From the Area Delegate

The General Service Conference, destined to provide the fellowship with an enduring and unifying service structure, held its first meeting in 1951 under the watchful eye of the then surviving co-founder. In 1955, at the International in St. Louis, Missouri marking the 20^th anniversary of the birth of the fellowship and the fifth year of the Conference, AA came of age as the old-timers effectively handed off the future stewardship of the fellowship to the membership and the Conference. Thus they firmly placed in our hands the Three Legacies of AA: Recovery, Unity and Service.

The 55^th General Service Conference of the United States and Canada and its associated events were held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in Manhattan between April 16 and April 23, 2005. This year’s Conference theme was, “Basics of Our Home Group — Recovery, Unity and Service.” The Conference had 136 voting members: 93 area delegates (68%), 27 trustees, AAWS and Grapevine Directors (20%) and 16 General Service Office (GSO) and Grapevine staff (12%). All are referred to as Conference delegates.

The Conference works in tandem with the General Service Board’s Trustees’ Committees through its own committee system. Each Conference committee looks at a series of agenda items drawn from the membership, items usually brought through the service structure. (A list of the agenda items for this year’s Conference was made available to you earlier this year.) Within each committee there is full discussion on each item. While each committee is somewhat autonomous on its rules, many if not all decided this year to require a two-thirds majority decision (substantial unanimity) on an agenda item rather than a simple majority in order to pass the item along as a recommendation to the full Conference. Each committee could also pass along its action on an item as a consideration, that is a request to a Trustee committee, AAWS or Grapevine for some review or action or simply to present information. Such considerations are not discussed nor do they require a vote of the Conference to move forward as offered. In some cases the committee might report it “took no action” on an item, usually a polite way of saying it did not find a suggestion either viable, necessary or otherwise desirable, but sometimes a way to simply acknowledge it reviewed an item while offering only a suggestion or observation.

For a committee recommendation to become a Conference advisory action it must be approved by a two thirds vote of the full Conference. (Conference advisory actions are considered binding on the General Service Board and its related corporate services so long as they do not impair the legal rights of the Board and the Service corporations to conduct routine business.) After the Conference has discussed and acted on all committee reports, it reviews any floor actions which are requests for Conference action on an item a member feels should be considered differently, or, in some cases, items not on the original agenda. Any Conference member may propose a floor action which simply needs to be seconded to receive further review.

My task today will be to try to share with you some sense of my experiences at the 55^th General Service Conference, to try as much as possible to let you be there too, and to report back to you on some of the recommendations and considerations of that Conference, particularly on those items we have discussed as an area.

This year’s Conference experience began informally on Saturday evening with a pre-Conference meeting of the 1728 Group (an open meeting held annually to help expose Class A Trustees to the fellowship) [Ed Note: 12x12x12]. This was followed by an orientation session for all delegates conducted by Delegate Chair, the Panel 54 Delegate from Kansas (Area 25).

Sunday morning began with a session on Remote Communities entitled, “AA Goes the Distance” co-chaired by several delegates with remote communities in their areas including our Region’s Panel 54 Delegate from Maine (Area 28). (Remote communities are understood to be those which are separated from the rest of the fellowship by great differences in either geographical distance, language or culture.) Several of the delegates from Canada and the delegates from Arizona, Nevada and San Diego/Imperial California made presentations in addition to several written presentations. I was impressed to learn that the Alberta/Northwest Territories area of Canada covered over one million square miles and ran 2350 miles from north to south (almost the distance from New York to Phoenix, Arizona) and 1100 miles east to west (more than the distance from New York to St. Louis, Missouri). Travel in this area between two of its groups can be over 600 miles one way. In the British Columbia/Yukon area about $50,000 is budgeted for travel annually. Travel in these remote areas may be by road, air, snowmobile and even dogsled, and in some cases road travel is not possible. (By comparison, the distance from Montauk in Suffolk County to Monticello in Sullivan County, the extremes of SENY, is just over 200 miles or about four and a half hours by road.) Communication costs are similarly inflated when trying to move informational materials across the great distances. Several areas in both Canada and the US have Native American nations where not only are the distances traveled great, but differences in language and culture present further barriers to carrying the AA message to the suffering alcoholic. The building of trust between AA members reaching out and these communities is a major task. In spite of these barriers, AA is active and well supported in these areas. Considering the efforts of the involved AA members in these remote communities helped put our local challenges into better perspective for me.

