[Businessmtg] ASP Service Positions & other thoughts

Wed Jul 26 21:22:51 PDT 2017

Hi Friends:

Thank you, Jane for describing your service position, and for being honest about your feelings.  I suspect it was

difficult for you to describe.

I strongly believe our Steps, Traditions, Concepts are bigger than any of us.  Our wonderful legacy that came from Lois has survived long after she's been gone.  My opinion is that Tradition 2 is one of our most important - "Our leaders are but trusted servants; they do not govern."  I often have to remind myself that our groups are made up of dysfunctional people - myself included.  I came here, sick and tired, and because I stayed, I am better.  Not perfect - definitely better.

An obstacle to success in Al-Anon is dominance.  We are all equals here.  Sometimes that is easy to forget.  For me, an example of that is "long-timers."  I have noticed that often a newcomer assumes because I have been here a long time that I'm "cured" -  I know everything - and even that I'm the "boss."  That can easily go to my head and I have to be very careful to remind myself that I am certainly no authority on anything.

I am so glad you did not quit, Jane.  You are a trusted servant, doing your best, demonstrating your love and respect for Al-Anon, which would die without trusted servants and its members.  I certainly appreciate your work as webmaster and your sharing your ESH.

Al-Anon is an honest program.  I have been a member of ASP for about 5 years, I believe.  I have participated in every business meeting since I joined and have served as weekly chair for 2 terms.  This year I decided I needed to contribute more and threw in my hat as a member of the Steering Committee.  I have to say that I regretted it almost immediately.  In over 30 years of Al-Anon, participating at several levels, I have never witnessed such acrimony and personal criticism and attacks as took place in our last business meeting.  I confess that I wanted to resign before I started.  I immediately checked with the List Administrator when my term ended and decided I will stick to my commitment for the 6 months.

I think ASP is the best online meeting I could find.  I love it.  I take what I like and leave the rest.  I try to remember principles above personalities.  I honor Steve for his work to start this group, his dedication to seeing it continue and grow.  It's like having a child and nurturing it until it can become independent and try its wings, and then - if you love it, let it grow.  It doesn't mean divorce, it means it's ok.

Many new members have never heard of Lois, do not know who she is.  I'm pretty sure she would not care.  She would be joyful that Al-Anon is alive and well.

Hugs, Linda

________________________________
From: Businessmtg <businessmtg-bounces+linda_lee1127=msn.com at asp-afg.org> on behalf of Jane Anon <happynjoyousnfree at gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, July 24, 2017 7:43 PM
To: Linda
Cc: ASP Business
Subject: [Businessmtg] ASP Service Positions & other thoughts

Hi all,

I started an email on this topic over a week ago, but decided to give it
some more thought first. It's hard for me to talk about. I volunteered for
the Webmaster position hoping that I could serve Al-Anon and specifically
ASP, which had been my lifeline so many times. I wanted to give something
back.

I started serving and hit a snag attempting to download the program that
was used to develop and maintain the old ASP websites. After discussion
with the Steering Committee and doing a lot of work and research on my own,
I proposed using WordPress. This was approved and I created a new public
site. I then took the information from the old member site and transferred
it to a new WordPress site, reorganizing the content and making some
additions. I presented it to the SC to unanimous approval and praise. I was
really happy to have done something that I hoped would help ASP members and
newcomers. It took many hours of work, but it was a labor of love and I was
happy to do it.

Several months later, things took an ugly turn. I won't be delicate or
tactful about this because I think it's important that I am honest here.
Steve and I disagreed about an issue regarding the website, and since then,
he has been critical of my service and has openly questioned the process by
which both sites were approved, calling the legitimacy of the approval into
question. Steve has even questioned my honesty and my motives. Prior to
that, I considered him a friend and had even asked and received personal
ESH via email and phone. So when he turned on me with such vehemence, it
was incredibly hurtful. I thought about quitting each time it happened, but
hung in there because I kept telling myself that ASP is bigger than him and
I made a commitment to serve for 3 full years. Since then, I have seen him
openly criticize several other SC members and seen people who were
genuinely attempting to serve in good faith resign as a result. This is
harmful both to Al-Anon and to ASP, in my opinion.... and I know things
like this have happened before. The webmaster who served before me told me
in an email that she resigned because of Steve as well and I am quite sure
there have been others.

My belief is that unless a Trusted Servant is taking ASP in a direction
that violates Al-Anon Traditions or principles, his or her actions should
not be criticized. In ASP, there are a lot of "guidelines" which are
unfortunately treated like RULES.... And they are often used to shut down
anyone who attempts to do anything on the SC that isn't in a very narrow
range of interpretation.
Steve does this more than anyone else, but occasionally others will chime
in. This not only limits the ability of ASP to change and grow in a
positive direction, it hurts those who volunteer to serve.

So while I would love to say that serving in ASP is a wonderful experience
for which I am grateful, I can't. I am increasingly saddened as my term
comes to a close, afraid that the work I did will eventually be erased
because Steve will somehow convince another SC that it has to be. I'm sad,
but I'm going to stick it out.

The one positive thing I can say regarding the Webmaster position is that
if someone wants to learn a bit about WordPress, you might be interested.
I'm honestly not sure it's worth it, though. Still, it is an easy program
to learn if you are at all comfortable with computers (Word, Excel, etc.),
and with a little more time, most people could learn how to do what I do on
a regular basis.

As to the time involved, in order to simply update the website
periodically, it shouldn't take more than an hour or so per week, if that.
The updates are at most 2-3 times per month and are quick and easy to do.
The time spent on the SC doesn't take much time either as a general rule.
_______________________________________________
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