GROW

Grateful Recovering Online Women

2014 Business Meetings

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April 2014
October 2014

Business Meeting - April 2014


Business Meeting Guidelines - April 2014

The following are the GROW Guidelines for conducting business:

  1. 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. Proposals to be considered during GROW Business Meetings should include the following:
    1. A clear, brief statement that summarizes the Proposal, including the anticipated outcome of adopting it;
    2. A statement of how the Proposal would be implemented, if adopted, and
    3. 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).
  2. The group makes every effort to reach agreement (consensus) on the issue by simply talking to each other. By consensus, we mean:
    1. everyone is in agreement or is willing to support the issue; or
    2. everyone disagrees and is not willing to support the issue, or
    3. everyone agrees to disagree.
  3. We allow a minimum of four (4) days for discussion, more when warranted. The Chair may call for a Head Nod to confirm we have reached group consensus.
  4. If the group is unable to reach consensus by this method, we move into the formal voting procedure.
    1. 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.
    2. The motion must be seconded by another member in order to move the group into the formal decision-making process.
    3. Once the motion is seconded, the Chair announces the motion and opens up a four-day formal discussion period on the motion.
  5. 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 sending votes to the Secretary. The Secretary counts the votes.
  6. 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.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.

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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.

*Now called The General Service Board of A.A. Inc.

Respectfully submitted, Laura G.
GROW Business Chair

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Secretary's Report - April 2014
Our Trusted Servants

During the past 6 months, we had one Trusted Servant who needed to resign. Kate was the OIAA Representative, and she was replaced by Michaele Q. for the reminder of the term.

All of our outgoing service positions were filled prior to the beginning of the Business Meeting. Thanks to each of you for your participation.

Regards, Joan B.

We are happy to take this opportunity to thank our Outgoing Trusted Servants. Thanks to each of you for your invaluable service to GROW! There have been times when you have gone above-and-beyond for our group, and it is very much appreciated!! Please convey your thanks (privately, please) to these outgoing Trusted Servants:

And ~ drum roll, please!
Below is a list of our Incoming Trusted Servants! Five out of nine of our Outgoing Servants are now Incoming Servants, and we thank each of them for volunteering their time and effort to serve us again. Please convey your thanks (privately) to our Incoming Trusted Servants:

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Listkeepers' Report - April 2014

Our membership as of March 24, 2014, is 198 (this number is always a little larger than our actual count, because some members have two subscriptions - one for regular posts and one for digests). In November 2013, as per an earlier group conscience decision, the listkeepers conducted the 2nd annual roll-call (please see the archived minutes at http://www.g-r-o-w.com/members/biz/arch/2013.htm for details about this).

At the start of the roll-call, the list had about 260 members. The roll-call was conducted over a 3-week period, during which the listkeepers asked members to respond off-list to the listkeepers as "present." At the end of the three-week period, those who had not responded to the roll call were unsubscribed from the list. As reported to the steering committee, we ended with 154 members. Only two people wrote back - several months later - wondering what had happened.

Respectfully submitted, Laura B. & Jean L. - the GROW co-listkeepers

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Temporary Mentor's Report - April 2014

In preparation for the business meeting , as temporary mentor, I have sent out 170 welcome letters and 100 follow-up letters since 4/1/13. Replies to my letters center around how to get an online sponsor and how to post to the group. We addressed the sponsor issue by including this in the welcome letter.

Regards, Sue W.,
Temporary Mentor

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Treasurer's Report

My apologies for being late with the report. I believe this is the first report I've submitted for the Business Meeting so I'm including everything from the beginning to now:

Previous Treasurer's Transfer $100.00
PayPal Donations: $316.73
Check Deposits: $637.00
OIAA Contributions: ($182.02)
GSO Contributions: ($728.09)
Website Payment ($45.00)
Balance: $100.00

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Business Items - April 2014

Before we begin, please familiarize yourself with the Group Conscience decisions on our website that were approved at our last Business Meeting (under 2013 Business Meetings) in October 2013. (username: sobertoday; password: how2484).

Below are Proposals that have been 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. During the first business meeting period which ends on Saturday, April 4th, participants are asked to comment on Proposals 1.1(a), 1.1(b), 2.1, and 3.1.

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During our Business Meeting of October 2013, a Proposal was presented for further discussions in April 2013 on the following Proposal 3.7 - Split the Treasurer's Job into Two Positions to allow the Treasurer an opportunity to create a working group to develop a recommendation for the Business Meeting in April 2014 to address the following motion.

This Proposal has been retracted and another one will be presented instead.

Business Items - April 2014
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Proposal 1.1(a) - Greeter Letter #2 - Digests/Word Processor. It is proposed that the following sentence be inserted after the third paragraph:

Members who use phones and tablets to send to the list, check to be sure that you are using "Reply" rather than "Reply To All" when replying to an individual share.

Rationale: A lot of bounces happen because people don't realize they have "Reply to All" as the default setting on their devices.

Business Items - April 2014
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Proposal 1.1(b) - Greeter Letter #2 - Digest. It is proposed that the following second sentence in the fifth paragraph be deleted:

Digests may need to be downloaded and read in a word processor, depending upon your email program.

Rationale: This probably does not apply to anyone. We no longer have dedicated word processors.

Business Items - April 2014
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Proposal 2.1 - Replacement of Topic Leader. It is proposed that the following statement be deleted from the Weekly Topic Leader Message after the paragraph that ends with " .. replacement leader."

If you are willing to fill in for someone on a last-minute basis, please let me know. I'd like to have a list of people, if a weekly leader cannot be available for the time slot they have volunteered for, that I can ask to jump in if necessary.

Rationale: Most times a leader who cannot lead a meeting will give the WLL plenty of notice, and the Topic Leader will be replaced through general announcement to the group. If, however, it is last minute and the WLL is out of time, she can use other methods, such as using the archives on our webpage, or posting the meeting herself. Sending out an alarm call like this to the group will end up in numerous emails and lots of time spent. This also eliminates the need for keeping a list of names. The intent of this proposal is to simplify the WLL job and empower the list keeper.

Business Items - April 2014
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Proposal 3.1 - Requirements to Lead a Meeting. It is proposed that the following be added to our Weekly Topic Leader message:

The requirements to lead a meeting are 90 days of continuous sobriety and a member of GROW for more than 30 days.

This will be inserted in the Weekly Topic Leader message at the end of the paragraph, "Here is your opportunity . that relates to alcoholism recovery."

Rationale: Although this was approved by a Group Conscience decision in October 2006 (http://www.g-r-o-w.com/members/biz/arch/2006.htm), the requirements had never been included in the Weekly Topic Leader message.

Business Items - April 2014
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Proposal 4.2 - Change to Weekly Topic Leader Message. It is proposed that the following be added to the Weekly Topic Leader Message:

My name is ________ and I am an alcoholic and I am also your Weekly Leader Listkeeper.

Here is the calendar of our upcoming leaders who are scheduled to chair. A big GROW thank you to all who are committed to GROWing in service.

Month: _______
Date, Volunteer
Date, Volunteer
Date, Volunteer
Date, Volunteer

I am taking volunteers for the month of _______.

After the sentence, "Here is your opportunity . . . willing to lead", add: The requirements necessary to lead a meeting are 90 days of continuous sobriety and a member of GROW for more than 30 days.'

Rationale: This Proposal is intended to simplify the job of the WLL.

Business Items - April 2014
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Proposal 5.2 - Group Inventory

The AA Group.Where It All Begins (p. 27) states: "Many groups periodically hold a "group Inventory meeting" to evaluate how well they are fulfilling their primary purpose: to help alcoholics recover through A.A.'s suggested Twelve Steps of recovery."

At the Business Meeting in July 2004, it was decided that the inventories would be conducted every 2 years by the Secretary as follows: The inventory consists of 12 questions which are posted to the group over a 4-week period. Three questions are posted each week. Each week's responses are summarized, posted back to the group, and the results discussed and reviewed by members at the next Business Meeting to determine if action needs to be taken. (http://www.g-r-o-w.com/members/biz/arch/2004.htm). These will be posted in addition to the Weekly Topics.

Our last inventory was taken in 2010. Assuming that we still wish to have group inventories conducted on a regular basis and that they should be done every two years, the following is proposed:

The Secretary will conduct a Group Inventory every two years between the Business Meetings of April and October by sending out the 12 Questions on our website. Three questions will be sent to the group each week over a 4-week period. Each week's responses will be summarized, posted back to the group, and the results discussed and reviewed by members at the next Business Meeting to determine if action needs to be taken. These will be posted in addition to the Weekly Topics.

If approved, this item will be included in the Secretary's Job Description.

Business Items - April 2014
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Proposal 6.2 - Post a 3-Month Schedule of Chair Dates & Weekly Leaders

During the October 2008 Business Meeting, it was decided that we post regular weekly reminders of the meeting topics and to post the upcoming Chairs.

During the October 2012 Business Meeting, it was proposed that the Weekly Leader Listkeeper (WLL) send to the group, on a monthly basis, the 3-month schedule of meeting chair dates and corresponding chair women. We ran out of time for full discussion on this item and your Business Chair overlooked it during the Business Meeting of April 2013 (my apologies to the group). Therefore, I present the following for your consideration and approval.

It is proposed that the Weekly Leader Listkeeper (WLL) send the 3-month schedule of meeting chair dates and corresponding Weekly Leaders, to the group on a monthly basis (in addition to posting regular weekly reminders of the meeting topics).

If approved, the following will be included in the Weekly Leader Listkeeper's Job Description:

Send to the group, on a monthly basis, the 3-month schedule of meeting chair dates and corresponding Weekly Leaders.

Rationale: This item comes up regularly in our Business Meetings but never seems to get implemented, so let's put this baby to bed once and for all.

Respectfully submitted, Laura G.,
GROW Business Chair

Business Items - April 2014
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Summary of 1st 4 Days

The following is a summary of our discussions during the first week of our Business Meeting:

Proposal 1.1(a) - Greeter Letter #2 - Using "Reply" on Phones/Tablets. This Proposal has been amended and will be now known as Proposal 1.2(a).

Proposal 1.1(b) - - Greeter Letter #2 - Digests. It is proposed that the following second sentence in the fifth paragraph be deleted:

"Digests may need to be downloaded and read in a word processor, depending upon your email program."

Rationale: This probably does not apply to anyone. We no longer have dedicated word processors.