Following a Regional luncheon we moved on to the formal opening session where we were welcomed by the then Chair of the General Service Board, Dr. Elaine Mc­Dowell, a Class A Trustee. That was followed by the roll call of the Conference members conducted by the General Manger of the General Service Office. This was when it started to become real for me, when my name was called and I responded “present” thereby taking my place in the formal history of the Conference.

In his opening remarks that Sunday afternoon, the Conference Delegate Chair reminded us,

We are really the voice of Alcoholics Anonymous as a whole. We need not forget the group conscience of our areas, but you may set those views aside long enough to listen like you have no opinion. This is a whole lot harder than it sounds. It allows me to levitate above the heat of the debate and to get a better look at Alcoholics Anonymous as a whole. It removes my blinders, so to speak. It brings the importance of what we do into the light. Learn to trust the committee process, the Conference process. There will be times we will be given a new perspective that may not agree with how our respective area wants us to vote. Remember, we are here to decide what is best for Alcoholics Anonymous as a whole. Trust the group conscience of your committee; trust the Conference process. We will see spiritual principles in action and experience the unity of the Conference.

Later that morning we began meeting by committee. For my assignment, the Conference Committee on Treatment Facilities, our first gathering was a joint meeting with the Trustees’ Committee on Cooperation with the Professional Community/Treatment Facilities. That evening Conference members and their guests attended the Opening Dinner and AA meeting.

Between Monday and Tuesday mornings the various Conference committees met at least twice more to review, discuss and take action on their agenda items, and to select a chair for next year’s committee. (Committees with large agendas met more often and/or for longer hours.) Breaking up the routine of Committee meetings and continuing throughout the week were presentations and discussions whose titles were given to you in my January article in The Link, titles which remain good topics for local discussion. There were also reports including Finance (highlights of this report are in the Early Bird Edition Box 459) and the beginning of the area service highlights reports from the Panel 55 delegates organized by region. (The first delegate to deliver his area highlights did so in a delightful rhyme reminiscent of Dr. Seuss thereby setting the performance bar high for delegates who followed. Our own Regional Trustee set his introductions of the Northeast Regional Panel 55 delegates before we each delivered our highlights in rhyme as well.) These would continue through Wednesday afternoon. (All area highlights will be included in the final Conference report.) Tuesday afternoon was the annual visit to the GSO/Grape­vine offices.

Wednesday morning we met in groups for the workshop topic, “Do I Carry the AA Message or My Own?” This triggered some lively sharing and discussion among the delegates, trustees and GSO/Grapevine staff.

Elections for Southeast and East Central Regional Trustees and Trustee at Large/US took place before the full Conference on Wednesday afternoon by written ballots following the Third Legacy Procedure. Only regional delegates voted in the regional elections and only US delegates voted in the Trustee at Large/US election sitting in roped off sections of the Conference floor during the balloting. All candidates’ resumes were distributed to the full Conference. For the two Regional elections, area candidates’ resumes were expanded verbally by their respective area delegates prior to the vote. For Trustee at Large/US, the regions caucused over lunch to select their candidates. (Our Northeast Regional Candidate was the Panel 49 Delegate from SENY.) The area delegates for the selected regional candidates then presented their candidates’ expanded resumes to the full Conference too. The newly elected Southeast Regional Trustee is from Columbia, Mississippi, the East Central Regional Trustee is from Ontonagon, Michigan and the Trustee at Large/US who came out of the hat after the fourth ballot is from Indianapolis, Indiana.

Committee reports to the full Conference began Wednesday evening and would continue through Friday afternoon. Through these reports the various committees shared their discussions, recommendations and considerations with the Conference for discussion, questions and approval as I have already described. I will share some highlights on the items we have discussed as an area and on others I believe are of special interest.

The following were Conference advisory actions or committee considerations or suggestions:

 » Agenda –

Advisory actions,

• that the theme for the 2006 General Service Conference will be, “Sponsorship, Service and Self-Support in a Changing World”;
• that the following be presentation/discussion and workshop topics for the 2006 Conference:
  • Presentation/Discussion –
  • • — Sponsorship:
    • Presenting AA to Newcomers
    • Changes in the Alcoholic Coming to AA
    • Sponsorship Into Sobriety, Into Service
  • • — Service:
    • Performing Service Without Expectations
    • Leadership– An Ever Vital Need
    • Responsibility with Accountability
  • • — Self-Support:
    • An Informed Group Conscience
    • Gratitude through Self-Sacrifice
  • Workshop –
    • “Passing It On in a Changing World.”

