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Alateen Sponsors
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Delegate's Report Spring AssemblyJune 9-11, 2006 Shared Leadership
Hello Florida South! Welcome to the first Assembly for Panel 46. Being new in our positions, we are all learning what our new job entails. We are all leaders assembled here this weekend with confidence to collaborate on the business of Florida South Al-Anon and hopefully will leave with some clarity of what it is all about. I attended my first World Service Conference in April where I was called a “newbie”. What a busy week we had, working on the business of worldwide Al-Anon. We continued on with the fifty-five year old conversation of Al-Anon that Lois W. and Anne B. started. We worked very hard, and sometimes late at night, so that we could finish our agenda. I am not complaining, though, because the experience was wonderful and I knew I had all of Florida South with me in spirit and prayers. Panel 46 Delegates had to be at the Conference on Sunday morning to assemble our Conference notebooks. We then went to orientation where we learned who would attend the Conference and what their roles would be. We found out that the attendees would be made up of the Trustees, Executive Committee, the WSO Staff and sixty-seven Delegates. We would have a total of ninety-five voting members at the Conference. On Sunday evening we had an opening dinner with everyone in attendance. Introductions were made and the new Delegates received their Conference pins. This was the first time there had been an opening dinner in quite a few years so it was very special and a nice icebreaker. We then had our Area Highlights meeting where we broke up into smaller groups and each Delegate shared something about their Area pertaining to the theme of the Conference. This was where we exchanged ideas and found out what works or doesn’t work in other Areas. You will be able to read this in the Conference Summary. Monday morning was the start of the business week: Admissions Handbook Committee: This is the committee that I chose to work on and will be on it the remainder of my Panel. The duties of this committee are:
The Admissions/Handbook Committee is a subcommittee of the Conference Committee. It has two specific responsibilities relative to the World Service Conference. It reviews and makes decisions on all requests for seating non-voting participants at the Conference and makes recommendations for changes to the “World Service Handbook” section of the Service Manual to accurately reflect the links of service. When the proposed “World Service Handbook” text revisions were sent to Conference members for questions and review prior to the 2005 Conference, the Committee received a number of suggestions for wording preferences along with questions and comments. During the WSC revisions process, it was agreed that rather than delay printing of the 2004-2006 Al-Anon/Alateen Service Manual, your suggestions would be considered by the Committee before the next printing of the Service Manual. The Committee spent the bulk of its meeting time this past year reviewing your suggestions and wording preferences. This review is ongoing. The goals of the Admissions/Handbook Committee are to have 100% Committee participation/responses to Committee homework and WSO surveys within one year to immediately begin modeling application of the Handbook. During the full Committee meeting at the 2006 Conference, the Committee also discussed their roles on the Committee and the value of the Committee to the Conference and to the fellowship. The Committee continued its discussion of the current policy that allows a populous Area to divide only once. The pros and cons and implications of changing the policy were discussed. New ideas were proposed and the question of whether requiring an Area to have 400 groups in order to divide is still reasonable today was discussed. Archival research of past Conference discussions will be done and the discussion will continue. The Committee brought back feedback from their Areas regarding the Service Manual index: the consensus was that the fellowship likes the new conceptual index with a few exceptions. Members are encouraged to use the Members’ website for a word search by using the “binoculars” icon. Regional Trustee: Our newly elected Regional Trustee is Lyn D. from Tennessee. Lyn will only serve one year as she is a replacement. At the Fall Assembly Florida South may elect a candidate to submit their resume for the next three-year term. There will be a new Regional Trustee Election Plan that will serve Al-Anon as a whole, with principals above personalities. It is a trial period and can be changed to better suit our purpose. If you are thinking about submitting your name, I have the forms available. Chosen Agenda Items: We were given a list of chosen agenda items before the Conference to vote on for discussion. The two items that received the highest votes were discussed on the Conference floor for one hour.The two items we discussed were: 1. How does the fellowship help newcomers understand that Al-Anon sponsorship does not include:
2. Spiritual principles and good business practices:
Concepts One-Seven: We went through the final text for the Introduction and Concepts One-Seven. The update has been in progress for several years. Some wording needed to be changed and some words need to be removed. “e-CAL”: This is another exciting opportunity to provide literature for our membership anytime, from anywhere. The look of this literature at this time is unknown, as well as the procedure for how this will be done. The Conference gave the “go ahead” and its support to proceed in looking into the development of this opportunity. Web Site: The WSO wants you to help us get the word out about both of our Web Sites. One is for Public Outreach and the other is for Al-Anon members. There is a multitude of information on both sites. WSO Public Outreach Site- www.al-anon.alateen.org. WSO Member’s site www.al-anon.alateen.org/members. The password is some form of your home group name, plus the letters “afg” Electronic Meetings: WSO will now