Some of the comments were as follows:

Everyone who responded was in agreement. We have achieved consensus on this item.

Business Items - April 2014
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Proposal 2.1 - Topic Leader Replacement. It is proposed that the following statement be removed from the Weekly Topic Leader Message after the paragraph that ends with " .. replacement leader."

Remove: "If you are willing to fill in for someone on a last-minute basis, please let me know. I'd like to have a list of people, if a weekly leader cannot be available for the time slot they have volunteered for, that I can ask to jump in if necessary."

Rationale: Most times a leader who cannot lead a meeting will give the WLL plenty of notice, and the Topic Leader will be replaced through general announcement to the group. If, however, it is last minute and the WLL is out of time, she can use other methods, such as using the archives on our webpage, or posting the meeting herself. Sending out an alarm call like this to the group will end up in numerous emails and lots of time spent. This also eliminates the need for keeping a list of names. The intent of this proposal is to simplify the WLL job and empower the list keeper.

Some of the comments were as follows:

Everyone who responded was in agreement. We have achieved consensus on this item.

Business Items - April 2014
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Proposal 3.1 - Requirements to Lead a Meeting. It is proposed that the following be added to our Weekly Topic Leader message:

"The requirements to lead a meeting are 90 days of continuous sobriety and a member of GROW for more than 30 days."

This will be inserted in the Weekly Topic Leader message at the end of the paragraph, "Here is your opportunity . that relates to alcoholism recovery."

Some of the comments received were as follows:

Everyone who responded was in agreement. We have achieved consensus on this item.

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Proposals for 2nd 4 Days

Thanks so much for your attention and consideration during our first week of discussions. Since you did so well, here are a few more Proposals to think about and to discuss.

Proposal 1.2(a) - Greeter Letter #2 - Using "Reply" on Phones/Tablets and Individual Mail. We have an Amendment to Proposal 1.1(a). It is proposed that the following sentence be inserted in Greeter Letter #2 after the third paragraph:

"Please do not use the "Reply to All" option when you respond privately to another member's post to GROW, as your personal message will also be directed to the GROW list and it will bounce to the listkeepers.

For those using phones and tablets, be aware that the default reply option is often "Reply to All," and double-check that you are not using "Reply to All"."

Rationale: A lot of server bounces happen because people don't realize they have "Reply to All" as the default setting on their devices. Also, when responding to individuals, members often use "Reply to All" which causes the server to reject the message and it will not go through.

We will have 4 days of discussion on this amended Proposal. Please forward your reply to the Business Group at: grow-business@oso-aa.org.

Business Items - April 2014
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Proposal - 4.2 - Change to Weekly Topic Leader Message. It is proposed that the following be added to the Weekly Topic Leader Message:

My name is ________ and I am an alcoholic and I am also your Weekly Leader Listkeeper.

Here is the calendar of our upcoming leaders who are scheduled to chair. A big GROW thank you to all who are committed to GROWing in service.

Month: _______

Date, Volunteer
Date, Volunteer
Date, Volunteer
Date, Volunteer

I am taking volunteers for the month of _______.

After the sentence, "Here is your opportunity . . . willing to lead", add: 'The requirements necessary to lead a meeting are 90 days of continuous sobriety and a member of GROW for more than 30 days.'

Rationale: This Proposal is intended to simplify the job of the WLL.

We will have 4 days of discussion on this Proposal. Please reply to the Business Group at: grow-business@oso-aa.org.

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Proposal 5.2: Group Inventory. In The AA Group.Where It All Begins (p. 27), it states: "Many groups periodically hold a "group Inventory meeting" to evaluate how well they are fulfilling their primary purpose: to help alcoholics recover through A.A.'s suggested Twelve Steps of recovery."

At the Business Meeting in July 2004, it was decided that the inventories would be conducted every 2 years by the Secretary as follows: The inventory consists of 12 questions which are posted to the group over a 4-week period. Three questions are posted each week. Each week's responses are summarized, posted back to the group, and the results discussed and reviewed by members at the next Business Meeting to determine if action needs to be taken. (http://www.g-r-o-w.com/members/biz/arch/2004.htm. These will be posted in addition to the Weekly Topics.

Our last inventory was taken in 2010. Assuming that we still wish to have group inventories conducted on a regular basis and that they should be done every 2 years, the following is proposed:

Conduct a Group Inventory every 2 years between the Business Meetings of April and October by sending out the 12 Questions on our website. 3 questions will be sent to the group each week over a 4-week period. Each week's responses will be summarized, posted back to the group, and the results discussed and reviewed by members at the next Business Meeting to determine if action needs to be taken. These will be posted in addition to the Weekly Topics.

If approved, this item will be included in the Secretary's Job Description.

We will now have 4 days of discussion on this proposal. Please send your reply to: grow-business@oso-aa.org. I look forward to hearing from you.

Business Items - April 2014
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Proposal 6.2 - Post a 3-Month Schedule of Chair Dates & Weekly Leaders. During the October 2012 Business Meeting, it was proposed that the Weekly Leader Listkeeper (WLL) send to the group, on a monthly basis, the 3-month schedule of meeting chair dates and corresponding chair women. We ran out of time for full discussion on this item and your Business Chair (me) overlooked it during the April 2013 Business Meeting (my apologies to the group). Therefore, the Chair presents the following for your consideration and approval from that meeting.

It is proposed that the WLL send the 3-month schedule of meeting chair dates and corresponding Weekly Leaders to the group on a monthly basis (in addition to posting regular weekly reminders of the meeting topics).

Rationale: This item comes up regularly in our Business Meetings but never seems to get implemented, so let's put this baby to bed!

If approved, the following sentence will be included in the Weekly Leader's Job Description:

Send to the group, on a monthly basis, the 3-month schedule of meeting chair dates and corresponding Weekly Leaders.

We will now have discussion regarding this Proposal for 4 days. Please send your reply to: grow-business@oso-aa.org.

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Proposal 7.2 - Revisions to Treasurer's Job Description. The following replaces the retracted Proposal 3.7 (re Splitting the Treasurer's Position) which was carried over from our October 2013 Business Meeting. The presenter no longer believes that this is a two-person job and concerns only the changes that are proposed to the Treasurer's Job Description. Changes are in boldface.

Treasurer

Rationale:

  1. We no longer maintain the same PayPal account, that practice has not been in place for awhile apparently so I'm changing the wording to reflect creating an account and then sharing the password. I'm not sure why we would share that password with the web keeper also. Basically, I'm suggesting that we share account information with the Secretary only as a backup - I think that's sufficient for a backup.
  2. I believe the requirements of having a bank account in more than one name, mandating that it be a non-business account, etc. is unnecessary. If we want to stipulate that it must be separate, then I'd say that and eliminate the "non-business" wording.
  3. Providing online access is actually better than a signature card - there is access to everything then - including seeing copies of the deposits, etc.
  4. I added the statement about how frequently to distribute to OIAA and GSO because I was confused about it when I took on the role.

We will have four days of discussion on this Proposal. Please send your reply to: grow-business@oso-aa.org.

Business Items - April 2014
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Summary of 2nd 4 Days

The following is a summary of our discussions during the second week of our Business Meeting:

Proposal 1.2(a) - Greeter Letter #2 - Using "Reply" on Phones/Tablets and Individual Mail. This is an Amendment to Proposal 1.1(a). It is proposed that the following sentence be inserted in Greeter Letter #2 after the third paragraph:

'Please do not use the "Reply to All' option when you respond privately to another member's post to GROW, as your personal message will also be directed to the GROW list and it will bounce to the Listkeepers.

For those using phones and tablets, be aware that the default reply option is often "Reply to All", and double-check that you are not using "Reply to All".'

Rationale: A lot of server bounces happen because people don't realize they "Reply to All' as the default setting on their devices. Also, when responding to individuals, members often use "Reply to All" which causes the server to reject the message and it will not go through.

Results: 12 members responded and all were in agreement. We have achieved consensus on this item.

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Proposal 4.2 - Change to Weekly Topic Leader Message. It is proposed that the following be added to the weekly Topic Leader Message:

"Here is the calendar of our upcoming leaders who are schedule to chair. A big GROW thank you to all who are committed to GROWing in service.

Month: _________
Date, Volunteer
Date, Volunteer
Date, Volunteer
Date, Volunteer

I am taking volunteers for the month of ______.

After the sentence, 'Here is your opportunity . . . willing to lead', add: The requirements necessary to lead a meeting are 90 days of continuous sobriety and a member of GROW for more than 30 days'.

Rationale: This Proposal is intended to simplify the job of the WLL.

Results: Most members agreed with adding a sentence regarding the length of sobriety required to lead a meeting. Of the 15 members who responded, 13 agreed and 2 disagreed; therefore, we do not have consensus on this item. Before the Head Nods/Shakes were called for, a member submitted a revision to this Proposal which will be presented as an Amended Proposal during our 3rd week of discussions.

Business Items - April 2014
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Proposal 5.2 - Group Inventory. At the Business Meeting in July 2004, it was decided that the inventories would be conducted every 2 years by the Secretary as follows: The inventory consists of 12 questions which are posted to the group over a 4-week period. Three questions are posted each week. Each week's responses are summarized, posted back to the group, and the results discussed and reviewed by members at the next Business Meeting to determine if action needs to be taken. (http://www.g-r-o-w.com/members/biz/arch/2004.htm). These will be posted in addition to the Weekly Topics.

Our last inventory was taken in 2010. Assuming that we still wish to have group inventories conducted on a regular basis and that they should be done every 2 years, the following is proposed. However, because no time frame was specified in the original Proposal in July 2004, it was suggested that "in even-numbered years" be inserted in the Proposal.

Conduct a Group Inventory every 2 years (in even-numbered years) between the Business Meetings of April and October by sending out the 12 Questions on our website. 3 questions will be sent to the group each week over a 4-week period. Each week's responses will be summarized, posted back to the group, and the results discussed and reviewed by members at the next Business Meeting to determine if action needs to be taken. These will be posted in addition to the Weekly Topics.

If approved, this item will be included in the Secretary's Job Description.

Results: Everyone who responded were in agreement so we have achieved consensus on this item.

