[Businessmtg] FW: ASP Group Representatives Report - July 2023

[Anne]

Hi Jerry and All,

I so appreciate the questions and input from everyone.  Despite having 30 yrs. in Al-Anon , my experience has been limited to the group level, with a brief stint early on as GR for my F2F home meeting.  At that time I attended the district meetings but never went to our Area meeting.   At that time I was in over my head 😊 but I did benefit to that exposure.  

Fast forward to today.  I do have a lot to learn, and I have  taken the listen (read) and learn approach.  Although there is an online version of the Service Manual, I prefer books and so once it was published as a hard copy option, I bought and have been doing a lot of reading as well as listening (reading) the emails that come through the Area's distribution list.  The experience levels of the GR's run the gamut, there seem to be quite a few that have little to no service experience at the group level.  A little concerning for me, and as GR of ASP, I vote carefully as the Area GR's step forward for a variety of positions.

I have been reading the Service Manual, pondering your question about eligibility requirements for the Delegate.  I am finding some ambiguous language that I still need to sift through, it does seem to indicate that the Delegate is elected from a pool of DR's and then in another area, it states that the Delegate can be a DR or other "eligible" member of the Assembly.  The Assemblies are open to DR's and GR's.  One vote per district.  More for me to research and ask about in the GR discussion group I think.

Regarding the comments about top down, I am actually seeing this a little differently and considering this an interim situation until we can get districts in place, we have the Area Officers and GR's making up the GEA.  The Area officers were also pulled from the same pool of GR's that are electing the Area Delegate. The officers are facilitating the work that is being done to define the Districts, but they are NOT "dictating" or imposing their will on this process.  They are working tirelessly and not without missteps, they always step up to make corrections or adjustments as needed.  I do think that everyone's goal is to align to the existing Area structure, there is no straight line to get there!   

I don't know if I covered everything.  I truly appreciate the questions, they help me grow as I navigate  this role  that is not only new to me, but unique as well.

Hugs,

Anne



-----Original Message-----
From: Businessmtg <businessmtg-bounces+aohara77=comcast.net at asp-afg.org> On Behalf Of Jerry
Sent: Tuesday, July 4, 2023 3:56 PM
To: aohara77 at comcast.net
Cc: ASP Business <businessmtg at asp-afg.org>
Subject: Re: [Businessmtg] ASP Group Representatives Report - July 2023

Hi, Anne and all,

In 'traditional' Al-Anon structure Area Delegates are elected from those within an Area who are - or have been - District Reps. Without our Area having Districts (thus no District Reps) it seems as though our Area's Delegate may have to come from eligible Group Reps.

This seems to follow past patterns where electronic meetings weren't being afforded the same treatment as traditional groups;  traditional Delegates have more prerequisite service experience because of their District Rep service while our one (1) Delegate may well have no District experience at all.

At ASP we've discussed whether or not to allow a candidate's f2f service experience count toward eligibility for Steering Committee offices (to date not determined.) This seems parallel to the eligibility to stand for the GEA Delegate position: Will all the members of Groups in our GEA - who are or ever have been a District Rep in traditional f2f formats - be eligible to stand for GEA Delegate as they would be in traditional Districts? Are we requiring a minimum of past District Rep experience to be eligible to stand for election as our Delegate?

Seems to me our GEA would be best served/represented by selecting our Delegate from a field of candidates with experience equal to those Delegates from traditional Areas - and that would require choosing from a field of those with past service as a Delegate. It's clear simply by the math that our single GEA Delegate will be representing a greater variety of meeting types and meeting languages that any traditional Delegate.

So we're already behind the curve while also having the possibility of a less experienced Delegate at World Service Conferences. I don't believe someone with only Group Rep experience (or Delegate experience if not elected from candidates chosen from District Rep ranks by an Area's Group Reps as f2f groups' must) puts this GEA on an equal footing with traditional f2f Areas. Past f2f District Rep experience should be necessary in this start-up phase.

It is the members who form Groups, Groups which choose to define Districts, Districts which join together to form Areas. Whatever the complications of creating our electronic Area's service structure, what with the varieties of media, etc., the various groupings' Districts ought be formed first which then would form Area(s) and elect Delegate(s.) Throwing one (1) blanket over all electronic media is undoubtedly going to leave many out in the cold.

To date this structuring process seems to be top-down motivated toward one (1) Delegate. We (electronic meetings) need not just experienced service workers who are able to serve our groups' needs beyond group level, but multiple Districts each with a District Rep, and multiple Areas, each with a Delegate, to serve our many meetings' language, cultural, and global varieties effectively.

If we are to be, indeed, equal with traditional Al-Anon meetings our service structure ought to serve our Groups equally.

One Delegate can't possibly do that.

In service,
Jerry
-


On July 4, 2023, at 12:02 PM, Anne  <aohara77 at comcast.net> wrote:

Hi Friends!

 

For those who may not know...

-I am the ASP Group Representative , my role is to act as liaison between our group and the District and Area that ASP is connected to.  

-Our Area, the GEA, is relatively new and is building out the structure needed to be a fully formed Area - currently, our Area does not have Districts.  

-The Area is unique in that it does not have geographic boundaries that the other Areas, Districts and Groups have. 

 

The last several reports I have presented to the Bus Meeting, have  been focused on the Districting needs of the GEA.  The District Thought Force committee that I was a part of, wrapped up their work and presented their findings to all the Group Rep's in the GEA (Global Electronic Area) in May.
With feedback from the group reps after those presentations, the GEA officers are now forming a District taskforce with a new set of GR volunteers.  I assume that the GEA officers will be providing the GR's with more information soon.

 

+++Other structural tasks that the GEA officers are managing are two
positions - Area Delegate and Language Coordinator.

 

***The Language Coordinator was recently appointed by the GEA officers.  He was one of three volunteers.

 

***The GEA does NOT have an Area Delegate, only an Area Alternate Delegate.
The GEA is actively seeking a Delegate for the Area and posted the "job"
description in search of willing participants.  The description is also found in the Service Manual.  Once there are volunteers stepping forward, there will be an opportunity for Q & A with the volunteers and then an election.

 

*** Our Alternate Delegate attended the World Service Conference in May and provided her report to the GR's in June.  

 

***This weekend was the 2023 AL-ANON INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION,  Albuquerque, New Mexico June 29 through July 2, 2023 "New Hopes, New Friends, Renewed Recovery!"  In the future, this might be something a GR would attend and the costs would be borne by the group.  

 

That's it for today, please let me know if you have any questions.

 

Yours in Service,

 

Anne O.

 

 

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