[Businessmtg] question in regard to Barbara's resume for Member At Large

Steve Rankin steve at serenitysys.com
Wed Mar 15 18:25:59 PDT 2017 

Hi Bubbe,

 

Since ASP was spun off another online meeting that was strife with problems, we put in months of effort to set up a structure. We had several goals that we wanted this structure to provide:

·       a recovery meeting that functioned without the calamity that often accompanies service meetings, 

·       the general membership to be the policy making body (the Business Meeting) so that the meeting would always belong to the members and not an elite corps of elected officials,

·       the administration of the meeting - the routine business that is necessary of the meeting to function - to occur behind the scenes. 

 

While the structure of ASP is a bit unusual in Al-Anon, there is ample precedence. We started with the Service Manual and the concept of a Steering Committee. I don’t have a copy of the Service Manual from that era, but the current 2014-2017 Service Manual states:

 

Business or Steering Committee:

• Deals with questions of policy and local public outreach.

• Deals with any internal problems that arise between the

group’s regular business meetings.

 

So, what we decided was to separate those two functions. The first would be the Business Meeting and deal with questions of policy. Any member of ASP can choose to attend and participate in the ASP Business Meeting. We considered the Business Meeting as parallel to the delegates at the World Service Conference. 

 

The second function became the Steering Committee and would deal with internal problems that arise between regular business meetings. This we considered to be the parallel to the Board of Directors at WSO. The BoD has both Regional Trustees and At Large Trustees as well as an Executive Committee and staff. While ASP is far larger and more complex than any face-to-face meeting, we knew we needed significant structure, but ASP is also much smaller than WSO and has noticeably fewer tasks that need to be done, so we decided to have 3 “types” of officers. 

 

The first group of officers are the obvious ones; the officers with specific areas of responsibility - comparable to the Regional Trustees. These officers have a 3-year term similar to their counterparts in face-to-face service. 

 

The second group of officers is the At Large officers. These folks have the broader overall responsibility to the meeting without the problems that sometimes occur when trusted servants take “ownership” of their bailiwick. Their term is shorter, just 6 months. This not only allows many members of ASP to experience participation on in the Steering Committee that would not otherwise be able to serve with such a large number of members. It also provides for a steady flow of fresh blood and thinking in the Steering Committee.  And lastly, we hoped that the steady flow of members back and forth between the regular membership and the Steering Committee would reduce the elitism that we’ve seen in other Al-Anon structures.  

 

The third type of officer is the “Founders”. These two positions are reserved for the Founders - the most senior members of ASP. The Founders bring immense value to the table in terms of institutional memory and hold permanent positions on the Steering Committee. 

 

The final result of the structure we decided on for ASP can be found on the public portion of the ASP web site. 

 

“The Steering Committee is the primary business committee of A Serenity Place. The Steering Committee is composed of all elected officers, Chair persons of committees (but not sub-committees), two ‘founders’ (the original founders of A Serenity Place or those most nearly so), and two general members of A Serenity Place.”

 

So, now that we’ve laid the groundwork for how we got to this service structure we can go back to your question. Remember that our At Large Steering Committee members are comparable to the At Large Trustees on the BoD at WSO. 

The Service Manual makes no distinction between the Regional Trustees and the At Large Trustees other than geography, so we decided to make no distinction either. 

 

Love and SERENITY,

Steve

 

 

 

 

From: Bubbe Turner [mailto:bjqt1945 at gmail.com] 
Sent: Wednesday, March 15, 2017 5:10 PM
To: Steve Rankin
Cc: ASP Business
Subject: Re: [Businessmtg] question in regard to Barbara's resume for Member At Large

 

Ok, so I don't qualify due to the requirements per officer positions since "at-large are considered officers.  No one told me that when I sent in the resume.  Of all the business committees I've ever served on (business, Al-Anon, non-profits, legal, etc.) I have never heard of at-large members being considered "officers".

TY for the clarification.  Pull my resume,  please.

BJ

 

On Wed, Mar 15, 2017 at 6:31 PM, Steve Rankin <steve at serenitysys.com> wrote:

Hi Bubbe,

There is no distinction between any of the Steering Committee positions
except:

A. Some positions have specific duties and responsibilities and have a
3-year rotation.
B. Other positions, such as the two At Large positions and the two Founder
positions and a 6-month rotation or a permanent seat on the Steering
Committee, respectively.

So, yes the At Large positions are considered officers of ASP just as much
as the others on the Steering Committee.

Love and SERENITY,
Steve


-----Original Message-----
From: Businessmtg
[mailto:businessmtg-bounces+steve <mailto:businessmtg-bounces%2Bsteve> =serenitysys.com at asp-afg.org] On Behalf Of
Bubbe Turner

Sent: Wednesday, March 15, 2017 4:07 PM
To: Steve - SC
Cc: ASP Business
Subject: Re: [Businessmtg] question in regard to Barbara's resume for Member
At Large

Sorry, Steve, I do not understand your explanation.