Business Items - April 2014
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Proposal 6.2 - Post a 3-month Schedule of Chair Dates & Weekly Leaders. During the October 2012 Business Meeting, it was proposed that the Weekly Leader Listkeeper (WLL) send to the group, on a monthly basis, the 3-month schedule of meting chair dates and corresponding chair women. We ran out of time for full discussion on this item and your Business Chair (me) overlooked it during the April 2013 meeting (my apologies to the group). Therefore the Chair presents the following for your consideration and approval from that meeting:

"It is proposed that the WLL send the 3-month schedule of meeting chair dates and corresponding Weekly Leaders to the group on a monthly basis (in addition to posting regular weekly reminders of the meeting topics)."

Rationale: This items comes up regularly in our Business Meetings but never seems to get implemented, so let]s put this baby to bed!

If approved, the following sentence will be included in the Weekly Leader's Job Description:

Send to the group, on a monthly basis, the 3-month schedule of meeting chair dates and corresponding Weekly Leaders.

The following comments were received on this Proposal:

  1. I question the need for 3 months list. Yes, I can do a one-time shot on getting us loaded up with 3 months and take names for the 4th month out, but I think as a regular, garden-variety member, I'd be interested in this coming month. Also, if I were going to be chairing, I don't think I'd pay much attention to 2 or 3 months out - I have enough trouble being present for this week and the coming 3 or 4 weeks. So, while I support the listing of upcoming leaders, I suggest we do it only for 1 month, not 3.
  2. I disagree with this Proposal. I agree one month added to the WLL letter is sufficient.
  3. I like the rephrasing on this Proposal (as above).
  4. I do think that for those of us committed to "one day at a time", often a month is a stretch, and three months can sound like a lifetime.
  5. I've never done it and I go with the voice of experience.
  6. I go with changing the proposal to one month rather than three.

Results: Most members who responded (12 of 14) were against having a 3-month schedule of chairs and dates sent to the group. Most agreed that a 1 month's listing of chairs and dates would be sufficient. There will be an Amendment to this Proposal during the next 4-day segment. Stay tuned!

Business Items - April 2014
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Proposal 7.2 - Revised Treasurer's Job Description. It is proposed that the Treasurer's Job Description be revised as follows:

Rationale:

  1. We no longer maintain the same PayPal account, that practice has not been place for awhile apparently so I'm changing the wording to reflect creating an account and then sharing the password. I'm not sure why we would share that password with the webkeeper also. Basically, I'm suggesting that we share account information with the Secretary only as back-up - I think that's sufficient for a back-up.
  2. I believe the requirements of having a bank account in more than one name, mandating that it be a non-business account, etc. is unnecessary. If we want to stipulate that it must be separate, then I'd say that and eliminate the "non-business" wording.
  3. Providing online access is actually better than a signature card - there is access to everything then - including seeing copies of the deposits, etc.
  4. I added the statement about how frequently to distribute to OIAA and GSO because I was confused about it when I took on the role.

Comments received on this Proposal were as follows:

The following questions were raised and our Treasurer has provided answers to each of them (in brackets).

  1. Might the Webkeeper/Back-up Webkeeper be the logical keeper(s) of the password as they hold non-rotating positions? [That would be fine, I have no strong opinion one way or another].
  2. What does the transfer of GROW online bank account and PayPal account look like? [The incoming treasurer establishes new accounts and the outgoing treasurer either sends a check or makes a PayPal contribution to transfer the funds balance.]
  3. Does each new Treasurer set up a PayPal account for 2 years? [Yes.]
  4. Is the frequency of contributions to OIAA and GSO reasonable for our group? [Right now there is no frequency identified in our guidelines. It can be done monthly when the treasurer is creating the monthly report to the steering committee or quarterly.]

As we are awaiting the Semi-Annual Treasury Report, no Head Nods/Shakes were called for at this time. This item will be re-presented during the 3rd week.

Business Items - April 2014
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Proposals for 3rd 4 Days

We did not achieve consensus on Proposal - 4.2 - Change to Weekly Topic Leader Message. The Proposal has been amended (now Proposal 4.3 - Change to Weekly Topic Leader Message) to say that the following is to be added to or changed in the Weekly Topic Leader Message:

My name is [Name] and I am an alcoholic, and I'm also your Weekly Leader List Keeper. I am taking volunteers for the [time period].

Here is the calendar of our upcoming leaders scheduled to chair. A big GROW thank you to all who are committed to growing in service.

Month:
Date, Name
Date, Name
Date, Name
Date, Name

Here is your opportunity to volunteer to lead a weekly meeting, choosing a topic that relates to your individual experience, strength and hope or a topic you would like to hear about, that relates to alcoholism recovery. The requirements necessary to lead a meeting are 90 days of continuous sobriety and a member of GROW for more than 30 days.

If you would like to volunteer, just hit reply and let me know which available date you would be willing to lead. Here are the available dates:
Month day
Month day
Month day
Month day
Month day

We try to give thoughtful attention to those who would like to lead a meeting around their A. A. anniversary. If the date requested is already filled, you will be offered another available date. Around Wednesday or Thursday of the week before you're set to chair, I'll contact you and pass on the meeting format. If, for some reason you cannot do the meeting on your selected Sunday, please let me know as soon as possible so I can find a replacement leader.

I look forward to hearing from each and every one of you. The topic meeting is a great way of saying "hi" and letting us all get to know you better. Thank you for your participation and thank you for letting me be of service,

[name]
Weekly Leader List Keeper

P.S. As our membership is *growing*, we are getting duplicate names. When you respond please include your name and the first initial of your last name.

Rationale: This Proposal is intended to simplify the job of the WLL.

We will have 4 days of discussion on this Proposal. Please reply to the Business Group at: grow-business@oso-aa.org.

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Proposal 6.2 - Post a 3-Month Schedule of Chair Dates & Weekly Leaders. During the October 2012 Business Meeting, it was proposed that the Weekly Leader Listkeeper (WLL) send to the group, on a monthly basis, the 3-month schedule of meeting chair dates and corresponding chair women. This Proposal had been overlooked/forgotten and was not presented to the group until this meeting.

The initial Proposal read as follows: It is proposed that the WLL send the 3-month schedule of meeting chair dates and corresponding Weekly Leaders to the group on a monthly basis (in addition to posting regular weekly reminders of the meeting topics).

Most members (including former WLL's) did not accept a 3-month schedule but were in favor of a 1-month posting of the list. Therefore, this amended proposal is presented as follows:

It is proposed that the WLL send the 1-month schedule of meeting chair dates and corresponding Weekly Leaders to the group on a monthly basis (in addition to posting regular weekly reminders of the meeting topics).

If approved, the above amended sentence will be included in the Weekly Leader's Job Description.

We will now have discussion regarding this Proposal for 4 days. Please send your reply to: grow-business@oso-aa.org.

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Proposal 7.3 - Prudent Reserve Amount

In the current Treasurer's Job Description on our website, it states that we maintain a prudent reserve equal to 6 months group expenses; however, it does not signify an amount of the reserve. It has been suggested that we change the language to be explicit about how much the prudent reserve should be. Our current Treasurer recommends that we keep a prudent reserve of $50.00 and that this amount should be reflected in the Revised Treasurer's Job Description.

We will have four days of discussion on this Proposal. Please send your reply to: grow-business@oso-aa.org. I look forward to your comments.

In addition to a change proposed by our Treasurer who, earlier today, added an amount of Prudent Reserve of $50, she has also requested that payment of $12 per month to OSO-AA be added to the Job Description in accordance with a group conscience decision in 2009. That decision had never been recorded in our group conscience decisions on the website. I have added this payment to the Job Description.

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Proposal 8.3 - Webkeeper as 2nd Holder of Treasury Password.

It is proposed that we name the Webkeeper (Webkeeper Backup by default) as backup and password holder instead of the Secretary on our accounts as stated in Proposal 7.3. The Secretary's position is a one-year term while the Webkeeper's is a non-rotating position.

Rationale: As these are in fact trust funds of a sort I would suggest that access to them be kept to a minimum, hence the reasoning behind the backup being non-rotating position holders. That is not to say than an outgoing Secretary would abuse that information, but why take the risk? (We are alcoholics first.) Having said this, it would also need to be included in the Webkeeper's Job Description. (I don't believe that it is at this time.)

If approved, the word 'Secretary' in the Treasurer's Job Description would be replaced with 'Webkeeper/Webkeeper Backup'.

We will now have discussion regarding this Proposal for 4 days. Please send your reply to: grow-business@oso-aa.org.

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Summary for 3rd 4 Days

During the third week, we had 3 amended proposals and 1 new one for discussion. The following is a summary of our discussions:

Amended Proposal 4.3 - Change to Weekly Topic Leader Message. The Proposal has been amended to say that the following is to be added to or changed in the Weekly Topic Leader Message:

My name is [Name] and I am an alcoholic, and I'm also your Weekly Leader List Keeper. I am taking volunteers for the [time period].

Here is the calendar of our upcoming leaders scheduled to chair. A big GROW thank you to all who are committed to growing in service.

Month:
Date, Name
Date, Name
Date, Name
Date, Name

Here is your opportunity to volunteer to lead a weekly meeting, choosing a topic that relates to your individual experience, strength and hope or a topic you would like to hear about, that relates to alcoholism recovery. The requirements necessary to lead a meeting are 90 days of continuous sobriety and a member of GROW for more than 30 days.

If you would like to volunteer, just hit reply and let me know which available date you would be willing to lead. Here are the available dates:
 Month day
Month day
Month day
Month day
Month day

We try to give thoughtful attention to those who would like to lead a meeting around their A. A. anniversary. If the date requested is already filled, you will be offered another available date. Around Wednesday or Thursday of the week before you're set to chair, I'll contact you and pass on the meeting format. If, for some reason you cannot do the meeting on your selected Sunday, please let me know as soon as possible so I can find a replacement leader. I look forward to hearing from each and every one of you. The topic meeting is a great way of saying "hi" and letting us all get to know you better. Thank you for your participation and thank you for letting me be of service.

[name]
Weekly Leader List Keeper

P.S. As our membership is *growing*, we are getting duplicate names. When you respond please include your name and the first initial of your last name.

Rationale: This Proposal is intended to simplify the job of the WLL.

Everyone who responded was in agreement. We have achieved consensus on this item.

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Amended Proposal 6.3 - Posting a 3-Month Schedule of Chair Dates. Most members (including former WLL's) did not accept a 3-month schedule in Proposal 6.2 but were in favour of a 1-month posting of the list. Therefore, this amended proposal is presented as follows:

It is proposed that the WLL send the 1-month schedule of meeting chair dates and corresponding Weekly Leaders to the group on a monthly basis (in addition to posting regular weekly reminders of the meeting topics).