Consideration,

• reviewed the Conference Evaluation form and suggested a heading be added regarding improving next year’s Conference.

 » Archives –

No advisory actions.

Consideration,

• suggested adding a reference to the GSO Archives web site to the Archives Workbook under the section “Reference Information and Resources.”

 » Cooperation with the Professional Community (CPC) –

No advisory actions.

Considerations,

• reviewed shared experience on ways local committees approach professionals;
• considered ways members share information about AA one-on-one with professionals for possible inclusion in CPC materials;
• discussed the need for a pamphlet directed to the criminal justice system and requested the Trustees’ Committee on CPC/Treatment Facilities review current CPC literature to see whether it provides easily accessible information on singleness of purpose, open and closed meetings, proof of attendance at meetings, anonymity and how to contact AA locally;
• considered the request to create a video for professionals and asked that the Trustees’ Committee on CPC/Treatment Facilities consider cost and feasibility of producing short video segments directed to professionals in employment/human relations, legal/criminal justice, and medical fields that could be streamed on GSO’s web site;
• reviewed the new three-ring binder format for the CPC kit with appreciation, and asked that the workbook include the following: a guide letter to the legal community, a note suggesting CPC committees contact GSO for samples of locally developed CPC pieces, and the suggestion that some committees have found a local list of open meetings helpful in doing CPC work;
• requested that the section of the workbook entitled “Guidelines for AA Sponsors” be re-written using terms such as building or developing relationships rather than using the term “sponsorship” with respect to the relationship between AA members and professionals;
• requested that a list of professions approached by local committees be gathered for possible inclusion in the kit;
• requested the GSO CPC staff person to gather sharing on how CPC committees have solved the problem of rotation in ensuring the committees work without breaks in continuity;
• noted that the following have been helpful in approaching professionals:
  • approaching professionals in twos;
  • creating calling cards with CPC contact information;
  • finding members with appropriate professional or recovery experience to do CPC work;
  • remembering that AA is a valuable resource to professionals.

 » Correctional Facilities (CF) –

Advisory actions,

• that the “Singleness of Purpose” statement drawn from the CPC pamphlets be included in the pamphlet, “A Message to Correctional Professionals”;
• that the name of the committee be changed to Conference Committee on Corrections;
• that a progress report on the development of an effective informational media presentation introducing AA to training academies and in-service training for corrections personnel be brought back. The presentation should reflect:
  • What AA is and is not,
  • How to contact AA,
  • An inmate’s chances of maintaining sobriety on the outside are improved by participation in the AA program of recovery,
  • Correctional facilities usually regard AA as contributing to the objectives of their institution.

(Note– See also below the single floor action resulting in an advisory action.)

Consideration,

• reviewed with appreciation the draft service piece, “Guidelines for the Development of Workshops Introducing AA in Training Programs for Correctional Personnel,” suggested the Trustees’ Committee on Corrections continue to develop the piece, requested the draft be addressed to training programs for corrections personnel rather than being limited to training academies and that it be circulated to CF, Hospitals and Institutions, and Bridging the Gap area committee chairs for additional sharing.

 » Finance –

Advisory action,

• that in the interest of self-support, the contributions for delegates’ expenses be increased from $800 to $1,200 effective with the 2006 Conference and that areas continue to be encouraged to make contributions over and above this requested amount to help cover a greater portion of Conference costs.

Considerations,

• that the Trustees’ Finance Committee develop a “draft finance card” to be used in groups similar to the “Blue Card” that can explain that in addition to group expenses all levels of service require money to carry the message to the still suffering alcoholic;
• discussed a request to include information on how to obtain a tax ID number in the pamphlet “Self-Support: Where Money and Spirituality Mix” and took no action as the information is currently available in other literature.

 » Grapevine –

No advisory actions.

Considerations,

• that the Grapevine Corporate Board be requested to produce a collection of AA Grapevine stories for young people;
• that an audio CD of La Viña stories on Steps Seven through Twelve be produced.

(Note– Because of the special structure of the AA Grapevine, Inc. giving it greater autonomy, the usual advisory actions are not possible here. The production schedule for Grapevine items nevertheless gives the fellowship at all levels an opportunity to comment on any proposed or ongoing project.)

 » International Conventions/Regional Forums –

Advisory action,

• that an encrypted, anonymity-protected, delayed broadcast of the 2005 International Convention Opening Flag Ceremony be approved.

(Note– Details on how areas and overseas GSO’s may access this are available through GSO.)

