[Businessmtg] Chairperson requirement

[Linda F]

I chaired my first meeting after being in program about a month--admittedly
it was just my sponsor and me in the meeting, she had me chair, and walked
me through it.   At another meeting, someone encouraged newcomers to chair
and was available to walk them through the process so they weren't on their
own.

Which is simply to say, that in f2f meetings I've been a part of, people
haven't been required to have 6 months before they can chair.

It does make sense in the ASP context that people have familiarity with the
ASP format before they begin chairing.  I don't think it takes 6 months to
get the hang of chairing; on the other hand, we do want to make sure that
our chairpersons take their commitment seriously and don't disappear
without finishing their term of service.

Maybe the 6 month requirement makes sense for people whose only Al-Anon
experience is ASP, however I would be comfortable seeing people with more
years in Al-Anon outside of ASP be considered for chairing before 6 months
on a case-by-case basis.

I also agree that we would benefit from encouraging more people to chair
meetings, especially since that's a gateway towards people being eligible
for other service positions that we're having a hard time filling.

HUGS (Helping Us Gain Serenity), Linda