If approved, the above amended sentence will be included in the Weekly Leader's Job Description.

Everyone who responded was in agreement. We have achieved consensus on this item.

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Amended Proposal 7.3 - Revised Treasurer's Job Description. It is proposed that the Treasurer's Job Description be revised.

Our new Treasurer did not have sufficient information regarding payments/donations and was given time to obtain this information. Once the new Job Description has been finalized, it will be presented to the group for discussion and, hopefully, approval.

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Proposal 8.3 - Webkeeper as 2nd Holder of Treasury. Password. It is proposed that we name the Webkeeper (Webkeeper Backup by default) as backup and password holder instead of the Secretary on our accounts as stated in Proposal 7.3. The Secretary's position is a one-year term while the Webkeeper's is a non-rotating position.

Rationale: As these are in fact trust funds of a sort I would suggest that access to them be kept to a minimum, hence the reasoning behind the backup being non-rotating position holders. That is not to say than an outgoing Secretary would abuse that information, but why take the risk? (We are alcoholics first.) Having said this, it would also need to be included in the Webkeeper's Job Description. (I don't believe that it is at this time.)

If approved, the word 'Secretary' in the Treasurer's Job Description would be replaced with 'Webkeeper / Webkeeper Backup'.

This proposal dealt with the position that would be the co-holder of the Treasury password. There was a deluge of responses which seemed to create plenty of confusion for some. Perhaps this was because we did not have an updated job description for the Treasurer at the time and the proposal hinted at three people having the password instead of two.

It appeared that we were nearing consensus so the Chair contacted those who were opposed (3 members) to see if they would be willing to support the group's opinion even though they didn't agree with it. Two members responded with their willingness to support the group and one didn't respond.

The Chair called for Head Nods/Head Shakes: 16 members responded - 14 agreed, 1 disagreed, and 1 abstained.

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Comments/observations made were as follows:

As the group needed to get more information to the Treasurer re split payments and donations, we require a revision to the Proposal before we can hold discussions. By way of this post, the Chair asks the Treasurer to send us her updated Job Description for approval.

Thanks so much for your participation in this past week's discussions. Stay tuned, we have one more proposal to review.

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Proposals for 3rd 4 Days

Below is Proposal 7.4 - Revised Treasurer Job Description for your review and approval.

Treasurer

We will have four (4) days of discussion on this Proposal. Please send your reply to: grow-business@oso-aa.org. I look forward to your comments.

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Summary of 4th 4 Days

The following is a summary of the discussions on the last two Proposals during the 4th week and final week of the Business Meeting:

Proposal 7.4 - Revised Treasurer Job Description

Treasurer

Rationale:

  1. We no longer maintain the same PayPal account, that practice has not been place for awhile apparently so I'm changing the wording to reflect creating an account and then sharing the password. I'm not sure why we would share that password with the webkeeper also. Basically, I'm suggesting that we share account information with the Secretary only as back-up - I think that's sufficient for a back-up.
  2. I believe the requirements of having a bank account in more than one name, mandating that it be a non-business account, etc. is unnecessary. If we want to stipulate that it must be separate, then I'd say that and eliminate the "non-business" wording.
  3. Providing online access is actually better than a signature card - there is access to everything then - including seeing copies of the deposits, etc.
  4. I added the statement about how frequently to distribute to OIAA and GSO because I was confused about it when I took on the role.

We had lots of discussions on this Proposal during the three weeks as we worked on putting together an updated Job Description for our new Treasurer. Items discussed included: Payments to OSO-AA who handles our web account; 6-month Prudent Reserve for expenses, and who should be the second holder of the Treasury password. When it was discovered that the Secretary should be the second holder of the PayPal password (Group Conscience January 2007) instead of the Webkeepers, the group agreed with this version of the Treasurer's Job Description. This led to the final Proposal to insert this GC decision in the Secretary's Job Description.

Once this was posted to the Business Group, members suggested that the word, 'Quarterly' in the line, "Submit quarterly reports (prior to each business meeting)", be changed to: Semi-Annual, Periodic or simply Submit Reports. All but two members agreed with 'Semi-Annual' to coincide with the time period referred to in (prior to each business meeting). For the newer members, I would like to add that we used to have business meetings every 3 months but now have only 2 per year - every 6 months (semi-annually). By copy of this post, the Chair requests that the Webkeepers make the change from Quarterly to Semi-Annual.

We have achieved consensus on this item and it is now a part of our Group Conscience decisions.

Proposal 9.4 - G.C. Approved Secretary Job Description. On January 26, 2007, Group Conscience approved the following addition to the Secretary's Job Description as it relates to the Treasurer:

"Receive copies of email messages sent to Treasury PayPal email account; have access to the GROW PayPal account at https://www.paypal.com ..."

This Proposal is presented only for your approval to add this line to the Secretary's Job Description that was decided 7 years ago but wasn't inserted in the Job Description at that time. This is not the time to propose any changes in the job description - that's for another Business Meeting at another time. Below is the current job description with the addition showing in bold font:

Secretary

Once this was posted to the Business Group, our Treasurer advised that the email address (tradition7@g-r-o-w.com) was not valid because it is changed with each new Treasurer. The old email address was then replaced with the words, "Treasury PayPal email account and the Proposal was sent back to the group for approval. The Group approved this change.

We have achieved consensus on this item and it is now a part of our Group Conscience decisions.

Thanks so much to all of you who worked so hard to help iron out the details of these two Proposals.

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Summary of April 2014 Business Meeting

Greetings, and welcome to the April 2014 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.

Our meeting opened as planned on April 1, 2014 with 26 members in attendance and two others joined later. Semi-annual Reports were received from our Listkeeper, Secretary, Treasurer and Temporary Mentor - see below.

Listkeepers Report

Our membership as of March 24, 2014, is 198 (this number is always a little larger than our actual count, because some members have two subscriptions - one for regular posts and one for digests). In November 2013, as per an earlier group conscience decision, the listkeepers conducted the 2nd annual roll-call (please see the archived minutes at http://www.g-r-o-w.com/members/biz/arch/2013.htm for details about this).

At the start of the roll-call, the list had about 260 members. The roll-call was conducted over a 3-week period, during which the listkeepers asked members to respond off-list to the listkeepers as "present." At the end of the three-week period, those who had not responded to the roll call were unsubscribed from the list. As reported to the steering committee, we ended with 154 members. Only two people wrote back - several months later - wondering what had happened.

Respectfully submitted,
Laura B. & Jean L. - the GROW co-listkeepers

Secretary Report

During the past 6 months, we had one Trusted Servant who needed to resign. Kate was the OIAA Representative and she was replaced by Michaele Q. for the remainder of the term.

All of our outgoing service positions were filled prior to the beginning of the Business Meeting. Thanks to each of you for your participation.

Regards,
Joan B., GROW Secretary

Treasurer's Report

All, my apologies for being late with the report. I believe this is the first report I've submitted for the Business Meeting so I'm including everything from the beginning to now:

Previous Treasurer's Transfer $100.00
PayPal Donations: $316.73
Check Deposits: $637.00
OIAA Contributions: ($182.02)
GSO Contributions: ($728.09)
Website Payment ($45.00)
Balance: $100.00

Temporary Mentor Report

In preparation for the business meeting , as temporary mentor, I have sent out 170 welcome letters and 100 f/up letters since 4/1/13. Replies to my letters center around how to get an online sponsor and how to post to the group. We addressed the sponsor issue by including this in the welcome letter.

Regards,
Sue W., Temporary Mentor

We would like to thank our Secretary and new volunteers for filling all Service Positions prior to the start of our meeting.

Our sincere thanks also to all of our outgoing and incumbent volunteers for so freely giving of their time and efforts to keep our wonderful group of ladies GROWing! Also, special thanks to our Listkeepers, for getting us all subbed to the meeting in a time fashion - well done, Ladies!

The new Trusted Servants and Steering Committee lists were posted on our website - thanks to our Webkeepers. Unfortunately, our GSR and Temporary Mentor volunteers had to resign their positions due to unforeseen family/personal concerns. Our Secretary put out calls to the GROW Group for replacements and our Rotating Backup agreed to handle the Temporary Mentor position until it was filled. Thank you, Susan G. as our new GSR and Sherrie W as our new Temporary Mentor to step in and fill these positions. The Temporary Mentor's position has since been filled and we thank all of these members who were willing to serve in these positions.

The following Proposals were discussed at this meeting:

Proposal 1.1(a) - Greeter Letter #2 - Using "Reply" on Phones/Tablets.

It is proposed that the following sentence be inserted after the third paragraph: "Members who use phones and tablets to send to the list, check to be sure that you are using "Reply" rather than "Reply to All' when replying to an individual share." An amended Proposal was discussed during the second week of the meeting and approved.

Proposal 1.1(b) - Greeter Letter #2 - Digests.

It is proposed that the following second sentence in the fifth paragraph be deleted: "Digests may need to be downloaded and read in a word processor, depending upon your email program." We achieved consensus on this item and it is now a part of Group Conscience decisions.

Proposal 1.2(a) - Using "Reply" on Phones/Tablets and Individual Mail - Amendment

We have an Amendment to Proposal 1.1(a). It is proposed that the following sentence be inserted in Greeter Letter #2 after the third paragraph:

"Please do not use the "Reply to All" option when you respond privately to another member's post to GROW, as your personal message will also be directed to the GROW list and it will bounce to the listkeepers.

For those using phones and tablets, be aware that the default reply option is often "Reply to All," and double-check that you are not using "Reply to All".'

We have achieved consensus on this item and it is now a part of our Group Conscience decisions.

Proposal 2.1 - Weekly Topic Leader Message - Replacement of Topic Leader

It is proposed that the following statement be removed from the Weekly Topic Leader Message after the paragraph that ends with ". . . replacement leader:" "If you are willing to fill in for someone on a last-minute basis, please let me know. I'd like to have a list of people, if a weekly leader cannot be available for the time slot they have volunteered for, that I can ask to jump in if necessary." We achieved consensus on this item and it is now a part of our Group Conscience decisions.

