[Businessmtg] FW: GR

[Steve Rankin]

Hi Alison,
The details of how the new Area is going to be organized is still unknown.  
First, remember that the WSO (World Service Office) and BoD (Board of
Directors) had kept the electronic meetings in Aladdin's Lamp for the last
25 years.  Then, this April the Delegates at the WSC (World Service
Conference) rubbed the Lamp and let the Genie out of the bottle.  In other
words, the way I see it is that the Delegates (representing the membership
of Al-Anon) voted to overrule the staff at WSO.  It is not unreasonable to
expect some head-butting over how this plays out.
WSO had scheduled a conference call of the electronic meetings in May to
talk about their "plan" for implementing the WSC decision.  Then, only a few
days beforehand, they postponed the conference call indefinitely with very
little explanation.  The current rumor is that WSO is waiting to see what
happens at the Areas that have election Assemblies this September.  
My understanding of WSO's "plan" was that there would be one Virtual Area
and all of the electronic meetings would be combined into that single area.
However, that plan ran into pushback from various International and
non-English speaking groups that wanted their own Areas.  Considering the
explosion of electronic meetings in the last few years, combined with the
large number of members per meeting, this new Virtual Area would most likely
represent many more members than many, if not most f2f Areas.  
For example, when I was an Area Officer in Northern California, we had about
700 Groups.  Theoretically.  Now, I know that many of those Groups were
defunct yet still carried on the roles, so I wouldn't be surprised if a
third of those groups still existed.  If that surprises you, consider that
there were 47 groups in my District in 1989 when I was District Rep and 15
when we moved from California in 2003 - most of them smaller. 
Back to what meetings our Group Rep might need to attend. . .  My best guess
is that our Area will meeting virtually; probably using some electronic
meeting technology such as Zoom.  Will there be a District?  I can't say,
but eventually I'd guess yes.  Again, virtual meetings. 
Will there be any face-to-face meetings?  Absolutely.  The WSC (World
Service Conference) will continue to be held face-to-face.  Will our Group
Rep attend the WSC?  No, not as a Group Rep anyway.  The WSC is for Area
Delegates, WSO Staff, the Board of Directors (Trustees) and invited
dignitaries only.  
What if our Group Rep is elected to some office at the Area level?  That
could happen.  After all, the new Area will need to flesh out its entire
array of trusted servants from the Group Reps elected by the electronic
Areas.  If that does happen, then our GR is no longer a GR and we would need
to elect a new GR.
Hugs,
Steve



-----Original Message-----
From: Businessmtg On Behalf Of Alison G
Sent: Monday, September 20, 2021 7:49 AM
To: steve at serenitysys.com
Cc: ASP Business <businessmtg at asp-afg.org>
Subject: [Businessmtg] GR

Hello Pals.

I was GR for a f2f group long ago.
We did a variety of actions, including listed below, from Steve, (ty Steve,)

I am curious if it will be that the GR, here, if voted in, would also attend
literal assemblies, working side by side with humans, in person (once Covid
flies away....buh bye already!) and is an "in person" GR as well as a
virtual one.
Yes. We are virtual.
But imo, could it be possible that if we get a GR on ASP, it would be
beneficial for said service person to also go to an assembly here and there,
meeting f2f delegates, getting to be a part of that world too?

Also, as a f2f GR for a year, I went to the weekly biz mtg, and then took
back to the group itself any news, old or new. Short, succinct, and brought
the so called "outside bigger Al-Anon world"
to everyone who was a member. I feel that is something that might be
beneficial for our members here too.
I feel that many, including me in the start, don't understand or know about
the worldwide enormous-ness that Al-Anon extends to. and It might be a
benefit for the GR, once a month, after a month's worth of business meeting
information and goings-on, to send one email to the ASP recover-ers about
the bigger picture of what Al-Anon does.
  I am not eloquent right now. Hope this makes a lick of sense.


BUT, I do vote for YES on all fronts for ASP getting a GR, on the SC, and
attending all Biz meetings, as well as having a voice when necessary on the
Recovery side of ASP.

TY,
Alison





















*Group Representative* The general duties and responsibilities of the Group
Representative aredescribed in the current version of the Al-Anon Service
Manual.     * Represents ASP in Virtual Area or other service arm as
established bythe Al-Anon World Service Conference and/or World Service
Office.     * Attends meetings of the Virtual Area, World Service Office
and/orother service arms.     * Reports to members of ASP regularly via the
Business Meeting, and ifdesirable or appropriate to the general membership
of ASP via anannouncement in the recovery meeting.     * Is eligible to
serve in position(s) beyond Group Representative asestablished by the
Al-Anon World Service Conference and/or World ServiceOffice.* Holds a seat
on the ASP Steering Committee with voice and vote.     * Reports regularly
to the Steering Committee on issues of interest toASP.     * Coordinates
with Secretary to maintain ASP webpage with information.     * May incur
reasonable expenses similar to face-to-face GroupRepresentatives, which
shall become the responsibility of ASP.  The SteeringCommittee shall develop
adequate policies regarding the budgeting, reportingand reimbursement of
Group Representative expenses. * ____________________________ To
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The ASP web site with all kinds of info for ASP members is
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