Delegate’s Report on NERAASA 2020
I attended the Northeast Regional Alcoholics Anonymous Service Assembly, in Nashua, New Hampshire the weekend of February 21st– 23rd.
There were six panels. Each panel had 3 speakers who had done research on a specific subtopic under the panel theme, followed by an open mic session when anyone in attendance could share their thoughts or questions on the topic. All of the topics directly related to an agenda item that will be discussed at the upcoming General Service Conference in April. This year’s panels were:
1 “Internet and the online presence of A.A.”
- How is AA currently presenting itself online? How are we using forums like YouTube, Google Ads (formerly known as AdWords), and LinkedIn, etc., to interact with the world-at-large? How can we continue and improve utilizations of such forums?
- Should we curtail the use of YouTube, Google Ad (formerly known as AdWords), LinkedIn, etc.? Does the current disclaimer satisfy concerns about affiliation?
- How do we reconcile an online presence with our tradition of anonymity?
2 “Pamphlets and The Preamble”
- Should we discontinue the pamphlet “AA in your community?”
- Should we revise or update the pamphlet “AA for the Black and African American Alcoholic?
- Should we revise the Preamble to say “We are a fellowship of people” as opposed to “men and women?”
3 “Life in a “cashless” World”
- How is the 7th Tradition being collected by Areas, Districts and Groups in the digital era?
- Do non-profit business accounting practices constitute contributions that run contrary to our tradition of self-support?
- Should we revise the pamphlet “Self-Support: Where Money and Spirituality Mix”?
4 “Communications in Mediums Other Than Print”
- Overview of the 2019 Communications Audit on the Relevance and Usefulness of Video and Audio Public Service Announcements.
- Should Conference approval be required of an audio or video adaptation of a previous Conference approved item?
- Are we effectively making use of contemporary methods of communications such as Podcasts or other such forums to reach the sick and suffering alcoholic?
5 “Literature: Historical vs Modern Perspective”
- Should we do anything, or not, regarding language in our literature which is culturally or social now dated? Does the historical value outweigh modernization?
- Should we do anything, or not, regarding gender neutrality in current literature?
- Based upon past General Service Conference Actions can anything ever be changed in the first 164 pages of the Big Book or can future Conferences vote to change the first 164 pages.
6 – “5th Edition Big Book”
- Pro- We should create a 5th edition Big Book.
- Con- We should not create a 5th edition Big Book.
- What is the process involved in creating a new edition of the Big Book?
That’s a lot! It certainly helped everyone understand this agenda item background on a much deeper level.
NERAASA is open to anyone in AA who wished to attend, but as a service assembly it’s mostly attended by GSRs, DCMs, committee chairs, officers, delegates and alternate delegates. On both Friday and Saturday nights, each of those groups break off into roundtables with people from all over the northeast who hold the same position. They share ideas on best practices, brainstorm, problem solve and develop a support structure for one another. I attended the roundtable for delegates and alternate delegates. It was great to meet the new delegates who started in January and all us “old timer” delegates (with one whole year of experience!) gave them some input on what to expect at the General Service Conference.
Our regional trustee, Francis G, who was voted in last spring, gave a presentation on some of the GSO 2019 financials and he was also the Saturday night speaker.
Sunday morning, 1 representative from each roundtable gave a report back, and then some past trustees got a chance to share.
As a year 2 delegate, I also got to be on the ask it basket panel on Sunday morning. There’s just no way to prepare for that! I think this was my 9thNERAASA, and it was strange to think of it being the last time I go as an Area 47 rep, since I’ll rotate on to something else next (aka – more will be revealed!)
barb
