majority opinion(s) and reach consensus on this issue, the Chair offers for your consideration:
Proposal 6a and Proposal 6b will be temporarily tabled and we will consider the following:
Proposal 8.3. It is proposed that GROW adopt a policy of refraining from any participation in educational or public informational surveys about alcoholism or related subjects. The following statement (suggested by one of our members) will be posted on the GROW website:
"To protect the anonymity of its members and to avoid any appearance of endorsing outside issues, GROW will not participate in research, surveys or similar projects conducted by individuals or institutions outside Alcoholics Anonymous."
Please share your opinions (for or against) about whether or not to adopt this statement and publish it on the website. We will have 4 days of discussion on this Proposal.
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Summary of 3rd 4-day Period
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The following is a summary of our discussions and resolutions during the third week of our Business Meeting.
Proposal 2.2 for discussion and a decision concerning what modifications / changes, if any, should be made to our GROW literature regarding our recently approved (in April 2012 Business Meeting) practice of posting the weekly meeting on "Saturday, no later than Sunday morning", to ensure that ladies in various time zones will receive the meeting on Sunday.
Two members thought that modifications should be made to our GROW literature but both changed their minds this week so we now have consensus on this Proposal and will not make changes to the GROW literature or website. A big thank-you to all who participated in the discussion that moved us toward consensus. Yay!
Proposal 8.3. It is proposed that GROW adopt a policy of refraining from any participation in educational or public informational surveys about alcoholism or related subjects. The following statement (suggested by one of our members) will be posted on the GROW website:
"To protect the anonymity of its members and to avoid any appearance of endorsing outside issues, GROW will not participate in research, surveys or similar projects conducted by individuals or institutions outside Alcoholics Anonymous."
As you will recall, the Chair combined Proposals 6a and 6b (re forming a PI/CPC committee and creating a Survey Policy) because of their being both unwieldy and similar and created this Proposal. 17 out of 18 members were in agreement that we should adopt this Proposal 8.3 as a policy to refrain from participating in surveys about alcoholism or related subjects.
The other member did not agree with this. As a result, the Chair held the third week of discussions open for an extra day to give the member an opportunity to explain why she feels that we should deal with each request on a case-by-case basis. Because we have been unable to reach consensus by this method, we will move into the formal voting procedure and here's how it works:
The Chair now calls for a motion from the floor which most closely resembles the collective thoughts of the group's discussion. (Motions which are not clearly stated will not be put up for discussion until the motion is clearly worded and/or is more closely worded according to the collective views of the group discussion.) The motion must be seconded by another member in order to move the group into the formal decision-making process.
Once the motion is seconded, the Chair will announce the motion and will open up a four-day formal discussion period on the motion.
The following is a Motion received regarding our Proposal 8.3.
"I move that GROW adopt a policy of refraining from any participation in educational or public informational surveys about alcoholism or related subjects, and that the following statement be posted on the GROW website:"
"To protect the anonymity of its members and to avoid any appearance of endorsing outside issues, GROW will not participate in research, surveys or similar projects conducted by individuals or institutions outside Alcoholics Anonymous."
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Summary of April 2013 Business Meeting
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The Business Meeting opened as planned on April 1, 2013 with 29 members in attendance - 4 subsequently asked to be removed from the Business List - mostly due to the volume of emails in their inboxes - leaving 25 members in total.
Semi-annual Reports were presented by our Secretary (a revised list of incoming and outgoing Trusted Servants), Listkeeper, Treasurer, and OIAA Representative. The new Trusted Servants list was posted on our website by our Webkeeper. The following Proposals were discussed at this Meeting:
This final summary concludes our GROW April 2013 Business Meeting. Thanks so much to all who joined our Business List and participated in the discussions; it's been a pleasure to have you with us. I hope to see you all again, as well as more participating members at our next Business Meeting in October 2013.
The meeting is now adjourned.
Respectfully submitted,
Laura G.,
GROW Business Chair
Business Meeting - October 2013
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Business Meeting Agenda
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Greetings, and welcome to the October 2013 Business Meeting of Grateful Recovering Online Women (GROW).
I am Laura G., a recovering alcoholic, and your Business Chair for this meeting. Thank you for participating!
This is a closed meeting, open only to members of GROW, for the discussion of business as it relates to our group. Our business meetings run in four-day segments and last no more than 29 days.