register Electronic Meetings on-line, on the phone, or on computers. By registering, these meetings will be able to use the Al-Anon name. Registered meetings may request a license from the WSO to use text format of the Steps, Traditions, Concepts of Service, suggested welcome, suggested closing, and excerpts from Conference Approved Literature. Alateen Traditions: After some research, it was discovered that the Alateen Traditions have never been Conference approved. We had a brief discussion on this topic and will continue it next year at the Conference. Meanwhile there are three questions that we need to discuss so I can take back an informed decision from our Area. Alateen 50th Birthday: We would like to see Al-Anon members help support Alateen in their celebration with our experience, strength, and hope rather than a donation. We will be hearing more about this later. Appeal Letter: When I heard the appeal letter read at a meeting the other night it bought a smile to my face, because at the Conference we discussed the importance of making members aware of how the contributions were spent. Each Group receives $235.00 in services provided by the WSO, which were listed in the Appeal letter. The Associate Director of Group Services reported that Group Records has been cleaning up data in preparation for an upgrade to the database. The Group Records registration form will be revised to eliminate some of the special focus types. This means the group name will need to include the special focus of the group. For example, include “Step Study” within the group name. The following chart was shared to show the worldwide Al-Anon group count as of December 31, 2005. Worldwide Al-Anon and Alateen Group Count
*This corrects the 2004 Canadian Al-Anon group count by 500 groups. ** On 12/31/04 all Active and Suspended status Alateen groups in US and Canada were temporarily placed in disbanded status until they re-registered through their Area Alateen process. By the end of the year, 919 Alateen groups had re-registered; Areas identified 425 as Inactive (some of these had not been meeting for up to three yeas), and 110 Alateen groups remained in disbanded status. Lone Member Letter Box: There are more Lone Member contacts than Lone Members, therefore the Lone Member Letter Box will be discontinued in the spring of 2006. However, WSO will continue serving Lone Members through quarterly mailings from the WSO and by supplying them with member contacts. Lone Members receive a free Forum subscription during their first year. Financial Tidbits: For the first quarter of 2006, contributions of $276,500 were about $318,100 below last year. This is due to a bequest of approximately $348,000 received in March of last year. Some changes WSO made to decrease expenses were instead of a cost of living increase plus a merit increase, employees will receive only a cost of living increase in June of 2006. The Service Manual printing planned for September 2006 will be postponed until 2007. Board of Trustee and Staff travel was reduced $40,000 from the original plans. Due to the Board approving sending every group a free copy of the Forum to be funded from the Reserve Fund on a one year trial basis, we will discontinue producing Inside Al-Anon Xtra effective July 1, 2006. KBDM - Knowledge-Based Decision Making:
When I first heard this, I thought, “What on earth are they talking about?” After reading the information on KBDM and using it at the Conference, I really like the concept. It sure saved a lot of time and helped us make informed decisions. To gain knowledge, we need information on a subject before making a decision. Sometimes we are so quick to make a motion, but we don’t have the necessary information to make an informed decision. If we have dialogue first, we may not need a motion. Visions: The Board’s vision is that all people affected by someone else’s drinking will find help and recovery in every community. My Visions For Florida South:
Upcoming Events: Regional Service Seminars: Irving, TX, August 4-6, 2006, and Canada West November 10-12, 2006. I have registrations forms. 2008 Pittsburg Will Be Great: “Connecting People around the World” International Al-Anon Convention will be held July 4th weekend. Registration forms will be out in September 2007. It is time to start saving for this trip now. 2007 World Service Conference: April 22-26 Ramada Plaza Hotel, Virginia Beach VA. 2010 A.A. International Convention: with Al-Anon participation in San Antonio, TX, July 4th weekend. More information to follow. 2013 International Al-Anon Convention: Join the Dream in 2013. Do we want to submit a bid?2007 Southeast Regional Seminar: May be in West Virginia. More information to follow.
That about wraps up the week at the Conference. I tried to touch on everything that we discussed throughout the week. It was like a week long Assembly, only more intense. We accomplished a lot of work but we had fun. They had some very humorous skits that really made us laugh. It was a very rewarding experience and now that I know a little of what to expect, I am looking forward to next year. It was an honor to represent Florida South at the Conference. I have learned about shared leadership and have used it here at the Assembly. I feel I am more confident in my position and have more clarity about how Al-Anon works. We ended the Conference with a trip to the World Service Office and had lunch. When we got off the bus the Staff, Executive Committee, and Trustees were clapping and told us “welcome home.” We knew we all belonged. I can’t forget about Al-Anon’s 55th Birthday party, which I had the pleasure to attend. We had a parade of all the Countries that Al-Anon is in and I got to participate. When they had the countdown and we witnessed all the years of recovery, it made your heart pound and brought tears to your eyes. What an experience!!!! If I can be of assistance in any way, please feel free to contact me. I don’t know all the answers, but I will help you to try to find a solution. Love and Hugs To All, Georgia C. **Remember to use our full name, Al-Anon Family Groups whenever appropriate**
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