[Businessmtg] GEA & Districting Backstory

[Steve Rankin]

Hi folks,

 

As usual, I forgot to mention a (couple of things) a bunch of stuff that might help you understand the big picture better.

 

Let’s go back to square one. . . 

1.	THE BEGINNING.  A few months before I started ASP in May 1995, the Al-Anon Board of Directors (BoD) voted to consider online Al-Anon groups as “meetings”, not Groups.  As a result, the online “meetings” would not have representation, nor would they be allowed to participate in the Al-Anon service structure.  The BoD decided that they would have a 3-year trial period to consider the issue, which would be renewed ad nauseum if needed.  Shortly after that, the WSO published the first Electronic Meeting Guideline” which was little more than a one-page document about sending donations to WSO. 
2.	THE WORLD SERVICE CONFERENCE.  Every year, the Delegates from the 70-something Areas meet in Virginia Beach for a week-long World Service Conference (WSC).  This is the big meeting of the big kahunas of Al-Anon where the Delegates representing the Areas meet with each other and the Board of Directors (elected Regional Trustees and appointed At-Large Trustees).  If you’re interested in taking a deep dive into the WSC you can download the Summaries of each World Conference from 1961 to 2023 here <https://al-anon.org/for-members/world-service-conference-wsc/world-service-conference-archive/> .  

https://al-anon.org/for-members/world-service-conference-wsc/world-service-conference-archive/

3.	CMA Connects Forum.  “CMA” stands for Current Mailing Address – every registered group & meeting has a current mailing address.  Well, in January 2019 the WSO created the “CMA Connects Forum” which effectively transitioned the CMA into a service position.  Isn’t it interesting how bureaucracies work?  While ASP’s 
4.	Several years ago (2016?) the WSC created an Electronic Meeting Work Group (EMWG) to research the issues regarding electronic meetings like ASP.  
5.	After 5 years of Electronic Meeting Work Group reports and discussion in the World Service Conference (WSC), the 2021 World Service Conference (WSC) passed two motions regarding the electronic meetings.  You may wish to refer to the actual WSC Summary <https://al-anon.org/pdf/P46-2021-web.pdf>  to make better  sense out of this.  
6.	Simply put, the two motions state:  (1) electronic meetings will henceforth become full-fledged Al-Anon groups, and (2) the Service Manual will be updated to remove the differentiation between face-to-face groups and electronic meetings.  This was a major milestone that took almost 30 years to happen
7.	FYI, you can view and/or download the Al-Anon Service Manual here <https://al-anon.org/for-members/members-resources/manuals-and-guidelines/service-manual/> , or https://al-anon.org/for-members/members-resources/manuals-and-guidelines/service-manual/
8.	WSO announced the 2021 WSC decisions to the CMA Connects Forum on July 7, 2021.  I have uploaded a PDF of that announcement here <https://asp-afg.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/2021-World-Service-Conference-decision-and-announcement.pdf> .  
9.	WSO hosted some webinars for the CMAs in November/December 2021 regarding the process of establishing the new GEA.  At this time, it became clear that WSO/BoD/WSC had determined that there would be one Area representing all electronic groups worldwide.  This was disturbing to many, especially the members of non-English speaking meetings as they had anticipated an Area devoted to representing them.   
10.	GSO hosted an Assembly for the sole purpose of electing a Temporary Chair who would chair the upcoming Election Assembly of Area Officers.  Sadly, the elected Temporary Chair was merely a figurehead as WSO ran the Election Assembly.  
11.	Unfortunately, the Election Assembly run by WSO failed to elect an Alternate Delegate.  This became a problem when the Delegate resigned not very long after being elected, which set the Area back.  Again.  
12.	DISTRICTING.  Before the GEA Districting Task Force, there was a GEA Districting Thought Force.  The Thought Force was a collection of GRs in the GEA that were tasked with the original dive into the districting issue.  Anne personally served on that Thought Force, so I will defer to her on their work and their recommendations.  
13.	For reasons that have not been explained, the Districting Task Force recommendations are significantly different from those of the Thought Force.  Frankly, I might be OK with the Task Force making differing recommendations, but only after the Task Force had presented a thorough explanation of why.  I found it rather disturbing that the Task Force not only sidestepped explaining why their recommendation differed, but instead was clearly a polished and well-developed hard sell.  

 

Next, I’ll discuss my line of thinking and suggestions for moving forward.

 

Love and SERENITY,

Steve