[Businessmtg] update to the Business Meeting

[Steve Rankin]

Hi folks,

Thank you Char for your interest and suggestions. 

There are several reasons why we have the one-year ASP membership
requirement as well as several reasons why our officer positions are for a
three-year term.

* The Secretary is much more than just the person that recruits and trains
our Daily Meeting Chairs. The Secretary position is an officer position in
ASP. That means that the Secretary is one of the key leaders of ASP - a
member of the Steering Committee that runs the nitty-gritty stuff of ASP
behind the scenes. Sometimes, the nitty-gritty stuff is more gritty than
nitty, so the officers need to have established a solid program, and the
maturity to draw on our Traditions when they make decisions rather than on
their personal feelings, etc. 

* The Secretary more than just another officer of ASP and member of the
Steering Committee. The Secretary is the Chair of our Business Meetings.
That means the Secretary needs to have an understanding of how our Business
Meetings are run. Furthermore, the Secretary needs to understand that the
Chair of the Business Meeting does NOT direct the Business Meeting. Instead,
the Secretary facilitates the flow of the meeting without guiding it in any
particular direction. In other words, the personal opinions of the Secretary
should not have any effect on the discussion in the meeting. 

* In addition to being the Chair of the Business Meeting, the Secretary is
the Alternate List Administrator. That means the Secretary not only needs to
know how to do the Secretary duties, they need to know how to do the List
Administrator duties. And again, it isn't just the nuts and bolts part of
the LA's duties that are the challenge. The real challenge is being the
"wise old sage" that is sometimes critical for the List Administrator. One
of the realities of the real world and of ASP is that stuff happens. People
behave poorly. Server's crash. Things go haywire. The List Administrator
needs to be able to not just handle the technical side of those problems,
but the LA needs to do so following the Traditions of Al-Anon as well as the
policies and traditions of ASP. 

* Someone needs to belong to ASP for a year so that they know what the
"flavor" of ASP is. Every Al-Anon meeting has a different flavor, or
personality, and we want our trusted servants to maintain that flavor vs.
changing it. Even if someone has been a member of Al-Anon for many years,
they may not have an understanding of ASP and as a result they may easily do
things differently that are upsetting to the meeting.

* Our Officer/Steering Committee positions rotate on a 3-year schedule, just
like the Group Rep, District Rep and Delegates do in face-to-face meetings.
We modeled ASP's officer rotation after the Delegate rotation. We strive to
avoid diluting this process in ASP just as the face-to-face meetings try to
avoid it. Members that are willing to serve only a portion of the term are
not interested in serving the full depth and breadth of the position. And
when that happens, the group is faced with filling the position more often
which places another burden on the group. Having said that, I will say that
I have seen many groups go down that path because they didn't have any
members willing to walk the walk of doing the whole job of the trusted
servant. The result is that the group is faced with the dilemma again,
albeit much sooner than necessary. Worse, now the group has MORE members
that are unwilling to do the job because some feel that they already did the
job - even though they only did a part of the job. I have seen several
face-to-face meetings die as a direct result of this. 

* Opportunities for growth. One of the key reasons why the fellowship relies
on volunteer trusted servants is to give members "opportunities for growth"
that are important, even critical, to the member becoming the "elder
statesman" kind of old timer that Bill Wilson talks about in the AA 12&12,
vs the bleeding deacon kind of old timer. Otherwise, it would be so much
easier to hire a janitor to clean the room and an IT provider to run the
server.

Hugs,
Steve




-----Original Message-----
From: Businessmtg
[mailto:businessmtg-bounces+steve=serenitysys.com at asp-afg.org] On Behalf Of
Char
Sent: Wednesday, August 5, 2015 7:15 AM
To: steve at serenitysys.com
Cc: ASP Business
Subject: Re: [Businessmtg] update to the Business Meeting

Melanie, I would apply for the Secretary position "IF" I had my one year,
which I don't. What would the business members think if another took this
three year position for one year and I took it for the next two years. We
could both be trained at the same time and work together for the first year.
Then, they could let it go. 

I realize this one year of ASP is for a very good reason. And, because of
these reasons, it could be thought that I might not stay with ASP for a
year. If that were to happen, either the other person would continue as
secretary or there would be another election in a year. Is this an option
the members of the business committee would be willing to consider?

Char C

-----Original Message-----
From: Businessmtg
[mailto:businessmtg-bounces+abcenter=netptc.net at asp-afg.org] On Behalf Of
Melanie Serene
Sent: Tuesday, August 4, 2015 9:39 PM
To: abcenter at netptc.net
Cc: ASP Business <businessmtg at asp-afg.org>
Subject: [Businessmtg] update to the Business Meeting

So I really have no update to report.  I haven't received any inquiries or
applications for the position of Secretary.
We do have one application for the Greeter Chair.

Are there any comments about the position of Secretary?

Hugs,
Melanie
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The ASP web site for ASP members is
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_______________________________________________


The ASP web site for ASP members is
http://www.asp-afg.org/ASP/MembersOnly/index.htm

For assistance with other ASP issues, contact the List Administrator, at
list_administrator at asp-afg.org

_______________________________________________
Businessmtg mailing list
Businessmtg at asp-afg.org
http://www.asp-afg.org/mailman/listinfo/businessmtg