Consideration,

• discussed ways to encourage interest in Regional and Special forums and suggested the following:
  • that groups, districts and areas develop flyers using the information regarding Regional and Special Forums posted on the web by GSO;
  • that members consider organizing bus/van trips to forums;
  • that more members, particularly sponsors and trusted servants in each region personally encourage and invite new members to attend forums with them.

 » Literature –

Advisory actions,

• that the proposed introduction to the book Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions be approved;
• that the pamphlet “Young People and AA” be revised including eleven current and eight new stories and that the Publication Department forward a draft pamphlet or progress report through the Trustees’ Literature Committee;
• that the Spanish-language Third Edition Big Book continue to be developed;
• to include select added text to the section titled “Service Sponsorship” in the pamphlet “Questions and Answers on Sponsorship”;
• that the revisions suggested to “The AA Group” pamphlet be approved;
• that the text under the heading “The AA Grapevine” in the pamphlet “Your General Service Office” be replaced with the text proposed in the background material;
• that the term “sexual preference” be changed to “sexual orientation” on page 10 of the pamphlet, “AA and the Gay/Les­bian Alcoholic.”

Considerations,

• reviewed the revised draft manuscripts of the pamphlets “Too Young?” and “It Happened to Alice!” and requested the Publications Department rewrite the manuscripts taking into consideration suggestions from the Committee;
• discussed the development of a publication oriented toward members with long-term sobriety and took no action;
• discussed revising the Table of Contents of the book “Living Sober” and took no action.

 » Policy/Admissions –

Advisory actions,

• that the Alternate Delegates for Areas 2 (Alaska) and 37 (Mississippi) be seated as the delegates for those areas are unable to attend;
• that the 58th General Service Conference be held April 27 through May 3, 2008;
• revised the timetable for the election of delegates from the Western Region of Canada to allow for an even distribution of new delegates on each panel.

Consideration,

• discussed the formation of a second Conference Literature Committee and took no action.

 » Public Information (PI) –

Advisory actions,

• that the Membership Survey pamphlet and the Membership Survey display be updated to reflect the findings of the 2004 survey;
• approved the PSA “Living In Chaos” developed by the Trustees’ Committee on PI;
• approved the translation into French and Spanish, distribution, tracking and evaluation of the PSA “Living In Chaos” at a total cost not to exceed $40,000, in addition to the work of local committees, and that the information be forwarded for review;
• approved that the phrase “and taking pills” be removed from the PSA “Teenager,” spot #6 in the PSA CD item #R-10;
• that the Trustees’ Committee on PI take the initial steps to determine the feasibility of replacing two videos, “AA—Rap with Us” and “Young People and AA”;
• that distribution of the video “Alcoholics Anonymous—An Inside View” be discontinued since it is outdated.

 » Report and Charter –

Advisory action,

• recommended adding specified text pertaining to the AA Grapevine Digital Archive and to the AA Grapevine Reprint Policy to The AA Service Manual;
• that on-line meetings in other than English, French and Spanish be listed in AA directories under “ONLINE MEETINGS” with the meeting language indicated next to the listing and in accordance with the relevant 1997 Conference Advisory Action, but that they continue to be listed with an e-mail contact address only.

Consideration,

• reviewed the Final Conference Report and noted with appreciation the timely distribution to the areas of the 2004 report, and also considered cost reduction efforts involving the Final Conference Report and suggested they focus primarily on format and not effect content;
• considered placement of a central office serving Native North American People in the AA directories and took no action.

 » Treatment Facilities (TF) –

No advisory actions.

Consideration,

• reviewed with appreciation the results of the 2004 TF Committee Survey noting a shift in numbers from inpatient to outpatient facilities and many local TF Committees bringing meetings into other types of facilities;
• requested a summary of the survey results be prepared and that relevant shared experience be added to the TF Workbook;
• reviewed the request to include the CPC “Singleness of Purpose” statement in the pamphlet “AA in Treatment Facilities” and took no action;
• requested the Publications Department add an Additional Resources section to the last page of the pamphlet, “AA in Treatment Facilities.”

 » Trustees –

Advisory action,

• recommended the slate of trustees, officers and directors to be elected at the April 2005 meetings of the General Service, AAWS and Grapevine Boards.

A floor action recommending the draft manuscript Inmate to Inmate including suggestions of the 2005 Conference Committee on Correctional Facilities be returned to the Trustees’ Corrections Committee for review and revision also became an advisory action.

