Alternate Delegate’s Report on NERD 2018
In March, I attended NERD 2018, which was held in Tarrytown, NY. It’s the North East Regional Delegates weekend, attended by past and current delegates, and current alternate delegates. I wasn’t sure what this was last year when I attended it for the first time and this year I was really looking forward to it. At its heart, it’s preparing the new delegates for what to expect at the General Service Conference, letting the current delegates get to know each other, and just a happy reunion of people who love AA.
The alternate delegates met separately Saturday morning just to share what our roles are and what our Areas are up to, especially as it related to sharing conference agenda items in advance of the conference and how report backs are done. No two Areas were the same.
The panel 67 delegates shared their stories, which is a great way to get to know them better and it’s just plain fun to hear. One of the moderators mentioned that his whole family was made up of alcoholics, so they started suspending their Christmas Tree from the ceiling so it just swung back into place when they repeatedly drunkenly fell into it.
The regional trustee had just returned from a meeting at GSO and shared that they approved the development of a free App that will have a meeting finder, the Big Book, Daily Reflections and perhaps some pamphlets. He hoped the app would be available by the end of the year. He also said they want to use our YouTube channel much more actively, including posting the Daily Reflection there. They are also updating the aa.org website. All of this is an effort to make us much more apparent as an online presence for people looking for help with a drinking problem.
Our trustee also reported that GSO now has on staff French and Spanish translators to help with ongoing projects. 2018 is the first year all of the general conference background material was available in French and Spanish so those delegates could prepare in advance of the conference, just like the English speaking delegates can.
We also heard that the board plans to do an inventory on its communications.
It was a great weekend and I came back fired up!
Barb C
Panel 67, Area 47 Alternate Delegate