I will post each Agenda item, one by one, in separate emails and ask that you respond to each accordingly. This makes it easier to "tally" the responses and suggestions to each item. We will have a four (4) day period of open discussion on each Agenda item. This, hopefully, will allow all members regardless of work schedules, time zones, etc. to participate and comment. At the beginning of the 5th day, I will post the results/consensus of our discussions.
Before we begin, let's have a moment of silence to reflect on why we are here, followed by the Serenity Prayer.
God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can and the wisdom to know the difference. Amen.
In this Business Meeting, let us be guided by The Twelve Traditions:
Let us all keep in mind our Unity of Service statement from the Grapevine of September 1998:
"Unity seldom means that we all agree on everything. Nor is unity served by setting aside our concerns and conforming to the majority opinion (or the vocal minority) . . . Unity is best achieved by a full hearing of all points of view . . . time for all of those involved to step back from emotional responses . . . as well as careful consideration and prayer for that which will best serve the group or AA as a whole."
Thank you for being here and for your dedication to GROW.
Respectfully submitted,
Laura G.,
Business Chair
The following are the GROW guidelines for conducting business:
1) The group makes every effort to reach agreement (consensus) on the issue by simply talking to each other. By consensus we mean:
a) everyone is in agreement or is willing to support the issue; or
b) everyone disagrees and is not willing to support the issue; or
c) everyone agrees to disagree.
We allow a minimum of four days for discussion, more when warranted. The Chair may call for a head nod to confirm we have reached group consensus.
2) If the group is unable to reach consensus by this method, we move into the formal voting procedure.
a) the Chair calls for a motion from the floor.
Motion makers are encouraged to make a motion which most closely resembles collective thoughts of the group's discussion.
(Motions which are not clearly stated will not be put up for discussion until the motion is clearly worded and/or is most closely worded according to the collective views of the group discussion.) The motion must be seconded by another member in order to move the group into the formal decision-making process.
b) Once the motion is seconded, the Chair announces the motion and opens up a four-day formal discussion period on the motion.
c) At the end of the four-day discussion period, the Chair calls for a vote. Four days are allowed for voting, which can be done either publicly on the list, or privately by sending votes to the Secretary. The Secretary counts the votes.
d) At the end of the voting period, the Secretary announces the results of the vote. On sensitive issues, the group holds to a two-thirds majority to pass or fail any group conscience decision. On minor issues, a simple majority is acceptable.
3) Following the announcement of results, the minority is given four days to discuss minority opinion. If a majority voter is persuaded by this discussion to change her opinion, the majority voter can call for a revote. The Chair then calls for another four-day voting period. The outcome of the second vote is the determining vote. As in the first vote, the two-thirds majority will be observed on major issues.
Note: If any item on the agenda has not reached a consensus or a motion by the 17th day of the business meeting, the item is tabled and held over to the next scheduled business meeting.
===== The following is an excerpt from the pamphlet "The AA Group." ======
How does an informed group conscience differ from a group opinion or a majority vote? The group conscience is the collective conscience of the group membership and thus represents substantial unanimity on an issue before definitive action is taken. This is achieved by the group members through the sharing of full information, individual points of view, and practice of A.A. principles.
To be fully informed requires a willingness to listen to minority opinions with an open mind.
On sensitive issues, the group works slowly--discouraging formal motions until a clear sense of its collective view emerges.
Placing principles before personalities, the membership is wary of dominant opinions. Its voice is heard when a well-informed group arrives at a decision. The result rests on more than a "yes" or "no" count--precisely because it is the spiritual expression of the group conscience.
The term "informed group conscience" implies that pertinent information has been studied and all views have been heard before the group votes.
The difference between a group conscience and a majority vote, or group opinion, is that one or more of the elements described above is missing.
A.A. experience has taught that:
Tradition 2: For our group purpose there is but one ultimate authority - a loving God as He may express himself in our group conscience. Our leaders are but trusted servants, they do not govern.
Tradition 4: With respect to its own affairs, each A.A. group should be responsible to no other authority than its own conscience. But when its plans concern the welfare of neighboring groups also, those groups ought to be consulted. And no group, regional committee, or individual should ever take any action that might greatly affect A.A. as a whole without conferring with the trustees of the Alcoholic Foundation.* On such issues our common welfare is paramount.
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Secretary's Report
(New Trusted Servants)
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Our new Trusted Servant are:
Regards,
Alison B.,
Outgoing Secretary
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Listkeeper's Report
October 1, 2013
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Our membership to date Sept 29,2013 is 242. In this past six-month period we have had 104 people send in requests to join. Of those 75 did actually join us. During this period of time 37 members unsubscribed.
