ASP Business Meeting – What is it and what is the format?

 

The Business Meeting is where all routine business issues are discussed and group consciences taken at the A Serenity Place online Al-Anon meeting. 

 

1.  The Chairperson will announce in the recovery meeting one week before the beginning of the next 

     Business Meeting, that the Business Meeting will be starting in one week and give a start date.  All 

     members who wish to participate in that discussion will need to join the Business Meeting prior to that 

     date. 

 

2.  Any member of ASP may attend the Business Meeting. 

 

3.  Once the discussion starts the Business Meeting will close and only those subscribed will be able to

     participate in the discussions and vote on the topic at hand. 

 

4.  At the end of that time any new members will be subscribed to the Business Meeting so that they may

     join in for the next topic.  This will allow for continuity in the topic, and prevent ‘packing’ the meeting

     just before a vote, and will also keep the meeting on track because we will not be revisiting the

     beginnings of the discussion and bringing new members up to speed.

 

5.  The Business Meeting meets starting the 1st of every other month, starting in January.   This gives

     each member, including your trusted servant’s time off to tend to the rest of their lives.

 

6.  The Business Meeting is led by the Chairperson (either the ASP Secretary or ASP List Administrator,  

     depending upon availability). 

 

7.  The Chairperson (the Secretary and List Administrator or alternates) determines the agenda of the  

      Business Meeting from items submitted by members in attendance at the Business Meeting.

 

8.  The Business Meeting discusses one and only one topic at a time.  It is the duty of the Chairperson

     to keep the meeting participants focused on the topic at hand.

 

9.  The Business Meeting is using the KBDM process on a trial basis.  If this process doesn’t appear to be

     working properly, the Chairperson may switch the Business Meeting to the traditional style based

     loosely on Roberts Rules of Order.

  1. KBDM: Motions are developed by consensus after thorough discussion.  If there is no consensus, then no motion is to be made.

  2. Roberts Rules:  Motions are made from the floor and seconded with discussion following.

10.  Voting:  The Secretary or Chair announces that a vote is to be taken.  Announcement to include:

  1.     A full quote of the motion,

  2.     The motion is posted on the voting poll,

  3.     Instructions on the voting process,

  4.     Deadline of majority required to pass super majority,

  5.     Chairperson announces the results of the vote and asks the Web Master to post the motion and the vote on the ASP web site. 

11.  Major or controversial issues.  Issues which would result in a major change to ASP or are

       controversial in nature will have a delayed discussion and voting procedure.

  1. Month 1:  Announcement of topic followed by truncated discussion to illuminate issues.  Discussion limited to 1 week.

  2. Month 3:  Full discussion of topic.  Discussion may be extended to following month(s) as needed.

  3. Month 5+: Voting on motion.

Examples of Things NOT to do at the A Serenity Place Business Meeting.  PLEASE READ!!

 
  1. Send Business Meeting shares to multiple recipients.  The server will reject any message that is also sent to any other address in addition to the ASP address.  In addition to being rejected, this creates a mess on the server that needs to be cleaned up by the List Administrator.  The best way to send a share to the business meeting is to create a listing in your email address book for Business Meeting and send all shares to Business Meeting.

 
  1. Comment on others shares, good or bad!  Please share your compliments to other members privately.

 
  1. Include the text of a share that you are responding to.  Please delete the other members text or change the settings on your email program to do this automatically.  Better yet, always start with a new email message and put the appropriate heading in the subject line.

 

  1. Do not send attachments of any kind.

 
  1. Test messages.  If you this there is a problem receiving the Business Meeting shares please writhe the List Administrator at denise@asp-afg.org. 

 
  1. If you would like your Business Meeting email on hold temporarily then go to the servers website and select the No Mail setting.  Complete instructions are at  http://www.asp-afg.org/ASP/nbm/business_meeting_instruction.htm

 

IMPORTANT NOTES:

 

  1. The Business Meeting is the ONLY place we discuss this business.  Business issues are not to be taken to the ASP meeting.

  2. If a member of ASP wants to bring something to the Business Meeting, then they must attend the Business Meeting.  There is no proxy voice or vote in Al-Anon.

  3. Send your messages for the Business Meeting to  businessmtg@asp-afg.org

  4. Like all Al-Anon meetings, this is a “Who you see here, what you hear here, Let it stay here.” meeting.  No exceptions, OK?

 

 

If you have any questions about A Serenity Place Business Meeting, technical or otherwise, please send me a note and I will do my best to answer them.

 

Love and SERENITY,

Denise

denise@asp-afg.org