Proposal 3.1 - Requirements to Lead a Meeting

It is proposed that the following be added to our Weekly Topic Leader message: "The requirements to lead a meeting are 90 days of continuous sobriety and a member of GROW for more than 30 days." This will be inserted in the Weekly Topic Leader message at the end of the paragraph, "Here is your opportunity . . . that relates to alcoholism recovery." We have achieved consensus on this item and it is now a part of our Group Conscience decisions.

Amended Proposal 4.3 - Change to Weekly Topic Leader Message

We did not achieve consensus on Proposal - 4.2 so the Proposal has been amended to say that the following is to be added to or changed in the Weekly Topic Leader Message:

My name is [Name] and I am an alcoholic, and I'm also your Weekly Leader List Keeper. I am taking volunteers for the [time period]. Here is the calendar of our upcoming leaders scheduled to chair. A big GROW thank you to all who are committed to growing in service.

Month:
Date, Name
Date, Name
Date, Name
Date, Name
Date, Name

Here is your opportunity to volunteer to lead a weekly meeting, choosing a topic that relates to your individual experience, strength and hope or a topic you would like to hear about, that relates to alcoholism recovery. The requirements necessary to lead a meeting are 90 days of continuous sobriety and a member of GROW for more than 30 days.

If you would like to volunteer, just hit reply and let me know which available date you would be willing to lead. Here are the available dates:

Month day
Month day
Month day
Month day
Month day

We try to give thoughtful attention to those who would like to lead a meeting around their A. A. anniversary. If the date requested is already filled, you will be offered another available date. Around Wednesday or Thursday of the week before you're set to chair, I'll contact you and pass on the meeting format. If, for some reason you cannot do the meeting on your selected Sunday, please let me know as soon as possible so I can find a replacement leader.

I look forward to hearing from each and every one of you. The topic meeting is a great way of saying "hi" and letting us all get to know you better. Thank you for your participation and thank you for letting me be of service,

[name]
Weekly Leader List Keeper

P.S. As our membership is *growing*, we are getting duplicate names. When you respond please include your name and the first initial of your last name.

We have achieved consensus on this item and it is now a part of our Group Conscience decisions.

Proposal 5.2. Group Inventory

Our last inventory was taken in 2010. Assuming that we still wish to have group inventories conducted on a regular basis and that they should be done every two years, the following is proposed:

Conduct a Group Inventory every two years (in even-numbered years) between the Business Meetings of April and October by sending out the 12 Questions on our website. 3 questions will be sent to the group each week over a 4-week period. Each week's responses will be summarized, posted back to the group, and the results discussed and reviewed by members at the next Business Meeting to determine if action needs to be taken. These will be posted in addition to the Weekly Topics.

We have achieved consensus on this item and it is now a part of our Group Conscience decisions.

Proposal 6.2 - Post a 3-Month Schedule of Chair Dates & Weekly Leaders

(Amended to 6.3) During the October 2012 Business Meeting, it was proposed that the Weekly Leader Listkeeper (WLL) send to the group, on a monthly basis, the three-month schedule of meeting chair dates and corresponding chair women. This Proposal had been overlooked/forgotten and was not presented to the group until this meeting. The Proposal read as follows: "It is proposed that the WLL send the 3-month schedule of meeting chair dates and corresponding Weekly Leaders to the group on a monthly basis (in addition to posting regular weekly reminders of the meeting topics)."

Most members (including former WLL's) did not accept a 3-month schedule but were in favour of a 1-month posting of the list. Therefore, this amended proposal is presented as follows: "It is proposed that the WLL send the 1-month schedule of meeting chair dates and corresponding Weekly Leaders to the group on a monthly basis (in addition to posting regular weekly reminders of the meeting topics)."

We have achieved consensus on this item and it is now a part of our Group Conscience decisions.

Proposal 8.3 - Webkeeper as 2nd Holder of Treasury Password

It is proposed that we name the Webkeeper (Webkeeper Backup by default) as backup and password holder instead of the Secretary on our accounts as stated in Proposal 7.3. The Secretary's position is a one-year term while the Webkeeper's is a non-rotating position. If approved, the word 'Secretary' in the Treasurer's Job Description would be replaced with 'Webkeeper/Webkeeper Backup'. Therefore, we did not achieve consensus on this item. Because we were at the 17th day of the business meeting, this item was tabled for discussion during our next meeting in October 2014.

Proposal 7.4 - Revised Treasurer's Job Description which was carried over from the previous three weeks.

Treasurer

We had lots of discussions on this Proposal during the three weeks as we worked on putting together an updated Job Description for our new Treasurer. Items discussed included: Payments to OSO-AA who handles our web account; six-month Prudent Reserve for expenses, and who should be the second holder of the Treasury password. When it was discovered that the Secretary should be the second holder of the PayPal password (Group Conscience January 2007) instead of the Webkeepers, the group agreed with this version of the Treasurer's Job Description. This led to the last Proposal to insert this GC decision in the Secretary's Job Description.

Once this was posted to the Business Group, members suggested that the word, 'Quarterly' in the line, "Submit quarterly reports (prior to each business meeting)", be changed to: Semi-Annual, Periodic or simply Submit Reports. All but two members agreed with 'Semi-Annual' to coincide with the time period referred to in (prior to each business meeting). For the newer members, I would like to add that we used to have business meetings every 3 months but now have only 2 per year - every 6 months (semi-annually). By copy of this post, the Chair requests that the Webkeepers make the change from Quarterly to Semi-Annual.

We have achieved consensus on this item and it is now a part of our Group Conscience decisions.

Proposal 9.4 - G.C. Approved Secretary Job Description

On January 26, 2007, Group Conscience approved the following addition to the Secretary's Job Description as it relates to the Treasurer: "Receive copies of email messages sent to Treasury PayPal email account; have access to the GROW PayPal account at: https://www.paypal.com." This Proposal is presented only for your approval to add this line to the Secretary's Job Description that was decided seven years ago but wasn't inserted in the Job Description at that time. This is not the time to propose any changes in the job description - that's for another Business Meeting at another time. Below is the current job description with the addition showing in bold font:

Secretary

We have achieved consensus on this item and it is now a part of our Group Conscience decisions.

Please join with me in thanking Laura B. and Danna M. for their willingness to collaborate on a project of comparing our Group Conscience Decisions with the Meeting Minutes noted on the website. As you are aware, we had several instances during this meeting where GC decisions had already been made but had not been entered into our literature. This led to a lot of confusion and unnecessary dialogue. Laura and Danna will submit a synopsis of their research at our October 2014 Business Meeting.

The Chair would also like to thank our Webkeepers, Danna and Tanya, in advance for their thoroughness and hard work in ensuring that all of our decisions made during this meeting (and we made a lot, did we not?) are now, or will soon be, recorded on the website.

And, of course, the Chair thanks all of the participants at this meeting. Without you, we would not have been able to update our job descriptions and form letters, or get volunteers for the positions that are so crucial in maintaining our commitment to serve GROW.

Our next Business Meeting will be held in October 2014. It would be wonderful to see more of our members at the meeting.

One more thing: I will be rotating off as your Business Chair in October 2014. If anyone is interested in applying for the position, you are encouraged to familiarize yourself with the Job Description, the Business Meeting Guidelines, and Group Conscience Decisions on our website.

Respectfully submitted,
Laura G., GROW Business Chair

Business Items - April 2014
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Business Meeting - October 2014

Business Meeting Guidelines (link opens new page)
Incoming & Outgoing Trusted Servants
Semi-Annual Reports:
- Listkeeper
- OIAA
- GSR
- Treasurer
Business Items
Proposals for First Four Days
Summary of First Four Days
Proposals for Second Four Days
Summary of Second Four Days
Proposed Changes to the Business Meeting Guidelines to Reflect Approval of 2/3 Majority Vote
Summary of Third Four Days

 

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Semi-Annual Reports

Secretary's Report - October 2014
Our Trusted Servants

We are happy to take this opportunity to thank our Outgoing Trusted Servants. Thanks to each of you for your invaluable service to GROW! There have been times when you have gone above-and-beyond for our group, and it is very much appreciated!! Please convey your thanks (privately, please) to these outgoing Trusted Servants:

And ~ drum roll, please!

Below is a list of our Incoming Trusted Servants! Three out of seven of our Outgoing Servants are now Incoming Servants, and we thank each of them for volunteering their time and effort to serve us again. Please convey your thanks (privately) to our Incoming Trusted Servants:

Submitted by Joan B., Secretary

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Listkeepers' Report - October 2014

Our membership, as of September 30, 2014, is 235, 26 Digest Subscribers & 209 Regular Subscribers.

We had a problem with a lot of members addresses bouncing (being returned) in April. We consulted with Dean at our provider and he suggested that members with Hotmail, MSN, Outlook, Comcast, and Yahoo change to another email service. Several members took this advice & we have not had bouncing issues lately.

We also had an issue with some members email being unreadable or having different characters being inserted, we are still working with Dean for a solution to this issue.

There was a problem with privacy issues with our Business Meeting archives which has been fixed.

Submitted by Jean L. and Nancy C., GROW Co-Listkeepers

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OIAA Report - October 2014

The OIAA website is supposed to be getting better with a new service provider. It is taking some time but following is a summary of committee reports to date:

The Web Committee reported 33,454 visits In June and the list keeper reported that there are 58 AA groups, officers, and chairs subscribed to OIAA and allowed to vote, with a total membership of 168.

The Treasury balance in June was $235.79. Two contributions in July brought it to $310.79. Bills are paid and the prudent reserve is $200.00. The webhosting fee was $250.00 and is good for 3 years.

12-Steppers Committee
July Urgent Calls: 518
Total replies to calls: 1497

Urgent Callers by Source:
Intergroup - 398
AA-Online - 77
Unknown - 14
AA South Africa - 5
Google US - 6
Google Canada 1
Google UK - 1
York PA AA - 2
Bing - 3
Yahoo - 3
e-AA - 1
Vancouver AA - 1
aoig.oso-aa.org - 3
alano club of Rockford - 1
w-saa.org - 1
buyerpricer.com - 1

Submitted by Sue W., OIAA Representative

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GSR Report - - October 2014

The 64th General Service Conference of Alcoholics Anonymous was held in New York in April of this year (2014) and consisted of 93 delegates from the United States and Canada (that constitutes two-thirds of the body), along with members of the General Service Board of Trustees, the AA world Services and Grapevine Board Directors, and General Service Office and Grapevine staff members. The purpose of the Conference was to deliberate on matters affecting the Fellowship as a whole. As The AA Service Manual explains it: "While no one can speak for AA officially, the Conference comes close to being A.A.'s voice. It cannot be an AA authority, but it can bring into free discussion problems and trends and dangers that seem to affect Fellowship harmony, purpose and effectiveness." The theme of the Conference was "Communicating Our Legacies -- Vital in a Changing World."