The list has been running without incident for the most part. Sometimes it is quiet but it is my belief that is due to lack of participation by the membership at certain times.
Addendum to Listkeeper's Report:
"As per a group-conscience decision made in April, 2013, the listkeepers will perform the annual roll-call of members in November, starting on the 11th, and running through December 6th. Information about the roll-call will be sent to the group several times during that period, and members who do not respond will be contacted off-line at the end of the roll call, before anyone is unsubscribed.
If you weren't on Grow during the last roll call, this was done to be sure that our list is kept "clean." We have found that, apparently, people abandon e-mail addresses and don't unsubscribe themselves. These addresses can be (and have been) hacked and spam sent to the Grow list."
Respectfully submitted,
Laura B.,
one of the Grow listkeepers
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OIAA Representative Report
October 1, 2013
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A. Finance Committee
1. There is no new report from the Finance Committee.
B. OIAA Treasury
1. There is no new report from OIAA Treasurer.
C. Steppers Committee
1. The 12th Step Committee Report dated August, 2013, Grateful for the opportunity to extend the hand of AA for another month. Tallied up, the numbers look like this: "We sent 1442 replies to 379 Urgent calls."
D. Listkeeper
1. As of July 31, 2013, there is subscribed list of 164 members and 54 AA groups.
E. Public Information
1. In August 2013, PIC responded to approximately 17 requests for information.
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Business Items
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The following Proposal 9.4 was brought forward at our last Business Meeting but we ran out of time before we had an opportunity to discuss it. It is proposed that we prepare a set of "Guidelines for Writing Proposals" to be followed when submitting proposals for discussion.
Proposal 9.4 - Guidelines for Writing Proposals
To facilitate the decision-making process in GROW Business Meetings, we should adopt a set of guidelines for proposals. Therefore, it is proposed that the group approve and adopt the following points to be included in the GROW Business Meeting Guidelines on the website and in Business Chair communications at the opening of the meeting:
"Proposals to be considered during GROW business meetings should include the following:
- A clear brief statement that summarizes the proposal, including the anticipated outcome of adopting it;
- A statement of how the proposal would be implemented if adopted; and
- Specific language to be presented for discussion and voting in the business meeting (including, as appropriate, language for a job description, form letter, or GROW policy or guideline).
Before submitting a proposal, meeting participants are encouraged to consult with the Business Chair, Secretary, or Steering Committee members to formulate their proposals if they need help."
Please click here to post a reply to this Proposal: grow-business@oso-aa.org.
We will now have 4 days to discuss this Proposal. I look forward to your comments
The following Proposal 1.1 is presented for discussion:
Proposal 1.1 - Delay in Assigning Chair Dates
It is proposed that the Weekly Leader Listkeeper wait at least 24 hours before assigning a member a chair date they requested. This will give members who are celebrating sober anniversaries in a different time zone an opportunity to lead a meeting, if they wish to do so, on or around her sobriety date.
If approved, this item to be included on the second line in the 5th paragraph after "AA anniversary" in the Weekly Topic Leader's Message on the website.
Please click here to post a reply to this Proposal: grow-business@oso-aa.org.
We will now have four days to discuss this Proposal. I look forward to your comments
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Business Meeting October 2013 - Minutes of First Week
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The Business Meeting opened as planned on October 1, 2013 with 27 members in attendance - one member asked to be removed and 2 more members joined - so we had 28 who subscribed to the meeting.
Semi-annual Reports were received from our Secretary (with a revised list of incoming and outgoing Trusted Servants), Co-Listkeeper, OIAA Rep and Temporary Mentor. Our Listkeeper sent an addendum to their report regarding the Annual Roll Call which will be performed from November 11th through to December 6th. As she stated: "Information about the roll-call will be sent to the group several times during that period, and members who do not respond will be contacted off-line at the end of the roll call, before anyone is unsubscribed." This is done to be sure that our list is kept "clean". Apparently, addresses can be (and have been) hacked into when members abandon their e-mail addresses and don't unsubscribe themselves. So, if you wish to remain on our list, please be on the look-out for the Roll Call and respond to it before December 6th.
