[Businessmtg] Question re newcomers page

[Steve Rankin]

Hi ASPers,

 

 

 

I haven't looked at the Newcomer page for a long time, so I really can't
talk about what it used to be. While there have been discussions on and off
in the Steering Committee about possible changes, there hasn't been a
consensus of the Steering Committee about changes for at least a few years.
None the less, every discussion we've had has revolved around this basic
premise:

 

The purpose of the Newcomers page is to help newcomers find answers to their
questions about ASP so that they can be a participating member of ASP
without the fear of doing it "wrong" and getting their hand slapped. Sadly,
members do get their hand slapped. 

 

So, I just took a close look at the current Newcomer page so I could talk
about what is there now, and what I see is quite a few things that I
seriously doubt are helpful to the newcomer at ASP.

 

Here's what I found . . .

 

1.  The page starts off with links to WSO. Excuse me, but aren't we really
trying to help the newcomer deal with their confusion at ASP? Sure, links to
WSO are useful but they need to be moved much further down AFTER we've
addresses more pressing problems the newcomer might be facing. Besides,
we've already pointed every member to WSO during the process of joining ASP.


 

2.  Next, it tells the newcomer to address any further questions to the List
Administrator BEFORE it has done a single thing to address any of the common
questions. I'm confused. Is the purpose of the Newcomers page to send new
members to WSO and/or the List Administrator, or is it there to answer their
questions?  Oh, about the idea of sending members with questions or concerns
to the List Administrator, our long-standing practice has been to suggest
they contact ANY member of the Steering Committee.

 

3.  Next, it quotes the Serenity Prayer and the entire suggested Welcome we
use in ASP. OK, but the newcomer gets both of those every day when the Daily
Chair opens the day's meeting. I don't understand what question this
answers. 

 

4. Finally, the Newcomer page gets around to the "Tools of the Program" but
instead of TALKING about the tools of the program, the page just gives the
newcomer 7 links - all of them to WSO. 

 

      Tools of the Program

 

      Meetings

      Sponsorship

      12 Steps

      12 Traditions

      12 Concepts of Service

      Al-Anon Slogans

      Conference Approved Literature

 

Still nothing about ASP to help the newcomer with their questions about ASP.

 

5. Next is the link to WSO's podcasts.

 

6. Next is the Suggested Al-Anon Preamble To The Twelve Steps from the
Al-Anon Service Manual. Four paragraphs long - it violates our permission to
use CAL.

 

7. Next is three paragraphs from "How Al-Anon Works" called "To Those
Confronted with Violence". As much as I like this quotation, it does violate
the CAL copyright and violates our contract with WSO that gives ASP
permission to use CAL.

 

8. A statement telling the newcomer that WSO has granted permission to ASP
to quote CAL with a link to WSO for verification of that permission.
However, there is nothing to inform the newcomer about WHAT CAL is, HOW they
can use CAL their shares or how LIMITED we are with our use of CAL. 

 

 

 

 

The bottom line? There is nothing on the Newcomer page that even pretends to
help a newcomer understand ASP and how they can participate in ASP, etc.,
etc., etc. 

 

Instead, the entire focus of the Newcomers page is all about WSO, which does
nothing to help them at ASP.

 

Just a suggestion of something that could be very useful to link to is the
letters the Greeters send to every prospective member, as well as the
Welcome Letter sent by the List Administrator. We used to have easy access
to those letters that made it very easy for both newcomers and established
members to reacquaint themselves with those initial contacts with ASP.
Unfortunately, I'm not able to find any of those now.

 

It seems to me that another valuable section would be a brief intro about
sponsorship and a link to the ASP Sponsorship page.

 

Perhaps a short paragraph about the maze of acronyms used in shares that
have spread like wildfire in recent years. With a link to the page where
members can find a list of frequently used acronyms.

 

And more. I'm certain that many of you have some really good ideas.

 

Hugs,

Steve