Delegate’s Report on NYSIW 2020
I attended the first ever virtual New York State Informational Workshop August 1st – 2nd. It was hosted by western NY. It was interesting to see how attendance ebbed and flowed. I saw 100 participants at one point, and 62 at another, and everything in between, up and down, as the event went on. I don’t know if that’s bad (that people didn’t stay fully engaged for the whole thing), or good (that people who wouldn’t have been able to attend at all otherwise were at least able to check out bits and pieces)
It opened with 3 past delegates from western NY sharing. Then it moved on to the typical panels, with reps from each of the 4 NYS Areas participating in each when possible. There was Grapevine, Treatment, Cooperation with the Professional Community, Corrections, Public Information, Accessibilities, and Archives.
Much of the conversation centered around how the work and outreach of all those committees have been impacted by COVID-19 and what people are doing currently.
One interesting tidbit that jumped out at me was someone who shared feedback received from a professional that of all the AA pamphlets and literature we provided for that professional’s office, Grapevine was always the thing snatched up the most.
We also had two speakers – Terry, the current delegate from Delaware and his wife Phyllis, a past delegate and past trustee and past General Service Office manager.
Then there was an Ask it Basket with the questions answered by the 4 current delegates from NY state. Full disclosure – they showed us some of the questions the night before so we couldn’t mess that up too badly!
A huge thank you to John, Amanda (and her cat), Sarah M-B, Bob, Ginger, and Sarah A for representing Area 47 so well on their respective panels!
Respectfully submitted,
Barb C, Area 47 delegate
