Delegate’s Report to Area Assembly, August 11, 2019
I attended the NY State Informational Workshop (NYSIW) in Garrison, NY the weekend of August 2nd-4th. Each of the 4 Areas in NY had an opportunity to have a rep speak on panels for Treatment and Accessibility, Archives, Literature, Grapevine/La Vina, Public Information, Cooperation with the Professional Community and Corrections. Then it’s open mike for anyone in attendance to ask a question, make a comment, or share additional knowledge. Many thanks to our Area chairs (and substitutes) who did our Area proud!
During the open mike portion, someone asked why there’s no way to tell what literature/pamphlets have been updated. I thought I’d point out there is a way. If you go to www.aa.org/assets/en_US/AAWS_Mini_Catalog.pdf it will bring up a document that shows what we have, highlighting what’s new, modified, or just has a new cover. (mini is a bit of a misnomer, it’s 43 pages)
Next year the NYSIW will be in western NY (exact location TBD) the weekend of July 31st.
I received information on the June AA World Services Board meeting. Highlights include: there is a draft 3 year communications strategic plan; the General Service Office is looking to acquire an additional 5,000 square feet of office space on the 8th floor of the building they’re in now; there was an IT audit and as a result computers are being upgraded to add hard drive encryption; there is a new service piece titled “Archives Checklist: A quick guide for local AA archivists”; the Accessibilities assignment is working on changes to its service materials to better differentiate between deaf and hard of hearing and to emphasize helping alcoholics with hearing difficulties to participate in all 3 Legacies; Corrections made a push and found members to write to 200 male inmates, so there is no longer a waiting list.
I also received a summary of the July General Service Board Weekend from our new regional trustee, Francis G. Those highlights include: the Accessibilities Committee has been invited to share about A.A. at a conference on suicide prevention organized by the Dept. of Veteran Affairs and the Defense Department; the AAWS Publishing Department has identified the pamphlets most used in corrections and treatment and is actively working on providing the pamphlets in a staple free format; AAWS will draw down up to $1,000,000 from the Reserve Fund to cover current expenses, primarily resulting from upfront expenses related to the international convention. The drawdown will be repaid by 31 December 2019 (once International Convention revenues start coming in from registration fees).
Speaking of the International Convention, online registration (at aa.org) begins on September 9th at 10am. Once you register for the event, then you can book a hotel through their site.
The ERP database changeover was successful. You can order literature and make online contributions again. The new database has assigned every registered homegroup a new number, but the old number still works also, so we don’t need to worry about this yet – more will be revealed!