The days were filled with AA meetings, presentations, brief area highlights, financial and board reports, trustee elections and workshops for all the Conference members focused on taking the inventory of the General Service Conference itself -- a process begun in 2013 which will continue through 2015. There were also reports on La Vigne (the French-language AA magazine), AA Grapevine (celebrating its 70th Anniversary), AA Archives and an update on plans for the 2015 International Convention in Atlanta. There was also a celebration of the Big Book on the 75th anniversary of its publication.

The essential work of the conference was done through 13 delegate committees, which discuss agenda topics and prepare reports that are presented to the Conference as a whole, with any specific recommendations the committee(s) may have. Any recommendation then receiving two-thirds of the full Conference vote becomes an Advisory Action. Open debate is a hallmark of the Conference process, while focusing on A.A.'s primary purpose, to achieve substantial unanimity of the topics.

A small sampling of Advisory Actions from the 2014 Conference is as follows. It was recommended that:

  1. The theme for the 2015 General Service Conference be: "Celebrating 80 Years of Recovery, Unity and Service -- the Foundation for Our Future."
  2. A new video be developed to replace "It Sure Beats Sitting in a Cell" at a cost not to exceed $70,000.
  3. The pamphlet on spirituality with the title "Many Paths to Spirituality" be approved.
  4. The 2014 AA Membership Survey be conducted by area on a random basis as was done in the 2011 AA Membership Survey.
  5. The following text be added to the Glossary of General Service Terms in The AA Service Manual: "Advisory Action: Represents the informed group conscience of the Fellowship, as the result of a recommendation made by a Conference committee or a floor action, which has been approved by the conference body as a whole." "Additional Committee Consideration An item that was discussed by a Conference committee, but with no action taken or made by the Conference as a whole."

Submitted by Susan G., GROW General Service Representative

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Treasurer's Report - October 2014

Summary of Transactions
GSO
-1661.58
OIAA
-415.39
Esosoft Corp. (GROW Website)
-45.00
oso-aa.org (AA server)
-72.00
Total Expenses
$-2,193.97
eCheck Desposits
1,037.00
PayPal Donations
1,185.87
Deposit
50.01
Cash Donation
50.00
Interest Paid
0.59
Total Contributions
$ 2,323.47
Current Balance
$ 129.50

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Treasurer's Report - October 15, 2013 - September 14, 2014

Date
Description
Debit
Credit
Balance
10/15/13 eCheck Deposit
20.00
20.00
10/27/13 PayPal Donation
30.00
50.00
10/27/13 PayPal Donation
25.00
75.00
10/28/13 PayPal Donation
5.00
80.00
10/28/13 PayPal Donation (from previous Treasurer)
100.00
180.00
11/10/13 Interest Paid
0.01
180.01
11/11/13 PayPal Donation
8.65
188.66
11/11/13 PayPal Donation
29.61
218.27
11/11/13 PayPal Donation
25.00
243.27
11/12/13 PayPal Payment to Esosoft Corporation (Website Fees)
45.00
198.27
11/12/13 eCheck Deposit
30.00
228.27
11/12/13 eCheck Deposit
30.00
258.27
11/12/13 eCheck Deposit
40.00
298.27
11/13/13 PayPal Donation
5.00
303.27
12/2/13 PayPal Donation
10.00
313.27
12/8/13 PayPal Donation
8.50
321.77
12/10/13 Interest Paid
0.08
321.85
12/12/13 PayPal Donation
30.00
351.85
12/23/13 PayPal Donation
5.00
356.85
12/25/13 PayPal Donation
20.00
376.85
1/6/14 PayPal Donation
8.51
385.36
1/6/14 eCheck Deposit
30.00
415.36
1/6/14 eCheck Deposit
10.00
425.36
1/6/14 Check #1001 to GSO (80% of Balance [$425.36] - prudent reserve of $100)
260.29
165.07
1/6/14 Check #1002 to OIAA (20% of Balance [$425.36] - prudent reserve of $100)
65.07
100.00
1/10/14 Interest Paid
0.10
100.10
1/13/14 PayPal Donation
5.00
105.10
1/13/14 PayPal Donation
16.95
122.05
1/13/14 PayPal Donation
5.00
127.05
1/31/14 PayPal Donation
20.00
147.05
1/31/14 PayPal Donation
10.00
157.05
2/1/14 eCheck Deposit
52.00
209.05
2/1/14 eCheck Deposit
25.00
234.05
2/1/14 eCheck Deposit
30.00
264.05
2/1/14 eCheck Deposit
100.00
364.05
2/1/14 eCheck Deposit
30.00
394.05
2/10/14 Interest Paid
0.10
394.15
2/21/14 PayPal Donation
5.00
399.15
2/22/14 PayPal Donation
10.00
409.15
2/24/14 PayPal Donation
16.66
425.81
2/28/14 PayPal Donation
8.75
434.56
3/10/14 Interest Paid
0.07
434.63
3/16/14 eCheck Deposit
10.00
444.63
3/16/14 eCheck Deposit
50.00
494.63
3/16/14 eCheck Deposit
100.00
594.63
3/16/14 eCheck Deposit
30.00
624.63
3/21/14 Deposit
50.00
674.63
3/25/14 PayPal Donation
10.00
684.63
4/10/14 Interest Paid
0.12
684.75
4/12/14 Check # 1003 to GSO (80% of Balance [684.75] - prudent reserve of $100)
216.95
4/12/14 Check # 1004 to OIAA (20% of Balance [684.75] - prudent reserve of $100)
100.00
4/13/14 PayPal Donation
5.00
105.00
4/13/14 PayPal Donation
9.31
114.31
4/21/14 PayPal Donation
15.00
129.31
4/21/14 PayPal Donation
50.00
179.31
4/22/14 PayPal Donation
4.55
183.86
4/22/14 PayPal Donation
23.97
207.83
4/27/14 PayPal Donation
60.00
267.83
5/5/14 PayPal Donation
10.00
277.83
5/5/14 PayPal Donation
9.31
287.14
5/11/14 PayPal Donation
50.00
337.14
5/12/14 PayPal Donation
28.83
365.97
5/21/14 PayPal Donation
100.00
465.97
5/26/14 PayPal Donation
5.00
470.97
5/27/14 PayPal Donation
20.00
490.97
5/27/14 PayPal Donation
25.00
515.97
6/2/14 PayPal Donation
10.00
525.97
6/2/14 PayPal Donation
9.31
535.28
6/8/14 eCheck Deposit
10.00
545.28
6/8/14 eCheck Deposit
50.00
595.28
6/8/14 eCheck Deposit
100.00
695.28
6/8/14 Payment to R. Dean Collins / Insight Planners (April / May)
671.28
6/8/14 Payment to R. Dean Collins / Insight Planners (June)
659.28
6/9/14 PayPal Donation
5.00
664.28
6/9/14 PayPal Donation
30.00
694.28
6/10/14 Interest Paid
0.03
694.31
6/30/14 PayPal Donation
9.31
703.62
7/10/14 Interest Paid
0.04
703.66
7/12/14 PayPal Donation
5.00
708.66
7/14/14 PayPal Donation
4.55
713.21
7/14/14 PayPal Donation
45.00
758.21
7/26/14 PayPal Donation
15.00
773.21
8/10/14 Interest Paid
0.04
773.25
8/12/14 PayPal Donation
5.00
778.25
8/13/14 PayPal Donation
14.11
792.36
8/18/14 PayPal Donation
100.00
892.36
8/18/14 PayPal Donation
100.00
992.36
9/14/14 eCheck Deposit
10.00
1,002.36
9/14/14 eCheck Deposit
60.00
1,062.36
9/14/14 eCheck Deposit
50.00
1,112.36
9/14/14 eCheck Deposit
60.00
1,172.36
9/14/14 eCheck Deposit
50.00
1,222.36
9/14/14 eCheck Deposit
60.00
1,282.36
9/14/14 Payment to R. Dean Collins / Insight Planners (July/August/September)
1,246.36
9/14/14 Check # 1005 to GSO (80% of Balance [1,246.36] - prudent reserve of $79.50)
312.87
9/14/14 Check # 1006 to OIAA (20% of Balance [1,246.36] - prudent reserve of $79.50)
79.50
9/14/14 Cash Donation
50.00
129.50

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Business Items

Below are the 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 (if time permits).

Proposal 8.3 (carry-over from April 2014 Meeting): Webkeeper as 2nd Holder of Treasury Password. It is proposed that we name the Webkeeper (Webkeeper Backup by default) as backup and password holder instead of the Secretary on our accounts as stated in Proposal 7.3. The Secretary's position is a one-year term while the Webkeeper's is a non-rotating position.

Review of Group Inventory Results

Proposal 1.1: I propose that the GROW list serve use HTML for our group emails, and that all pertinent references on our web site be changed to reflect this, if it goes through.

Proposal 2.1: To extend Group Conscience "No Revisit" policy from six months to one year.

Proposal 3.1: Under the first item in the GROW Business Meeting Guidelines for meeting Proposals, add a sentence to the last paragraph that asks members preparing proposals to review similar group conscience decisions that have been made in the past.

Proposal 3.2(a): Under the first item in the GROW Business Meeting Guidelines for meeting Proposals, replace bullet a. to eliminate the requirement to anticipate the outcome, which has been confusing.

Proposal 3.2(b): Under the first item in the GROW Business Meeting Guidelines for meeting Proposals, replace bullet b. to eliminate the description of how the proposal will be implemented and to ask the proposer to explain why action needs to be taken. This reflects how proposals have actually been presented.

Proposal 3.2(c): Under the first item in the GROW Business Meeting Guidelines for meeting Proposals, add a sentence to bullet c. acknowledging that business meeting discussions may necessitate changes in the proposed language and allows those changes to be made by the Trusted Servant who will implement the decision.

Proposal 4.2: To change our voting procedures from 'Consensus' to 'Two-thirds Majority' Rule.

Proposal 5.3: Discontinue supporting OIAA. Proposed that contributions to OIAA be terminated and that all previous un-cashed checks be voided. GROW recognizes that OIAA has served a purpose in helping alcoholics in the past but the disorganization has led to the role of the organization being diminished. If at some time in the future OIAA resumes activity on a regular basis, future participation by GROW can be re-evaluated.