More information on these and other recommendations and considerations is offered in the Early Bird Edition Box 459 available through your area, county and district meetings. A full published Final Conference Report for the 55^th General Service Conference should be available from AAWS by August through your area, county and district meetings.

It may be helpful to pause here to talk briefly about what a member or service group may do if you feel the Conference has erred in its decisions or you would otherwise like to see something reviewed by the Conference. On page 11 of the area Service Handbook (page 10 in the Spanish edition) is a chart explaining how a question, suggestion or concern might become a Conference Advisory Action. In practice then, it is suggested you begin with local discussion followed by sending a letter or letters on to the next levels of the service structure, district, county and area for review. While each service level is autonomous on how it handles your item, the area would bring it forward for discussion and action by the full assembly if there seems to be more than isolated interest in the item. You could also bring it to the assembly for review yourself similar to a Conference floor action. If the area found merit in your issue, it would then pass it on to the GSO Conference Coordinator for review.

Returning to this year’s Conference, the Conference concluded its business with discussion and decisions on eight floor actions. As noted earlier, only one was accepted to become an advisory action.

The Conference adjourned early Friday evening following closing remarks by the then Chair of the General Service Board Dr. Elaine McDowell and the recitation of the Serenity Prayer in English, French and Spanish. Following this the Panel 54 delegates (those for whom this would probably be their last Conference) were offered a minute to share at the microphone any final thoughts or feelings. The gratitude, love of AA and humility of these rotating out members was very moving and a powerful example of the best of AA’s Three Legacies in action. I notice even some of the outwardly tougher members wiping away tears as we listened.

We met once more over brunch on Saturday morning to hear from the panel of Trustees who were rotating out. These included: the Trustee at Large/US, two General Service Trustees, the Southeast Regional Trustee, the East Central Regional Trustee and Elaine McDowell, Chair of the General Service Board. Their remarks were both touching and inspiring leaving many a tearful eye yet again. The General Service, AAWS and Grapevine Boards met immediately thereafter to confirm the panel of trustees, officers and directors recommended by the Conference. The new Chair of the General Service Board is Dr. Leonard Blumen­thal of Alberta, Canada.

Looking about the Conference room during the week, under the large banner which pronounced the “55^th General Service Conference,” I noted many delegates with piles of summaries and notepads or computers cluttering their tables, but also delegates with small vases of flowers or dishes of candy at their seats and copies of the Daily Reflections book among the manuals and reports. There was even a teddy bear who seemed to alternately serve as security blanket and mascot for more than one delegate during the sometimes emotional discussions and decision making. There were those members who seemed always to share just the needed thing at difficult or pressured times. There were also those who seemed compelled to go to the microphone again and again and again, but it remained important to keep listening. I learned that good service is thoughtful, tolerant and patient. As one member described it though, it was a chance to walk among giants of AA’s Three Legacies, even if as only as a small part myself.

Special thanks to the area GSR’s who participated to help make your groups’ views an active part of AA history and practice, to the past SENY delegates who shared your experience, strength, hope and support that I might better represent SENY in the service of AA, to the Northeast Regional Trustee and the Northeast Regional Delegates of Panels 54 and 55 who also supported me and with whom I shared this experience, to the Conference Coordinator and Secretary and the supporting GSO staff, to the other members of the 55^th Conference and to my many AA friends old and new. You led the way and showed me how. We share the past, present and future of Alcoholics Anonymous. Participation as your delegate at the Conference has been the highlight of my AA service experience, and it is difficult to convey to you just how grateful I am to you for the opportunity to serve as SENY’s twenty-eighth delegate to the General Service Conference. Who would have thought being asked to participate in a week-long business meeting could have been so rewarding!

In closing, paraphrasing the late Bernard Smith (The AA Service Manual, p. S19), Chair of the Board of Trustees in the 1950’s, perhaps you and I who have found safe harbor in AA do not need the Conference to ensure our recovery, but let us remember the drunk who is still out there struggling in the dark or the child born tonight destined for alcoholism. The Conference provides that safe harbor for all alcoholics to continue to find in AA the rebirth that has brought us back to life, and to protect the fellowship from the human urge for power and prestige while insulating it against anarchy. The Conference ensures that changes in AA come in response to true need expressed at the grassroots, and that the doors of AA remain open to all who need it regardless of other considerations.

That is my sense of the 55^th General Service Conference of the United States and Canada and report back. Questions or comments may be addressed to Delegate, PO Box 571, New York, NY 10116 or to delegate@aaseny.org.