[Businessmtg] business meeting

[Tara McIntyre]

Hello,

 

As far as the business meeting is concerned, we learn in Al-Anon not to do for others what they can do for themselves.  Therefore, to sign up all the members on our membership list for the business meeting is doing for them what they can do for themselves.  They are all asked, just as you are in a face to face meeting to join the business meeting or not, to join this is free will.  They choose not to join or they can choose to join and then stay or leave.  We do have people that have to pay for there internet time and do not want the business meeting emails or the numerous cross talk messages and test messages that get sent to the recovery meeting.  I don't think we need to cram it down their internet by forcing them to down load the business meeting emails if they choose not to join the business meeting.  As for Notes they are on the web site and they have a choice to read them, look at them and re-read them.

 

Everyone is sent the same letters when they join this meeting and they don't read the letters and this is a problem we encounter on a regular basis with a lot of emails that are not on the topic of the day.  For example, when the server came back up Dawn, the LA sent an email to the group informing them the server was up and to please not send in emails saying how glad you are the server is back up.  First email out of the gate was just that email demonstrating they didn't read the entire thing.  Also if we put the business meeting in the recovery meeting, unlike a f2f meeting where it has a space in the meeting time, you can get business meeting emails in the midst of the recovery meeting making it very confusing to follow the thread if you are new to online meetings like the majority of our membership is.  This is not Al-Anon we keep our recovery meeting apart from the business meeting for clarity purposes for the membership.  We need to accept that we don't have a lot of people who want to do service or take part in the business meeting.                   

 

The amount of mail I get from people not reading is amazing.  If they would just take the time to read they would find the info that they need.  I send them back to reread the info that we sent them when they joined.  This means I am Not doing for them what they can do for themselves.  Yes it would be easier to force them and do it and it would make my job easer if I spoon fed them the info they are looking for, but In Al-Anon it is not about easy it is about the traditions and the steps and we need to remember that aspect when we ask for service and for members to join the business meeting. 

 

We can not force people to be of service and to tell my sponsees that they should be of service is to manipulate the situation and force them to do something that at this time they are not able to do.  This month I have needed to send out a greeting request 4 times - unheard of in my time as Greeter Chair.  I was taught in Al-Anon that to say it once is to ask, to say it more is to try to control the situation.  The call for Greeters has the hours and time necessary to do the job in a honest way.  I have had some big back lash about not telling the job like it is regarding the amount of time needed to do the task and so I made the letter a honest hour assessment of what you need to do and how long you need to do it.  We are a global meeting, with members in countries other than the Continental North America.  As greeters we deal with all of those other times zones covering those inquiries for those overseas so in order to deal with the inquiries in a timely fashion and help those who are hurting and reaching out for that lifeline that brings many people to our meeting we have found it works best if the inquiries are answered within 6-10 hours.  Once the inquiry reply goes out then the avarage time it takes to join this group is about 4 days.  Now if you are hurting this is a long time to wait for a meeting!!!!  If you make those that are inquiring about our meeting wait 2 to 3 days to hear from you then that makes it a week to join this meeting. So Yes the time does need to be there and you need to check your email a couple of times a day in order to meet that average turn around time from our end.  Wouldn't you rather know that up front than say "I want to do the job" and then find out about the time commitment and then change your mind or feel like you failed because you didn't know ahead of time what you were getting into and then feel obligated to stay with it because you don't want to let someone down and you can't say, "I am unable to do this".  Isn't that something we all suffer from - the inability to say no or to say I can't do this which gets us in hot water?  So that is were I stand on adding every one to the business meeting and Greeting.



Hugs

Tara

Greeting Chair