Proposal 6.3: Revised GROW Business Meeting Guidelines. Group conscience decision to change from "consensus" to two-thirds majority vote for approving proposals necessitates changes in the Business Meeting Guidelines.

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Proposals for First Four Days

Proposal 1.1: I propose that the GROW list serve use HTML for our group emails, and that all pertinent references on our web site be changed to reflect this, if it goes through.

Locations: The only places I can find plain text referred to is in:
Greeter Letter #2, where I propose it simply be dropped,
Mailman Letter -- Regular List, we may wish to simply remove the references to HTML, where "HTML and attachments are stripped" is stated
Email Etiquette page, we would remove the very last line that refers to using plain text, not html.

Rationale: I doubt anyone uses plain text any more. Formatting has been a problem for the listkeepers recently. I suspect that plain text is part of the problem. Phones and tablets are very difficult to set to plain text.

We will have 4 days of discussion on this item. Please send your reply to: grow-business@oso-aa.org. (go to results for this proposal)

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Proposal 2.1: To extend Group Conscience "no revisit" policy from six months to one year.

August 1998 Group Conscience language: All Group Conscience Decisions have a six-month "no revisit".

Explanation/Rationale: In 1998, when decisions were made about how to conduct our Business Meetings, the meetings were scheduled quarterly. At that time, we decided that we did not want to consider/discuss the same issue two meetings in a row. A 6-month waiting period until a proposal could be raised again meant that the same proposal would not come up in two consecutive Business Meetings.

In April 2008, we changed the meeting frequency to two times per year and it was possible to have the same proposal come up two meetings in a row. Changing the period for "no revisit" to one year would allow us to avoid having to decide/discuss the same issue two meetings in a row. It would also ensure that we have had enough time to know if the prior group conscience did not resolve the issue satisfactorily.

Proposed language change: All Group Conscience Decisions have a one-year "no revisit" period.

The following statement will be placed on the Business Meeting Chair's Job Description:
Review all incoming proposals to ensure that they have not been finalized / approved within 1 year. If the proposal was finalized / approved during the last Business Meeting, inform the member of the 1-year Group Conscience revisit decision and table the item to the next Business Meeting.

We will now have discussion regarding this Proposal for 4 days. Please send your reply to: grow-business@oso-aa.org. (go to results for this proposal)

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Proposal 3.1: Under the first item in the GROW Business Meeting Guidelines for meeting Proposals, add a sentence to the last paragraph that asks members preparing proposals to review similar group conscience decisions that have been made in the past.

Old language: 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.

New sentence added to the end of the final paragraph: They should also review past group conscience decisions related to the proposal (see www.g-r-o-w.com/members/groupc/gctopics/gc_index.htm).

Rationale: Some topics have come up in business meetings many times over the years. When a new proposal is raised that deals with one of these topics, it should consider past discussions. The new sentence asks people to review earlier group conscience decisions so that their proposal reflects concerns and suggestions that have been discussed earlier. To facilitate the review, a link is provided to the index of group conscience decisions by topic.

We will now have discussion regarding this Proposal for 4 days. Please send your reply to: grow-business@oso-aa.org. (go to results for this proposal)

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Proposal 8.3 - Webkeeper as 2nd Holder of Treasury Password

Ladies. This Proposal is a carry-over from our April 2014 Business Meeting and will be the first item that will be discussed.

It is proposed that we name the Webkeeper (Webkeeper Backup by default) as backup and password holder instead of the Secretary on our accounts as stated in Proposal 7.3. The Secretary's position is a one-year term while the Webkeeper's is a non-rotating position.

Rationale: As these are in fact trust funds of a sort I would suggest that access to them be kept to a minimum, hence the reasoning behind the backup being non-rotating position holders. That is not to say than an outgoing Secretary would abuse that information, but why take the risk? (We are alcoholics first.) Having said this, it would also need to be included in the Webkeeper's Job Description. (I don't believe that it is at this time.)

If approved, the word 'Secretary' in the Treasurer's Job Description would be replaced with 'Webkeeper/Webkeeper Backup'.

We will now have discussion regarding this Proposal for 4 days. Please send your reply to: grow-business@oso-aa.org. (go to results for this proposal)

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Review of Group Inventory Results

Ladies, below you will find the results of our Group Inventory that was taken in June 2014. Please take time during the next few days to review these results to determine if you feel that action needs to be taken on any of the responses. (go to results for this proposal)

Question 1. What is the basic purpose of the group?

Question 2. What more can the group do to carry the message?

Question 3. Do new members stick with us, or does the turnover seem excessive?

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Question 4. Do we emphasize the importance of sponsorship? How effectively? How can we do better?

Question 5. Are we careful to preserve the anonymity of our group members and other A.A.'s outside the meeting rooms? Do we leave the confidences they share at meetings behind?

Question 6. Do we take the time to explain to all members the value to the group of following our guidelines of e-mail etiquette? As a member, am I familiar with and do I follow these guidelines?

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Question 7. Are all members given the opportunity to speak at meetings and to participate in other group activities?

Question 8. Are we mindful that holding office is a great responsibility not to be viewed as the outcome of a popularity contest, are we choosing our officers with care?

Question 9. Does the group do its fair share toward participating in the purpose of A.A. - as it relates to our "Three Legacies" of Recovery, Unity and Service?

Question 10: As a group, do we remain informed about AA as a whole? Do we support, in every way we can AA as a whole or just the parts we understand and approve of?

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Question 11: Are we considerate of all our members?

Question 12: As a group, have we done a thorough and fearless inventory, or have we missed an important element?

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Summary of First 4 Days

The following is a summary of discussions and resolutions during the first week of our Business Meeting:

Proposal 8.3 - Webkeeper as 2nd Holder of Treasury Password. This Proposal is a carry-over from our April 2014 Business Meeting and will be the first item that will be discussed.

Proposal: It is proposed that we name the Webkeeper (Webkeeper Backup by default) as backup and password holder instead of the Secretary on our accounts as stated in Proposal 7.3. The Secretary's position is a one-year term while the Webkeeper's is a non-rotating position.

If approved, the word 'Secretary' in the Treasurer's Job Description would be replaced with 'Webkeeper/Webkeeper Backup'.

Resolution: Of the 17 members who responded, 16 were in favour and 1 says that she remains in favour of leaving the password with the Secretary. Therefore, we do NOT have consensus on this Proposal. (go to continued discussion of this proposal)

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Proposal 1.1: I propose that the GROW list serve use HTML for our group emails, and that all pertinent references on our web site be changed to reflect this, if it goes through.

Resolution: Of the 16 members who responded, all were in agreement. Therefore, we have achieved consensus on this item and it is now a part of our Group Conscience decisions.

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Proposal 2.1: To extend Group Conscience "no revisit" policy from six months to one year.

Proposed language change: All Group Conscience Decisions have a one-year "no revisit" period.

The following statement will be placed on the Business Meeting Chair's Job Description:

"Review all incoming proposals to ensure that they have not been finalized/approved within 1 year. If the proposal was finalized/approved during the last Business Meeting, inform the member of the 1-year Group Conscience revisit decision and table the item to the next Business Meeting."

Resolution: Of the 17 members who responded, all were in agreement. Therefore, we have achieved consensus on this item and it is now a part of our Group Conscience decisions.

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Proposal 3.1: Under the first item in the GROW Business Meeting Guidelines for meeting Proposals, add a sentence to the last paragraph that asks members preparing proposals to review similar group conscience decisions that have been made in the past.

New sentence added to the end of the final paragraph: They should also review past group conscience decisions related to the proposal (see www.g-r-o-w.com/members/groupc/gctopics/gc_index.htm).

Resolution: Of the 16 members who responded, all were in agreement. However, it was suggested that in the body of the new sentence to be added, we capitalize past GROUP CONSCIENCE DECISIONS or use bold type. This way it looks more like a category heading. Therefore, we have achieved consensus on this item and it is now a part of our Group Conscience decisions.

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Review of Group Inventory Results and possible action to be taken:

It appears that, for the most part, we are saying that the Secretary will keep sending out the Monthly Email Etiquette message, and her gentle reminders to those who respond publicly to someone's share. In addition, 'Etiquette Reminders' should be sent out each week with a different KEY point from our Guidelines.

Resolution: At this point in time, 4 out of 5 members who responded were not in favour of sending out messages on a weekly basis.

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Proposals for Second Four Days

Proposal 8.3 - Webkeeper as 2nd Holder of Treasury Password. It is proposed that we name the Webkeeper (Webkeeper Backup by default) as backup and password holder instead of the Secretary on our accounts as stated in Proposal 7.3. The Secretary's position is a one-year term while the Webkeeper's is a non-rotating position. (go to results for this proposal)

As you are aware, we did not achieve consensus of Proposal 8.3 because we did not have 100% agreement by all members. The Vote was 16 for and 1 against. We now move into the formal voting procedure as detailed in our Guidelines for Business Meetings.

It was moved and that we move into the formal voting procedure on Proposal 8.3 which reads as follows:
It is proposed that we name the Webkeeper (Webkeeper Backup by default) as backup and password holder instead of the Secretary on our accounts as stated in Proposal 7.3. The Secretary's position is a one-year term while the Webkeeper's is a non-rotating position.

We will now have 4 days of discussion on this motion and then the Chair will call for a vote. Four days will be allowed for voting which can be done either publicly on the Business List, or privately by sending votes to the Secretary. The Secretary will count the votes.

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Proposal 3.2(a): Under the first item in the GROW Business meeting guidelines for meeting proposals, replace bullet a. to eliminate the requirement to anticipate the outcome, which has been confusing. (go to results for this proposal)

Old language: A clear brief statement that summarizes the proposal, including the anticipated outcome of adopting it;
New language: A clear brief statement that summarizes the proposal;

Rationale: Outcomes are implied by the proposal. Asking meeting participants to predict the future has not been useful.

We will now have discussion regarding this Proposal for 4 days. Please send your reply to: grow-business@oso-aa.org.

Note: If you have previously commented on any of these Proposals, and you do NOT wish to change or add to your comments, it is not necessary to resubmit your opinion.

