Delegate’s Report to Area Assembly, February 10, 2019
Things that happened in January, in no particular order:
I participated on a conference call with the regional trustee, the General Service Office (GSO) worker and the other delegates assigned to the Policy & Admissions committee. Holding this call before the January General Service Board weekend is something new they are allowing every committee to do as a way of giving feedback to the board before they make their final conference agenda item selections.
Those General Service Board meeting minutes have not been released yet, but a few pieces of information have made their way through:
- GSO hopes to launch a new, free App on April 15th (it had been set for February 1st) This app will include the Big Book, all the pamphlets, and the Meeting Guide, which gives a list of upcoming meetings and their proximity to you based on where you and your smartphone are. The stand alone App called MeetingGuide is available now.
- Later in 2019, AAWS will release a new book called “Our Great Responsibility 1951-1970” This will be the first new book AAWS has released in almost 30 years. It will contain the talks Bill W. gave at the General Service Conferences for those years.
- Correctional facilities are moving away from physical books in favor of all ebooks so GSO is trying to make sure they are well positioned to meet the demand and people know how to obtain our literature in ebook formats.
I received a memo from GSO about their new efforts to improve outreach to African Americans. Our latest membership survey indicates only 4% of our fellowship is African American. Plans include working with people in the fellowship, but also reaching out to sororities and fraternities, media outlets, and professionals that would have the best chances of coming in contact with African American communities.
The list of General Service Conference Agenda Items was released and it can be found here https://aacny.org/wordpress/general-service-conference/. The background information will be released on February 15th and I will be distributing to each chairperson their committee’s background. Chairs will present the material at the March and April assemblies and all present will have an opportunity to share their thoughts on the items. Please feel free to attend area assembly on those months – you don’t have to be a GSR.
The Northeast Regional Forum will be held May 31 – June 2nd in Tarrytown, NY and I highly recommend it. It’s a chance to hear from Trustees and GSO employees what they’re working on, as well as many other speakers and workshops. Registration is free and starts on April 1st. You can book hotel rooms now and get lots more information at https://www.aa.org/pages/en_US/regional-and-local-forums
The Southern Tier Committee of Young People in AA have requested a letter of support for their bid for hosting ESCYPAA (Empire State Convention of Young People in AA) in 2020. I will provide that letter, but if another YPAA group in Area 47 would also like a letter of support, I can provide them one also (there is precedence for this)
I attended the Salt City Round Up and, as they do every year, they set aside an hour in the schedule for the delegate to make a report – which I did and I don’t think I brought shame to Area 47.
I also attended the SYRYPAA (Syracuse Young People in AA) elections and sat on a Concepts panel. It was a great time!
Barb C, Delegate, Panel 69
Good Evening Delegate Area 47,
As I start my journey to Area 47 from Area 8 I have found your Area very welcoming. Panel 67 Delegate has been very hospitable as I have reached out numerous times for guidance with my transition in service. Reading your Delegate’s report this month hits home with my Area we recently had a “Local Forum” for the Remote Communities this past Fall for the Native American Community as we have the largest population of Native American Reservations. According to some statistics it states just in Rochester, NY 40% of Rochester is African American – has Area 47 considered hosting a “Local Forum” for the African American Alcoholic?
In Service,
Ginger
Hi there, I am looking for a copy of the structure manual for Area 47 and I cannot find it on this website or any contact information to email anyone about this. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.
Hi David H.,
Are you looking for the Area 47 Handbook? It’s at https://aacny.org/wordpress/area-47-handbook/
If so you’ll probably want the password. Let me know and I can get it to you.
– Dave
Hi Ginger,
We had not yet considered that, but it sure sounds like some outreach is something we SHOULD consider. I just mentioned this to our Area Chair and we’ll see what we can come up with. Thanks for the feedback!
barb