The following Proposals were presented to the group for discussion:
Proposal 9.4 was brought forward at our last Business Meeting but we ran out of time before we had an opportunity to discuss it. It was proposed that we prepare a set of "Guidelines for Writing Proposals" to be followed when submitting proposals for discussion as follows:
Proposal 9.4 - Guidelines for Writing Proposals
To facilitate the decision-making process in GROW Business Meetings, we should adopt a set of guidelines for proposals. Therefore, it is proposed that the group approve and adopt the following points to be included in the GROW Business Meeting Guidelines on the website and in Business Chair communications at the opening of the meeting:
"Proposals to be considered during GROW business meetings should include the following:
- A clear brief statement that summarizes the proposal, including the anticipated outcome of adopting it;
- A statement of how the proposal would be implemented if adopted; and
- Specific language to be presented for discussion and voting in the business meeting (including, as appropriate, language for a job description, form letter, or GROW policy or guideline).
Before submitting a proposal, meeting participants are encouraged to consult with the Business Chair, Secretary, or Steering Committee members to formulate their proposals if they need help."
The following comments were received on this Proposal.
In spite of, or, perhaps because of J, we have received overwhelming support for this Proposal in that 19 out of the 20 who responded are in favour of it.
We have achieved consensus on this item and it is now a part of our Group Conscience decisions.
* * * * * * * * * *
We also discussed a proposal for a delay in assigning people to lead our meetings as follows:
Proposal 1.1 - Delay in Assigning Chair Dates. It is proposed that the Weekly Leader Listkeeper wait at least 24 hours before assigning a member a chair date they requested. This will give members who are celebrating sober anniversaries in a different time zone an opportunity to lead a meeting, if they wish to do so, on or around her sobriety date.
If approved, this item to be included on the second line in the 5th paragraph after "AA anniversary" in the Weekly Topic Leader's Message on the website.
The following comments were received on this Proposal.
Once again, we have an overwhelming majority opinion here in that 20 of the 20 who responded are in favour of this proposal.
We now have achieved consensus on this Proposal and it is now a part of our Group Conscience decisions.
The Chair would like to thank all of you ladies for your participation in our discussions. You have presented some great ideas and suggestions. We will now move into our second week of discussions. At this time, we have 6 more proposals to present which I will send out separately.
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Business Meeting October 2013 - Week 2 Proposals
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Proposal 2.1 - Language for Proposal 1.1 - Delay in Assigning Chair Dates
In addition to the existing language in the Weekly Topic Leader's Message, it is proposed that we change the existing paragraph (We try to give thoughtful attention.) as follows:
"We try to give thoughtful attention to those who would like to lead a meeting around their A.A. anniversary. In an effort to accommodate all members, we will wait for a period of 24 hours before assigning a member a chair date they requested. This will give the members in different time zones an opportunity to share around their anniversary date. If the date requested is already filled, they will be offered the next available date. If all dates are filled, we will put them on a standby list to fill in if a weekly leader cannot be available for the time slot for which they have volunteered."
The following sentence will need to be deleted from the Weekly Topic Leader's Message: "These dates will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis."
The Chair recommends that the revised paragraph be included in the Weekly Leader Listkeeper's Job Description, as well.
Proposal 2.2 - Call For Help Form Letter
It is proposed that we compose a "Call For Help" letter to our Trusted Servants as follows:
Dear Trusted Servants.
Unfortunately, we do not have anyone to lead the meeting this week. This creates a service opportunity for us to consider. Please let me know if you are interested in chairing this week's meeting. First one to reply gets the job!
Thank you,
Weekly Leader Listkeeper
If approved, this letter would be placed in our Form Letter section on the website.
Proposal 2.3 - Limit Leader Sign-ups to Once Per Quarter
It is proposed that we consider limiting members to chairing no more than once each quarter in order to encourage participation from many people in the group. The implementation would be to include a statement about this in the message the WLL sends out, and will also be up to the WLL to take this into account when she assigns the schedule.
In order to provide ample opportunity for many members to chair the weekly Grow meetings, members should chair at most once during a quarter, with the quarters being:
Two possible outcomes are anticipated; some people will be very disappointed and others will be grateful. Some members volunteer immediately each time the call goes out for leaders, and others who may contact the WLL a day or two after the call are disappointed that they cannot chair.
If this proposal is adopted, a sentence should be included in the Weekly Topic Leader Message as follows:
"In order to provide ample opportunity for many members to chair the weekly Grow meetings, members should chair at most once during a quarter."
Proposal 2.4 (a) - Changes to Literature re Chair Dates
It is proposed that we change the wording in our literature (WLL Job Description and Weekly Topic Leader Message) to reflect waiting a day to get all responses from members before closing the opportunity to chair.
Proposal 2.4(b) - Changes in our Literature regarding Trusted Servants in case the Weekly Chair is absent
It is proposed that the Trusted Servants be called upon to chair a meeting in the event that the scheduled Chairperson is absent. This change is to be reflected in our literature which includes the Trusted Servants' Job Descriptions, website and letters.
