2010 Group Inventory
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Question 1: What is the basic purpose of the group?
- To carry the message to the female alcoholic that desires to stop drinking, and to the sober female member alcoholic that may still be suffering. (Susan G.)
- To carry the message of Alcoholics Anonymous to the still suffering alcoholic, both in and out of our rooms. (Jean L.)
- To share our ESH and help other women to stay sober. To offer other women a safe place to share some of their problems with recovery and get suggestions on how to get through them. (Carol D.)
- Purpose of group is to stay sober. (Colleen)
- Well my purpose is to be of Maxim service to God and self groups to carry the message to other alcoholic who still or may be suffering for me It helps cause I cant all ways get a baby sitter, but can still hear the message, day night any time. (Arlene B.)
Question 2: What more can the group do to carry the message?
- I can't think of anything, especially since our website has recently received a wonderful "face-lift". (Susan G.)
- Our 12th step list could be more active as I see many emails from people who are having problems and nothing goes out to the 12th step list. I know, because I am on it. (Jean L.)
- I personally feel the group does a very good job although I would love for more of the members too share on a regular basis and do not know how to accomplish that. (Carol D.)
- I think the group is great as is - sharing ESH with each other especially for us members who do not get out much. (Colleen)
- I guess if I had something bothering me I would ask to chair? What if I had something controversial? Like I was really upset one day at a meeting after I talked, someone commented keep coming back. Well I have 3 yr. I know to come back and isn't that cross talk ? It wasn't there turn to speak oh it was the chair person is that there job to make comments? I asked sponsor she said if it bother you you need to look at why like I said I wasn't in a good place but this sounded sarcastic or if I just need to vent, like that, can I email in off topic? What if I already did? (Arlene B.)
Question 3: Do new members stick with us, or does the turnover seem excessive?
- It is my impression that we have a fairly stable group. I don't think the turnover is excessive. However, I wonder if there would be an advantage to "mentoring" newcomers for the first 3-4 weeks after they join -- particularly someone who may be new to online groups. A more "seasoned" member could just (online) check in with the new member once a week to see if there are any questions or needs for assistance. Just a thought. (Susan G.)
- On a whole I think our members stay with us, quite a few of our group have been here since the beginning. (Jean L.)
- This I do not know but whomever keeps a list of the members and when they joined and if they have asked to be unsubscribed I would think would know this. (Carol D.)
- I am not sure of this one. I know we have lots of new members but usually the same members share. I do not know how many ladies drop out. (Colleen)
- I really can't tell. I'm new. Seem like so many join and don't write, but I had that where I was so busy to write added more stress. Finally told self it ok to just listen sometimes that's better for me. (Arlene B.)
Question 4: Do we emphasize the importance of sponsorship? How effectively? How can we do better?
- Well, we do have an on-line sponsor list that is sent (monthly I think) to the group, and I know that the sponsor listkeeper asks for volunteers. Other than that, I think the responsibility comes on the individual level; when I share, I probably need to be sure that I let people know how important my relationships are with my sponsors. I think we sometimes have a topic that is about sponsorship. (Laura B.)
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?
- There are only a couple of things I get concerned about, because I think people pretty much abide by this. One is the few times I see that people post to this group and to other people or groups at the same time. And the other is when I see email addresses that seem to be about a family or another person. But I am not aware of stuff getting out about this group elsewhere. I know that I don't carry things any further except to share at a meeting, "I heard in a meeting..." or "someone once shared that ..." and I don't use identifying information. (Laura B.)
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?
- I am familiar with the guidelines and I follow them. I know we post them monthly and I know they are on our website. I think people are fairly good about them, although I've had a few people send emails to a group of people off of the list, and I'm not comfortable with that. To me, there are a couple of issues. The first is, I have no way of knowing if the people are all from GROW or not. Second, people are sending me things without asking if I would like to participate - so it's using GROW for private/personal concerns. This is *not* about when someone who's on GROW and wants to have a meeting after the meeting - I have no problem with people reaching out to me to discuss AA stuff - especially 1:1. (Laura B.)
Question 7: Are all members given the opportunity to speak at meetings and to participate in other group activities?
- I think, yes. We have the weekly topic for a whole week and all are invited to reply. We have the whole month to write about a step and a tradition. When the business meetings convene, people are given a couple of weeks to join. All parts of the business meeting involve four days - that should give gals who are in very different time zones (and whose dates are actually different! Hi to Australia, New Zealand, and all you who are a day ahead of me) plenty of time to respond. (Laura B.)
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?
- Well, this one is hard, because I don't recall ever having an election on GROW. The trouble is that it's mostly the same folks who volunteer. I'd love to see more people wanting to participate, so we did have to have an election! We also make the guidelines and responsibilities clear for all positions. (Laura B.)
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?
- I think we do our best to keep our meetings about recovery (and the website is about recovery as well, I think). As for Unity, I think our etiquette guidelines and the way we run the business meetings speaks well for unity. I know we offer many chances to be of service - both through formal service positions, but also we post welcome notices for new members, birthday celebration notices, and gals speak up when they are having problems, so there are plenty of opportunities to write privately in support of members. However, I do wish that more people would share in the meetings and would volunteer for positions - I just think groups tend to thrive where there is an attitude of service. (Laura B.)
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?
- I think we try to remain informed about AA as a whole? Each month in addition to the weekly topics, we offer the corresponding Step and Tradition to share about. Although few people share on those, the opportunity is there. I think we respond well to questions from newcomers and, often as a result, us 'veterans' re-learn information we have forgotten. Funny how the 'teacher' becomes the 'student' every time... ;) (Judy B.)
Question 11: Are we considerate of all our members?
- I have observed extraordinary kindness, tolerance, and consideration toward each other. I think we definitely get an "A+" on that one. (Judy B.)
Question 12: As a group, have we done a thorough and fearless inventory, or have we missed an important element?
- If as a group we have failed to do a thorough and fearless inventory, we are certainly making up for that now. :) (Judy B.)