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Proposal 3.2(b): Under the first item in the GROW Business meeting guidelines for meeting proposals, replace bullet b. to eliminate the description of how the proposal will be implemented and to ask the proposer to explain why action needs to be taken. This reflects how proposals have actually been presented. (go to results for this proposal)

Old language: A statement of how the proposal would be implemented if adopted;
New language: A rationale that describes why the group conscience decision is needed;

Rationale: The new language allows for an explanation of the reason a decision needs to be made. The old language was confusing and not very useful. In practice, proposals have contained a rationale which has been far more useful than a discussion of how the proposal should be implemented.

We will now have discussion regarding this Proposal for 4 days. Please send your reply to: grow-business@oso-aa.org.

Note: If you have previously commented on any of these Proposals, and you do NOT wish to change or add to your comments, it is not necessary to resubmit your opinion.

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Proposal 3.2(c): Under the first item in the GROW Business meeting guidelines for meeting proposals, add a sentence to bullet c. acknowledging that business meeting discussions may necessitate changes in the proposed language and allows those changes to be made by the Trusted Servant who will implement the decision. (go to results for this proposal)

Old language: 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).
New sentence added to end of bullet c.: This language may need to be modified by the Trusted Servant responsible for the area to reflect the group's discussions.

Rationale:We have spent a lot of time in the business meeting discussing exactly what language should be included in GROW literature. However, we already ask for specific language as part of the proposal. That language may need to be changed based on our discussions. The current proposal allows us to delegate the final language to the Trusted Servant who will implement the approved proposal. It will streamline the business meeting decision-making process by allowing meeting participants to focus on the merits of the proposal and by allowing follow-up work on the language to be done outside the meeting.

We will now have discussion regarding this Proposal for 4 days. Please send your reply to: grow-business@oso-aa.org.

Note: If you have previously commented on any of these Proposals, and you do NOT wish to change or add to your comments, it is not necessary to resubmit your opinion

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Proposal 4.2: To change our voting procedures from 'Consensus' to 'Two-thirds Majority' Rule. (go to results for this proposal)

At our Business Meetings, we use the "consensus" building voting method; i.e. we all agree, we all disagree, or we all agree to disagree. GROW Business Guidelines also mention trying to achieve "Substantial Unanimity". However, 'substantial unanimity' doesn't mean 100% agreement or disagreement. It simply means a two-thirds majority according to the AA Service Manual and consistent with the Twelve Concepts for World Service by Bill W. which states:

"The Conference, through ample discussion, always strives for substantial unanimity, Page S56, The Voting Process. In order to become an Advisory Action, a recommendation must be approved by "substantial unanimity" - defined as a two-thirds majority."

Also, because our group is a contributing member of OIAA (Online Intergroup of AA), their position on voting was sought. It is as follows:

"A unanimous vote can be too high a bar to achieve; a simple majority not high enough. A 2/3 majority seems a good compromise so long as the minority opinion is heard and considered."

Explanation/Rationale: By using the 2/3 majority rule via "I agree" or "I disagree" -

Those who are not satisfied with the outcome of the vote will still have the opportunity to voice their minority opinion, if they wish, and can always raise the issue again at another meeting

Comments: If this is adopted by the Business Group, this new method of voting will begin with our April 2015 Business Meeting. Also, an updated set of Guidelines to reflect this change will be submitted.

We will now have discussion regarding this Proposal for 4 days. Please send your reply to: grow-business@oso-aa.org.

Note: If you have previously commented on any of these Proposals, and you do NOT wish to change or add to your comments, it is not necessary to re-submit your opinion.

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Summary of Second Four Days

The following is a summary of the second week of discussions during our Business Meeting.

This week, the lone "objection / disagreement" of Proposal 8.3 - Webkeeper as 2nd Holder of Treasury Password was withdrawn. This means that we have achieved consensus on this Proposal.

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  1. Proposal 3.2(a): Under the first item in the GROW Business meeting guidelines for meeting proposals, replace bullet a. to eliminate the requirement to anticipate the outcome, which has been confusing.

    Old language: A clear brief statement that summarizes the proposal, including the anticipated outcome of adopting it;
    New language: A clear brief statement that summarizes the proposal;

    Resolution: 17 out of 17 members who responded were all in agreement with this Proposal. Therefore, we have achieved consensus on this item and it is now a part of our Group Conscience decisions.

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  2. Proposal 3.2(b): Under the first item in the GROW Business meeting guidelines for meeting proposals, replace bullet b. to eliminate the description of how the proposal will be implemented and to ask the proposer to explain why action needs to be taken. This reflects how proposals have actually been presented.

    Old language: A statement of how the proposal would be implemented if adopted;
    New language: A rationale that describes why the group conscience decision is needed;

    Resolution: 19 out of 19 members who responded were all in agreement. Therefore, we have achieved consensus on this item and it is now a part of our Group Conscience decisions.

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  3. Proposal 3.2(c): Under the first item in the GROW Business meeting guidelines for meeting proposals, add a sentence to bullet c. acknowledging that business meeting discussions may necessitate changes in the proposed language and allows those changes to be made by the Trusted Servant who will implement the decision.

    Old language: 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).
    New sentence added to end of bullet c.: This language may need to be modified by the Trusted Servant responsible for the area to reflect the group's discussions.

    Resolution: 18 out of 18 members who responded were all in agreement. Therefore, we have achieved consensus on this item and it is now a part of our Group Conscience decisions.

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  4. Proposal 4.2: To change our voting procedures from 'Consensus' to 'Two-thirds Majority' Rule. If this is adopted by the Business Group, this new method of voting will begin with our April 2015 Business Meeting. Also, an updated set of Guidelines to reflect this change will be submitted.

    Resolution: 18 out of 18 members who responded were all in agreement. Therefore, we have achieved consensus on this item and it is now a part of our Group Conscience decisions.

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  5. Group Inventory - one member has stated that she is going along with the view expressed by others that "if it works, don't fix it" so her support for a change has been withdrawn. The Chair suggested that Proposals could be submitted in order for the group to determine if they approved of either of these changes.

    Resolution: Because no Proposals were submitted for discussion and approval, there will be no changes made to our Email Etiquette Guidelines at this time.

The Chair is very pleased to announce that we achieved consensus on all of these Proposals, including those that were submitted last week.

The next piece of Group Business is to modify our current Business Meeting Guidelines to reflect all of the changes that were agreed upon during this Meeting.

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Proposed Changes to the Business Meeting Guidelines
to Refect Approval of 2/3 Majority Vote

  1. [Guidelines for proposals were considered and approved earlier in the meeting.]
  2. The group makes every effort to reach agreement (consensus replace 'consensus' with 'Two-Thirds Majority' anywhere it appears in this document) on the issue by simply talking to each other.
  3. We allow a minimum of four days for discussion, more when warranted. Remove this line: The Chair may call for a head nod to confirm we have reached group consensus.
  4. Add: The voting is done by: I agree or I disagree.
  5. Add: The Business Chair counts the votes. If a 2/3 majority vote is achieved, it passes. If a 2/3 majority vote is not achieved, it fails.
  6. If the group is unable to reach consensus a 2/3 majority by this method, we move into the formal voting procedure:
    1. The Chair calls for a motion from the floor.
      • Motion makers are encouraged to make a motion 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 most closely worded according to the collective views of the group discussion.
    2. The motion must be seconded by another member in order to move the group into the formal decision-making process.
    3. Once the motion is seconded, the Chair announces the motion and opens up a four-day formal discussion period on the motion.
  7. 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.
  8. 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.
  9. 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.
    Add: At the end of the voting period, the Business Chair announces the results of the vote.
  10. 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.

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Summary of Third Four Days

The following items, Proposals 5.3 and 6.3, were discussed and approved during the third week of our Business Meeting and are now a part of our Group Conscience Decisions:

Proposal 5.3 - It is proposed that we discontinue supporting OIAA.

In looking back at the group conscience decisions, it appears that problems have existed since at least 2003. At that point there were suggestions from the group that GROW discontinue contributions to OIAA and send contributions to GSR. Discussions were held but no formal proposal appears to have been made.

I therefore propose that contributions to OIAA be terminated and that all previous un-cashed checks be voided. GROW recognizes that OIAA has served a purpose in helping alcoholics in the past but the disorganization has led to the role of the organization being diminished. If at some time in the future OIAA resumes activity on a regular basis, future participation by GROW can be re-evaluated.

We have received the following comments from our members regarding OIAA to support this issue:

Decision: 19 out of 19 members who responded were all in agreement. Therefore, we have achieved consensus on this item and it is now a part of our Group Conscience decisions.

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Proposal 6.3 - Revised GROW Business Meeting Guidelines

The following are the GROW Guidelines for conducting business:

  1. Proposals to be considered during GROW business meetings should include the following:
    1. A clear brief statement that summarizes the proposal;
    2. A rationale that describes why the group conscience decision is needed, and
    3. 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). This language may need to be modified by the Trusted Servant responsible for the area to reflect the group's discussions.

    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. They should also review past Group Conscience Decisions related to the proposal (see ).

  2. We allow a minimum of 4 days for discussion, more when warranted.

  3. At the end of the 4-day discussion period, the Chair calls for a vote. 4 days are allowed for voting, which can be done either publicly on the list, or privately by sending votes to the Chair. The Chair counts the votes.

  4. The voting is done by: I agree or I disagree.

  5. At the end of the voting period, the Chair announces the results of the vote. The group holds to a 2/3 majority to pass or fail any group conscience decision.

  6. Following the announcement of results, the Chair will ask if the minority wants 4 days to discuss their minority opinion.

    1. If yes, then 4 days of discussion will begin.

      At the end of the 4 days of discussion, the Chair will ask if anyone who originally voted for the Proposal (a majority voter) has been persuaded by this discussion to change her opinion. If yes, the Chair then calls for another 4-day voting period. The outcome of the second vote is the determining vote. As in the first vote, the 2/3 majority vote will be observed.

      If no majority voters have been persuaded to change their opinion, there will not be another vote.

    2. If the minority does not want 4 days to express their opinion, there will be no further discussion and there will not be another vote.

  7. At the end of the voting period, the Business Chair announces the final results of the vote.

  8. Note: If any item on the agenda has not reached a 2/3 majority vote by the 17th day of the business meeting, the item is tabled and held over to the next scheduled business meeting.
Decision: Although we had a low voter turn-out, 12 of the 12 members who responded were all in agreement with this Proposal. Therefore, we have achieved consensus on this item and it is now a part of our Group Conscience decisions.

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