Proposal 2.5 - Changes to Treasurer's Job Description
It is proposed that the following bold italicized references to the Secretary be removed from the Treasurer's Job Description to reflect the Secretary's current Job Description.
Current Treasurer Description
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Minutes of Second Week
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The following represent the summary of our discussion and resolutions during the second week of our Business Meeting:
Proposal 2.1 - Language for Proposal 1.1 - Delay in Assigning Chair Dates
In addition to the existing language in the Weekly Topic Leader's Message, it is proposed that we change the existing paragraph (We try to give thoughtful attention.) as follows:
"We try to give thoughtful attention to those who would like to lead a meeting around their A.A. anniversary. In an effort to accommodate all members, we will wait for a period of 24 hours before assigning a member a chair date they requested. This will give the members in different time zones an opportunity to share around their anniversary date. If the date requested is already filled, they will be offered the next available date. If all dates are filled, we will put them on a standby list to fill in if a weekly leader cannot be available for the time slot for which they have volunteered."
The following sentence will need to be deleted from the Weekly Topic Leader's Message: "These dates will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis."
We did not achieve consensus on this Proposal. After counting the Head Nods/Shakes, we received a motion and seconder from the floor per our Business Meeting Guidelines. We now have 4 days to collect the votes.
Proposal 2.2 - Call For Help Form Letter. It is proposed that we compose a "Call For Help" letter to our Trusted Servants.
This Proposal was presented in order to encourage Trusted Servants to lead meetings when the assigned Chairperson has not shown up. During the discussions, it was stated that we have a Rotating Back-up person in place as well as the general membership who can be called upon to lead and it's up to the discretion of the WLL to handle things as she thinks best.
This proposal was Withdrawn.
Proposal 2.3 - Limit Leader Sign-ups to Once Per Quarter. It is proposed that we consider limiting members to chairing no more than once each quarter in order to encourage participation from many people in the group. The implementation would be to include a statement about this in the message the WLL sends out, and will also be up to the WLL to take this into account when she assigns the schedule.
When the presenter gave thoughtful consideration to this Proposal and realized that it's in our best interest to "Keep It Simple" and let the WLL handle things as she thinks best,
the Proposal was Withdrawn.
Proposal 2.4 (a) - Changes to Literature re Chair Dates. It is proposed that we change the wording in our literature (WLL Job Description and Weekly Topic Leader Message) to reflect waiting a day to get all responses from members before closing the opportunity to chair.
This Proposal to change our literature to reflect waiting a day before closing the opportunity to chair was Withdrawn.
Proposal 2.4(b) - Changes in our Literature regardingTrusted Servants in case the Weekly Chair is absent
It is proposed that the Trusted Servants be called upon to chair a meeting in the event that the scheduled Chairperson is absent. This change is to be reflected in our literature which includes the Trusted Servants' Job Descriptions, website and letters.
Since Proposal 2.2 was withdrawn, there was no need for this Proposal.
This Proposal was Withdrawn.
Proposal 2.5 - Changes to Treasurer's Job Description. It is proposed that the following italicized references to the Secretary be removed from the Treasurer's Job Description to reflect the Secretary's current Job Description.
Because the Treasurer's position is under review, it was found it was not necessary to revise the Treasurer's Job Description at this time.
The Proposal was Withdrawn.
Proposal 2.6 - New Requirements for Treasurer & Past Treasurer
It is recommended that the Treasurer have 5 years of continuous sobriety and 2 years in GROW, preferably with some service time on the GROW Steering Committee.
Because the Treasurer's position is under review, it was found it was not necessary to revise the Treasurer's Job Description at this time.
The Proposal was Withdrawn.
Proposal 9.4 - Guidelines for Writing Proposals
To facilitate the decision-making process in GROW Business Meetings, we should adopt a set of guidelines for proposals. Therefore, it is proposed that the group approve and adopt the following points to be included in the GROW Business Meeting Guidelines on the website and in Business Chair communications at the opening of the meeting:
"Proposals to be considered during GROW business meetings should include the following:
Before submitting a proposal, meeting participants are encouraged to consult with the Business Chair, Secretary, or Steering Committee members to formulate their proposals if they need help."
We achieved consensus on this Proposal and reflects our Group Conscience decision.
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Week 3 Proposals
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Many thanks for your participation and comments this week. It was great to hear from so many of you. Group Conscience is alive and well here in GROW!
