Delegate’s Report to Area Assembly, December 8, 2019

There was a General Service Board Weekend in November, so lots of news came out of that:

• Francis, our regional trustee, will be the trustee director for Grapevine for 2 years starting after the 2020 General Service Conference.

• The International Convention in Detroit:
  • Online registration opened at 10am on September 9, 2019, and by 4pm enrollment had surpassed 10,000 people. And within the first 24 hours, the Housing Bureau processed 6,000 reservations.
  • The first volunteer coordination meeting in Detroit, where local people have signed up to help with various aspects of the convention and hospitality, will be held in February and they expect 4,000 people to show up.
  • The Northeast Region, of which Area 47 is a part, has been approved to host a Hospitality Suite. More will be revealed

• AA’s YouTube channel has 4,000 subscribers and it averages monthly video views between 2,000 and 4,000
• The board has a literature subcommittee re-examining past agenda requests that align with the current inclusion goals. Because of this, they are reconsidering the proposal to have a Plain English version of the Big Book, which would be at a 4^th or 5th grade reading level. You may recall our Area was considering suggesting that be developed.
• In 2020, the “Grapevine” magazine will be retitled to “A.A. Grapevine, The International Journal of Alcoholics Anonymous.”
• The costs for the office renovation at the General Service Office (GSO) in NYC are coming in below budget ($750,000 vs $1 million) They are renovating 5,000 square feet on 8^th floor.
• GSO is trying to process the backlog of GSR, DCM, and New Group kits. They’ve also hired 5 new temporary staff members to help with the backlog of processing contributions and the transition to the new computer system.
• Quick Reader (QR) Codes will be added to our literature as items come up for reprint.
• An updated service piece on safety is in development.
• Contributions to GSO are higher than budgeted, so that’s good, but expenses are also above budget.
• The General Service Board has updated the Strategic Plan which outlines their big picture goals and some strategies for achieving them. I will put the Plan on our website on the delegate’s page for anyone who wants to read it. [View the Plan.]
• GSO has formed a Communication Services Department. It will assist all service desks and boards in getting our message heard by – using all media, using Class A trustees more, improving all internal communication, and public relations.
• There is an updated ASL video of The Twelve and Twelve. It is available from GSO on DVD.
• The Linked In page is up and running. It is under Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc. if you want to take a look in the app. It is meant to get information to professionals.

Registration for NERAASA, the Northeast Regional AA Service Assembly, is open. It will be held in Nashua, New Hampshire, February 21-23, 2020. More information can be found here: http://www.neraasa.org/neraasa-2020.html

I attended the Corrections Connections event on November 22^ndat Willard and presented on the Corrections Correspondence program. It was a great event.

Respectfully Submitted,

barb

Filed in: AA General Service, From Our Delegate