Are you saying that all members of the ASP Steering Committee are considered
officers including your two "at large" members?

Or are you saying that the "at-large" SC members are not considered
officers?

BJ

(Bubbe is not my name. LOL  It is Yiddish for grandmother, the word my son
used in setting up this google account ages ago)

On Wed, Mar 15, 2017 at 5:53 PM, Steve Rankin <steve at serenitysys.com> wrote:

> Hi Bubbe,
>
>
>
> The prerequisite for service in ASP as an officer (a member of the
> Steering
> Committee) that you are asking about is:
>
>
>
> "Service Positions held in Al-Anon:
>
> A member of ASP must have served ASP in some other service capacity
> for 1 year in addition to any other minimum qualifications for ASP
Officers."
>
>
>
> In other words, in addition to other requirements such as one year's
> minimum membership in ASP and not a member of AA, ASP requires that
> officers have served ASP in some other service capacity prior to
> serving as an officer.
> This is to ensure that our officers have at least a minimal
> understanding of ASP's structure, policies and procedures before they
> hold a major leadership position.
>
>
>
> I hope that answers yours question so that you can answer Carolina's
> question accurately.
>
>
>
> Love and SERENITY,
>
> Steve
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Businessmtg
> [mailto:businessmtg-bounces+steve <mailto:businessmtg-bounces%2Bsteve> =serenitysys.com at asp-afg.org] On
> Behalf Of Bubbe Turner
> Sent: Wednesday, March 15, 2017 2:05 PM
> To: Steve - SC
> Cc: ASP Business
> Subject: Re: [Businessmtg] question in regard to Barbara's resume for
> Member At Large
>
>
>
> Maybe I misread, Carolina.  I thought it read '1 year previous ASP service
> for officers' rather than for members at large on the Steering Committee.
>
> I thought I answered "none" to that question.
>
>
>
> BJ
>
>
>
> On Wed, Mar 15, 2017 at 3:10 PM, Carolina < <mailto:sundownmom at gmail.com>
> sundownmom at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Dear Barbara (Bubbe),
>
> >
>
> >  It takes commitment to do be willing to serve in this position, and
>
> > you have obviously given a lot of yourself for many years in service
>
> > at F2F Al-Anon meetings. I have a small question about your resume
>
> > where there was no answer given::  Have you been in any service
>
> > positions for ASP? (I noticed that the form states: "A member of ASP
>
> > must have served ASP in some other service capacity for 1 year in
>
> > addition to any other minimum qualifications for ASP Officers".)
>
> > Perhaps you forgot to respond to that question.
>
> >
>
> >  Or to Laura, am I misreading or misunderstanding?  Thanks very much.
>
> >
>
> > Carol(ina) R.
>
> >
>
> > Excuse silly iPad autocorrect errors
>
> >
>
> > _______________________________________________
>
> > The ASP Instruction page is
>
> >  <http://asp-afg.org/members/asp-instructions/>
> http://asp-afg.org/members/asp-instructions/
>
> >
>
> > The ASP web site for ASP members is  <http://www.asp-afg.org/Members/>
> http://www.asp-afg.org/Members/
>
> >
>
> > For assistance with other ASP issues, contact the List Administrator,
>
> > at  <mailto:list_administrator at asp-afg.org>
> list_administrator at asp-afg.org
>
> >
>
> > _______________________________________________
>
> > Businessmtg mailing list
>
> >  <mailto:Businessmtg at asp-afg.org> Businessmtg at asp-afg.org
>
> >  <http://www.asp-afg.org/mailman/listinfo/businessmtg>
> http://www.asp-afg.org/mailman/listinfo/businessmtg
>
> >
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> The ASP Instruction page is  <http://asp-afg.org/members/asp-instructions/
> >
> http://asp-afg.org/members/asp-instructions/
>
>
>
> The ASP web site for ASP members is  <http://www.asp-afg.org/Members/>
> http://www.asp-afg.org/Members/
>
>
>
> For assistance with other ASP issues, contact the List Administrator, at
> <mailto:list_administrator at asp-afg.org> list_administrator at asp-afg.org
>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
>
> Businessmtg mailing list
>
>  <mailto:Businessmtg at asp-afg.org> Businessmtg at asp-afg.org
>
>  <http://www.asp-afg.org/mailman/listinfo/businessmtg>
> http://www.asp-afg.org/mailman/listinfo/businessmtg
>
> _______________________________________________
> The ASP Instruction page is http://asp-afg.org/members/asp-instructions/
>
> The ASP web site for ASP members is http://www.asp-afg.org/Members/
>
> 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
>
_______________________________________________
The ASP Instruction page is http://asp-afg.org/members/asp-instructions/

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

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

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Businessmtg at asp-afg.org
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_______________________________________________
The ASP Instruction page is http://asp-afg.org/members/asp-instructions/

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

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

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