I would like to review what it means to have consensus on the Proposals:
The group makes every effort to reach agreement (consensus) on the issue by simply talking to each other. By consensus we mean:
We have not achieved consensus on the following Proposals during this second week.
Proposal 2.1 - Language for Proposal 1.1 - Delay in Assigning Chair Dates
In addition to the existing language in the Weekly Topic Leader's Message, it is proposed that we change the existing paragraph (We try to give thoughtful attention.) as follows:
"We try to give thoughtful attention to those who would like to lead a meeting around their A.A. anniversary. In an effort to accommodate all members, we will wait for a period of 24 hours before assigning a member a chair date they requested. This will give the members in different time zones an opportunity to share around their anniversary date. If the date requested is already filled, they will be offered the next available date. If all dates are filled, we will put them on a standby list to fill in if a weekly leader cannot be available for the time slot for which they have volunteered."
The following sentence will need to be deleted from the Weekly Topic Leader's Message: "These dates will be filled on a first-come, first-serve basis."
The Chair recommends that the revised paragraph be included in the Weekly Leader Listkeeper's Job Description, as well.
Comments: 17 out of 19 members who responded have agreed to this Proposal; 1 disagreed, and 1 abstained. We have not, therefore, achieved consensus on this item.
We will now move into the formal voting procedure. The Chair is now calling for a motion from the floor and a seconder for the motion. (The motion must closely resemble the collective thoughts of the group's discussion. The motion must be seconded by another member in order to move the group into the formal decision-making process).
Proposal 2.6 - New Requirements for Treasurer & Past Treasurer
It is recommended that the Treasurer have 5 years of continuous sobriety and 2 years in GROW, preferably with some service time on the GROW Steering Committee.
We will waive the interim requirement for the vacant Treasurer position and begin the new 2 year term commencing October 2013.
In the future, the Immediate Past Treasurer will serve as emergency back-up to the current Treasurer. The Immediate Past Treasurer will remain on the Steering Committee.
Comments:
14 out of 20 members who responded have agreed to this Proposal; 5 members disagreed stating that 5 years of sobriety and that 2 years would be sufficient, and one member abstained with the following opinion:
"I don't think 2 years or 5 years will prevent bad things from happening to the group's money. I've seem women with 20+ years of sobriety go to jail for extortion. I've been the Secretary for a group where the Treasurer ran off with the money. Things happen regardless of the constraints you put on the position. What I would not like to see happen is someone lose an opportunity for a service position because the requirements for the position were over constrained."
Therefore, we have not achieved consensus on this item.
We will now move into the formal voting procedure. The Chair is now calling for a motion from the floor and a seconder for the motion. (The motion must closely resemble the collective thoughts of the group's discussion. The motion must be seconded by another member in order to move the group into the formal decision-making process).
As you know, our Treasurer became very ill and could not carry out her job commitment so we did not have instant access to her files at that time. The Steering Committee felt it necessary to review the details of the Job Description to see if they could tighten up some of the requirements of the position. Although we still have two Proposals on the table, the Chair has decided to present the following Proposal 3.7 so that this matter may be settled as soon as possible.
The following Proposal reflects Steering Committee's decision to split the duties for two Treasurers:
Proposal 3.7 - Split the Treasurer's Job into Two Positions
It is proposed that the Treasurer's job be split into two positions as follows:
Discussion:
This arrangement would be similar to the Web page arrangement which is a non-rotating position. The purpose is to alleviate some of the overhead in establishing new accounts each time the Treasurer rotates through and maintains a long-term bank account for the group.
Job Description for Treasurer
We will now have four days to discuss this Proposal. I look forward to your comments.
Again, thanks so much for your participation and interest in our group. The Chair appreciates the ideas and suggestions that you have presented in such a considerate manner and looks forward to receiving your motions and seconders, so that we can open up a 4-day formal discussion period on the motions.
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Minutes of Third Week
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During this third week, our Secretary, Joan B., has advised that three vacant positions were filled as follows:
At this time, we have one vacant position, Rotating Backup (10/13 - 10/14) to fill Tanya's position. Secretary Joan (joanb333@gmail.com) would love to hear from you if you are interested in taking on a service position with our group.
The Chair would sincerely like to thank these members and is very grateful for their interest in serving our group. If you wish to thank the above servants and welcome them into their new positions, I'm sure they'd be delighted to hear from you.
One member left the Business Meeting stating that she could not keep up with the volume of emails bringing our total Business Meeting Attendance to 27 as of October 17th.
We had 2 proposals up for discussion: