Conference Wrap-up
Just a few last thoughts on the 57th General Service Conference.
I was truly amazed that we got through all the committee reports on Friday afternoon. As you can see if you plowed through my notes, there was a lot of discussion on certain reports but somehow it all melted away.
All of a sudden, it was time for the final "sharing session". This is a chance for the outgoing delegates to say their last words at a GSC. Tito T. of Puerto Rico was one of the first to speak and he was in tears immediately and so was I. There were lots of the panel 56es who went to the mic and shared. Some cried, some didn't. Its a very emotional time.
Friday after the last session, we got together with some of our other East Central Regional friends. We went to Sbarro's for pizza (not very good) and then got on the subway and went downtown, waaaaaay downtown. We rode to the terminal for the Staten Island ferry and rode it out to Staten Island and then back. As we passed near the Statue of Liberty, there were fireworks going off on the trip back to Manhattan. It was a fitting display for our last night in New York.
Saturday morning brought the closing brunch and a chance for the outgoing trustees to share their thoughts with us. We heard Allan Ault, Murray M., Gary K., Mike P. and Arnold R.. Gary was particularly "interesting".
Just before these trustee presentations, France J. was called up to the dias to read "How it works" in French. She stepped up the two stairs, reached the top and then went down like a domino, literally. She must have just stepped off the end of the stage. It was an incredible sight. She was helped up and did actually read "How it works" and then the 12 steps in English (with a little help from the audience). She was eventually helped from the room and taken to the hospital. Liz and I met Rick W. as he helped France and her interpreter back into the hotel following their trip to the hospital. She had sustained a broken ankle.
We checked out of the hotel at about 2 p.m. and took a Golden Touch van to the airport. It was driven by a man from Ecuador who chatted with us all the way to LaGuardia. We were the only passengers in the van.
Our flight back to Milwaukee was pleasant and uneventful. I received a phone call from Ken and Nancy G. on the way home welcoming us back and we arrived in Hingham at about 8 p.m.
At 11:58 p.m., while we were asleep, we received a phone call from Liz's sister informing us that her youngest brother Paul had committed suicide earlier that night. He had apparently shot himself. Reportedly, there were some problems at work and it had also been reported that he had resumed drinking after a period of sobriety following a gun-related incident some years ago.
We are currently waiting details of funeral arrangements which will likely be held later this week.
It's good to be home. The coffee finally tastes good again. I did not have one cup of coffee in New York that tasted good to me.
It's time to get going to work so I want to thank you all for following my adventures during one of the most memorable and meaningful weeks of my life.
God bless you all!
Ciao, babies!!
Monday, April 30, 2007
Sunday, April 29, 2007
Friday morning:
50 years ago, Bill W. described the Grapevine as the monthy mirror of AA in action.
From its earliest days it has been viewed as a vital 12-step tool
It must constantly evolve and change to continue to be effective.
We could be doing a better job of reaching minorities and young people.
Some people report they no longer subscribe because they don’t have time to read it.
We are not becoming non-readers but people who desire our written word delivered in a different manner.
“I recently gave a subscription to my home group, but I should have done it long ago.”
Jorge F. – LaVina – A reflection on our First 10 years.
Sharing:
A coffee break was taken about about 10:45 a.m. It’s raining outside so being inside is not a problem.
What is the right number of groups in a district? Can the DCM communicate with all of them?
This was on last year’s agenda.
Friendly amendment was offered to say “The number of groups per district varys widely from a rural district to a metropolitan district.”
People seem to prefer having numbers in the book for guidance.
Kelly C. calls the question on the amendment.
Vote to call the question passes.
Vote on the amendment itself: Amendment fails by 51 -68
Back to the original recommendation
After lots of aimless sharing…the question was called.
Vote on issue PASSED with no minority opinion.
Item B: Recommended that a sentence regarding the 1993 discontinuance of the use of the circle and triangle symbol by AAWS be included. The sense would be that groups or districts can use this symbol but it does not belong to us so we don’t care.
The question was called after a lot of discussion. PASSED.
Motion passed – I offered a minority opinion to the effect that I thought the addition of this language was potentially confusing an unnecessary.
Item C: This has to do with inserting an inverted Triangle graphic in the Service Manual
Little discussion. Motion carries.
Item D: Applies to adding a District Information Change form be developed and brought back to the 2008 GSC
Passes with no opposition.
Item E: Language that defines the nature of General Service. Adds the words “by groups” to page S15 in the Service manual.
After little discussion, a VOTE was taken and it PASSED unamimously.
Item F: Adds DCMs to definition of an assembly. “Any meeting of area GSRs , DCMs and the area committee (See chapter five) is an assembly”.
Opinion expressed that the DCMs are already members of the Area committee. Thus this is redundant.
Motion will fail. 115 total 41 yes, 74 no. Leo expressed minority opinion. Our service manual is a guide for newcomers coming into service.
Amendment to the amendment “AA for the Black and African Amercan Alcoholic.”
Vote taken on Issue as amended. Motion carried unanimously with no minority opinion
Item C: Regarding the pamphlet AA Member-Medications and other drugs be revised to include current experience of AA members and that a revised draft pamphlet be brought before the 2008 GSC.
Vote taken. Passed unanimously.
Item D: Regarding that the Spanish language 3rd edition Big Book be produced.
Murray M. reminds us that this has been in the pipe for three years. It’s time to quit nit picking!!
After even more #$&!!, it PASSED unanimously. Minority opinion wants Spanish content scrutinized more fully.
Considerable discussion regarding Additional Committee Considerations
No action on replacement for “Letter to a Woman Alcoholic”
Item A: Theme for 2008 GSC recommended to be: Communication and Participation – The Key to Unity and Self-Support.
Reconvened from Coffee break at about 3:20 P.M.
Vote to reconsider was requested: 47 to 73 Motion to reconsider fails.
Friday morning
Presentation/Discussion: The AA Grapevine takes stock.
John S. – Grapevine director – How the Grapevine serves the fellowship today.
50 years ago, Bill W. described the Grapevine as the monthy mirror of AA in action.
From its earliest days it has been viewed as a vital 12-step tool
It must constantly evolve and change to continue to be effective.
We could be doing a better job of reaching minorities and young people.
Some people report they no longer subscribe because they don’t have time to read it.
We are not becoming non-readers but people who desire our written word delivered in a different manner.
“I recently gave a subscription to my home group, but I should have done it long ago.”
Jorge F. – LaVina – A reflection on our First 10 years.
How far do we want to go to carry the message?
Action is the key!
Giving back is more than a choice. It is a responsibility.
Jorge shared a story about a little girl and a butterfly and a Master. It is not your responsibility to keep it alive or let it die. It IS your responsibility to keep it alive.
Sharing:
Having laptops available at AA events so that people can subscribe right there.
Tito: LaVina in Puerto Rico is ESSENTIAL!
We delegates are now all Grapevine Representatives!!
Archives: Mary S. 56/56 Southwest “by god” Ohio, Archives Conference Chair
Committee chose not to make any change to the published recommendation.
Discussion: seeing none, it goes to a vote. One vote opposed. No minority opinion. Motion Passed!!
Public Information Item E: Resubmitted by committee.
This is the one about the video submissions by young people thing.
Q: How did you arrive at the $28,000 cost? A: based on the $30,000 expected cost of our PSA development projects. We won’t have to pay for development but will have to pay for writers, actors, producers, etc.
Q: Are we going to handle the copyright issues at the onset? A: Yes.
Kelly C. Calls the question.
Vote on revised motion. Passed with about a half dozen in opposition. No minority opinion was offered.
Hernan: That the informational media presentation be edited to include displays of our magazines……This is a floor action.
A coffee break was taken about about 10:45 a.m. It’s raining outside so being inside is not a problem.
Report and Charter Committee – Tom V. – The committee has SIX recommendations.
Item A: Regarding the number of groups in a district.
What is the right number of groups in a district? Can the DCM communicate with all of them?
This was on last year’s agenda.
Friendly amendment was offered to say “The number of groups per district varys widely from a rural district to a metropolitan district.”
People seem to prefer having numbers in the book for guidance.
Kelly C. calls the question on the amendment.
Vote to call the question passes.
Vote on the amendment itself: Amendment fails by 51 -68
Back to the original recommendation
After lots of aimless sharing…the question was called.
Vote on issue PASSED with no minority opinion.
Item B: Recommended that a sentence regarding the 1993 discontinuance of the use of the circle and triangle symbol by AAWS be included. The sense would be that groups or districts can use this symbol but it does not belong to us so we don’t care.
The question was called after a lot of discussion. PASSED.
Motion passed – I offered a minority opinion to the effect that I thought the addition of this language was potentially confusing an unnecessary.
Item C: This has to do with inserting an inverted Triangle graphic in the Service Manual
Little discussion. Motion carries.
Item D: Applies to adding a District Information Change form be developed and brought back to the 2008 GSC
Passes with no opposition.
Item E: Language that defines the nature of General Service. Adds the words “by groups” to page S15 in the Service manual.
After little discussion, a VOTE was taken and it PASSED unamimously.
Item F: Adds DCMs to definition of an assembly. “Any meeting of area GSRs , DCMs and the area committee (See chapter five) is an assembly”.
Opinion expressed that the DCMs are already members of the Area committee. Thus this is redundant.
Lunch break taken at about noon.
Kelly C. called the question. Question called.
Motion will fail. 115 total 41 yes, 74 no. Leo expressed minority opinion. Our service manual is a guide for newcomers coming into service.
International Forums and Regional Conventions – Becky B.
No recommendations. Keep in mind that a “recommendation” coming out of a committee is considered to be a motion made and seconded before the conference. Woohoo!!
Literature John S. – 4 recommendations
Item A: This deals with the language regarding support for GSR s to attend service functions in the “AA group” pamphlet and the “GSR” pamphlet.
Vote called quickly and PASSED Unanimously. No minority opinion.
Item B: Change title “Black/African American Share their stories”, to “AA and the Black/African American Alcoholic”
Amendment(Friendly so it does not need a vote): change title to “AA and the Black and African American Alcoholic.”
Amendment to the amendment “AA for the Black and African Amercan Alcoholic.”
Voted in.
Vote taken on Issue as amended. Motion carried unanimously with no minority opinion
Item C: Regarding the pamphlet AA Member-Medications and other drugs be revised to include current experience of AA members and that a revised draft pamphlet be brought before the 2008 GSC.
Vote taken. Passed unanimously.
Item D: Regarding that the Spanish language 3rd edition Big Book be produced.
Murray M. reminds us that this has been in the pipe for three years. It’s time to quit nit picking!!
After even more #$&!!, it PASSED unanimously. Minority opinion wants Spanish content scrutinized more fully.
Considerable discussion regarding Additional Committee Considerations
No action on replacement for “Letter to a Woman Alcoholic”
Floor action regarding Intergroup/Central Office pamplet.
Agenda Committee – Eric K. 3 items.
Item A: Theme for 2008 GSC recommended to be: Communication and Participation – The Key to Unity and Self-Support.
Passes without discussion.!!
Item B: Presentation/ Discussion topics for 2008 GSC
See the final conference report. 1 question, 2 questions, 1 comment. Motion carried with no opposition.
Item C: Workshop topic: “Love and Tolerance, Now More than Ever.”
1 comment: Clarify the “now more than ever”.
Amendment proposed but died for lack of a second.
Question called. Passed.
Motion passes unanimously.
Finance – Jamie W. – 2 items – this was my committee!!
Reconvened from Coffee break at about 3:20 P.M.
Item A: Individual limit be increased from $2000 to $3000.
This is not about revenue. It is about perception. Not allowing any one source to have an undue effect on our AA finances.
Vote: only one vote against and no minority opinion.
Item B: GSR travel expenses wording included in two pamphlets.
Amendment proposed but withdrawn regarding spelling out General Service Representative in words. The publication department can take care of this.
Motion passed unanimously. A few in the minority. No one rose to speak.
Several questions/comments regarding additional considerations were handled masterfully by Chairperson Jamie!
Floor Actions
Floor action 1: The background information on the “Appeal to the General Service Confernece dated April 11, 2007 and reviewed by the Conference committee on Trustees be provided to all members of the 57th General Service Conference.
Motion made to decline consideration of this floor action. Passes 110 votes, 85 yes, no 25. Floor action will not be heard.
Floor action 2: That the hospital scene in the corrections video, previously approved, be deleted.
Motion was made to decline consideration of this action. Vote on declining consideration was 74 to 48. 122 votes. Motion to decline failed.
Discussion: It may incur additional cost. We think that it should show men rather than women carrying the message……
The only thing that the sample viewers commented on was the fact that the washing machines were coin operated.
The hospital scene is part of the introductory material rather than as part of the Corrections aspect of it. It speaks to what AA in general does.
Vote on this motion: Floor action was DEFEATED. Totals: 31 for, 94 against.
Minority opinion: Why do we have to include a hospital scene in a corrections video.
Vote to reconsider was requested: 47 to 73 Motion to reconsider fails.
Floor Action 3: That the information media presentation introducing AA to training academies and in-service training for corrections personnel be edited to include at least one mention and display of our magazines, The AA Grapevine and LaVina together with French and Spanish AA books and pamphlets.
To include specific literature is an expensive change.
Chris K(C?) didn’t happen to have any of this literature when this video was shot. Would not like to have to reshoot these scenes. Promising to include literature when these videos are distributed.
Less expensive to shoot the video again rather than “edit in” images of literature.
Kelly C. called the question.
Question called vote passes.
Vote on the main motion: Motion fails with no accounting of votes.
Floor Action 4: That a pamphlet on intergroups/central offices be developed and that a draft copy….we already already voted to DECLINE to consider this.
Ciao, babies!!
Thursday night
This is when I started using Word 2007 on the Vista virtual machine on my Mac.
They changed it so that a woman is not shown as going alone into a men’s prison.
Thursday evening
This is when I started using Word 2007 on the Vista virtual machine on my Mac.
Public Information Item C:
Centralized tracking, distribution and evaluation of the PSA “A force of Nature”.
It is clear that many delegates do not understand how the process of distributing, tracking and evaluating these PSAs works.
Recommendation passed without any dissenting votes.
Item D: Reaffirmed 2002 Advisory Action to develop a new PSA every year and the oldest of the four existing PSAs be replaced each year.
I went to the mike for the first time and asked if a new copy of each PSA was sent to each station every year and if they were told to stop using the one we were taking out of the rotation. A: Only the newest one is sent out. Nobody tells them which to use or not. Most stations will not use a PSA that is older than one year.
Recommendation passed with only a couple dissenting votes.
Item E: Committee requests video/digital submissions from the Fellowship with selected ones being compiled and used to carry the message to young people. Cost $28,000
Concern expressed that anonymity be protected for those who make submissions.
One member asserted that having videos for young people is just a way for us “old people” to dodge actually having to talk to young people. Incredible!
There was some investigative inquiries made and young people submitted over 700 videos. There is a TREMENDOUS AMOUNT of enthusiasm in young people to do this and they are already posting their videos on youtube and MySpace.
Question called again by Kelly C. Passed.
Motion voted on and passed without even a count.
Minority opinions: Are we creating more “special interest” groups. Are we trying to make young people think they are special?
It does not appear that we are approving a concept. Benediction for Bill. “We seek certainty rather than compromise.” (? Not sure how this relates)
We needed more information about what these eventual guidelines will be.
On vote to reconsider, IT WAS A TIE (62-62). BROKEN BY CHAIR. WE WILL RECONSIDER.
People who do these videos will be learning about the traditions by trying to submit videos that meet our guidelines.
My neighbor, Larry S., commented “We are going to be here all weekend.”
We took a break at 8:30 p.m.
Reconvene: Diane: The committee would hash out the guidelines by the July trustees committee meeting. Then submissions would begin after that.
14 people at the mikes right now. (8:50 p.m.)
A delegate stepped up and asked for a point of order from about 20 feet from the mike. The speaker asserted that the confusion he was expressing was unique to him and thus new information for us.
Committee will get a couple minutes to caucus…..
Committee will reconvene to reconsider this Item.
Item F: Recommended that a suggested list of early symptoms of alcoholism forwarded by the Trustees committee on Public Information and derived from AA literature to replace the list of early symptoms in item 19 on page 17 in the pamphlet “Speaking at non-AA Meetings.
This item passed after only two people at the mike.
Item G: Recommended that a section on posthumous anonymity be developed by the Publications Department for inclusion in the pamphlet “Understanding Anonymity” and a draft be brought back to the 2008 Conference committee on PI for consideration.
This is a “service piece” but technically not a service piece?
Why is it unwise to break anonymity in obituaries?
Item H: Remove the words “Young, old, rich, poor, black,white from the section titled ALCOHOLISM be deleted from the pamphlet “A message to Teenagers”.
Motion passed. With no opposition
Corrections committee, – Estelle G.
Item A: Recommended that the draft informational media presentation featuring someone highly credible in the corrections field introducing AA to the training academies and in-service training programs for correctional personnel be approved with a suggested change to be reviewed and approved by the trustees Committee on Corrections.
They changed it so that a woman is not shown as going alone into a men’s prison.
The entire video was shot in high def. We viewed it on a low def projector and screen.
Kelly C. called the question. Passed unanimously.
Vote on main motion: Passed with only two no votes. 10:05 p.m.
10:15 p.m. Chair asks what is our pleasure.
Thursday Afternoon:
Thursday afternoon
Conference committee on Trustees Continued debate on item F:
Would the committee consider rewriting this thing to incorporate both Regional reference and AA as a whole?
Does it mean when you are a trustee you must visit all your regional assemblies like a super-delegate?
We as delegates represent our Area when we are home. When we are here, we represent AA as a whole.
The committee spent 18 months considering this issue.
th and 47th St. where nice NY city baseball style caps can be bought today for $4.95 or maybe 3/$10? May have to go there and buy my souvenir hat. It’s a pretty nice day today and it’s fun to be out there with all the people.
Lunch was, for me, a sandwich consisting of ham, roast beef, and turkey on white bread with a piece of some kind of cheese. I also had several pieces of watermelon and muskmelon as well as a brownie.
I met the lady (Guylene?) who is the interpreter for France J., the French speaking lady who was elected as Delegate Chairperson for next year. She put things in valuable perspective when she said “Now everyone has one year to learn French.”>
Upon reconsideration, the motion failed.
A question was asked relative to “Appeal to the General Service Conference” dated April 11, 2007 concerning the decision made in January 2007 executive session of the General Service Board not to begin a search for a new General Manager of the General Service Office.
The committee chair responded but did not answer the question in my opinion.
Trustee Paul C. referred to the Service manual p S59. Rotation as it applies to service positions is different than a job as it applies to a person who works as an employee. This makes perfect sense to me.
Is there one set of principles for the fellowship and another for the Board?
Committee chair replied “principles before personality”. The committee DID address it.
At 2 p.m. there are 9 people waiting to speak.
Has the minority appeal been satisfied by this committee? George M. asserts that it has. The minority trustees got what they are entitled to.
Request made to table. Out of order. She feels only half the body has background information.
Gayle S-R. indicates that background information is not sent out since this is not something that needed to come before the Conference.
Rick H. – to continue to debate this is to circumvent the system.
Tom J. – this was handled by the committee in a brilliant way.
Gus H. – How did this get to the trustees committee in the first place?
Vern- Asks that Greg M. recuse himself since this involves him directly. 2:10 p.m.
Greg left the room.
Leonard took over the meeting and then also stepped down to reclaim his spot at the mike.
Alan Ault took over.
This is not a debate. This is only an opportunity to ask questions of the chair.
Nora B. – Do you feel the letter to the General Service Board is summarized in this committee consideration. “Yes” is the answer.
Roberta, – member of AAWS board. Thanks to the committee.
I can’t follow the details on this. If anyone says anything I can figure out, I’ll write it here……
Lori P. – We had done all we can to not make this personal. We have been tied up in knots for two weeks prior to this conference.
What this whole thing shows to me is that there is a tremendous commitment to civility here at the GSC in spite of passionate opinions. Greg Muth has conducted himself with absolute flawless consideration and concern. This must be so difficult for him!
Oops! A delegate confesses that she cannot defend this body’s actions as not being “just politics”. She believes that she was let down because not everyone got every bit of background on this Appeal.
Pat L. requests a copy of the Minority appeal. Lori convenes her committee…The room gets louder.
Alan declares a break.
Resumed at about 3 p.m.
Lori responds to Pat regarding the appeal letter. There is a floor action that will come up later. Our committee does not have all the information either. Let the board meet in July. We will be further informed after that meeting and also the Conference next year. Better to get all the right information than just a portion. Our considerations were made on just a portion of the information.
Did the committee when initially approached consider not considering this? John M. expressed that he felt initially reluctant to deal with this. He was glad that he was outvoted. We did it the best way it could be done. “I learned a lot from some really good people.”
Archives committee
Mary S. – committee chair
Item A: First question: What does “widespread distribution” mean?” Anything broader than individual requests. i.e. inclusion on a CD or being placed on the web or used for potential sale.
Does this include the clips on the “listening post” at GSO website? NO.
Does this include Markings? Ans: this only includes sound and video, not print.
What does “guidance” prior to production mean? Guidance means that it makes it subject to conference approval.
What happened to the items mentioned last year that were supposed to be made available for sale? We already have an audio CD for sale. “History of Service.”
Valerie O. asked why not, instead of using the “guidance” word, just say “be submitted for Conference approval”.
The committee met quickly and requested time to reconvene to reconsider this.
Public Information – Diane D.
Item A: Q: Did you consider using the Fellowship New Vision in conjunction with the membership survey? A: No.
Q: We did not agree with the sexual orientation questions on the survey. A: We did not consider the individual questions on the survey.
Vote taken. Passed unanimously
Item B: We were shown the video A Force of Nature. We saw the 60, 30 and 15 second version of the PSA.
Will the AA.org be removed? A: that stays in there.
Will this be in formats other than DVD? Yes. It will be in Beta and UMax and other formats that TV stations have.
Will it be close captioned? Yup.
How long will it take until this is available? A: About 6 months.
Will we own this? A: yes we do own the copyright to this.
Will this be produced in other languages? Yes. It will be produced in French, Spanish and other languages.
Were we trying to be sensational? A: No
Question called: 4:11 p.m. passed.
Vote on main motion: 121 votes. 81 for 40 against. Motion passed!
Motion to reconsider made and seconded. Vote: motion failed 58-61.
Break taken before presentation on International.
Presentation/Discussion: The International – Dorothy W. – Trustee at Large
Doug R. GSO Staff:
Sub-Sahara Zonal meeting will meet in Namibia. Hosted by South Africa and financed by Great Britain and USA.
Doug mentioned several other Zonal meetings.
In Mongolia, I slept in a yert.
In Russia I added running water and flushing toilets to my gratitude list.
Doug and Leonard visited Turkey, Croatia and Bosnia/Herzegovina.
Doug paused because he had lost the last part of his presentation. After a little scurrying, it was found.
Murray M. trustee at large:
19th annual world service meeting. Malahyde, Ireland.
Meeting has grown from 13 zones and countries in 1969 to over 30 today.
Development and enhancement of the International literature fund has helped AA World Services Inc. to produce literature in other languages.
Country to country sponsorship has increased. Mexico has sponsored Cuba. Poland has been informally sponsored by Germany. Poland now sponsors Belarus and Ukraine. Norway sponsored Uruguay. Switzerland sponsors Croatia.
Ok....not even sure where things are here....
Ciao, babies!!
Thursday Morning:
Here are the notes I took from the conference on Thursday morning:
Thursday morning
Caio, babies!!
Here are the notes I took from the conference on Thursday morning:
Thursday morning
Presentation on Humility and Responsibility
Are we resting on our laurels? – Becky C, Vermont
This suggests taking an inventory regarding how we are working the 12th step.
Can we find members willing to be responsible?
Should service continue to be a secret?
Expressed by Anonymity – Mike S. – Kansas
We had to sacrifice other things besides alcohol when we quit drinking. Things like ego.
Sacrifice had to be made or AA could not exist.
Mike lost his sister-in-law in January. He felt helpless. He was very emotional as he shared his experience with us.
“for heaven’s sakes, Bill, why don’t you and I get buried like normal folks..”
Raising Literature prices or footing the bill? – Jerry C. – San Diego, Imperial Valley California.
Some groups believe that Tradition four gives them the right to be without authority and apart from the rest of AA.
Unambiguous, non-judgmental discussion of our traditions.
Our fellowship instructed the Board to print the Big Book in other languages (currently over 50)
We are not in the activity of creating arguments.
Our responsibility is to act as a conduit of information.
Sharing:
We must not get too caught up in patting ourselves on the back but must continue to emphasize self-support.
Anonymity belongs to me but I belong to you. (?)
I will speak, and service will be a part of my story.
It’s time to stand up and speak.
This is ours. What are we doing about it?
If everything was alright in AA, we would not have any traditions…
Committee reports and discussion:
Continued from Wednesday night – it is now Thursday at 9:40 a.m.
The number of years of continuous sobriety does not guarantee sobriety or serenity.
Class A’s do not develop resentments at the drop of a hat, are not susceptible to the same character defects that alcoholics are.
Even though the intent of the motion is to increase the pool of eligible people to be Board chair, it may not be wise to include alcoholics.
Non-alcoholics ARE susceptible to the same defects as alcoholics.
A class A trustee assures us that characterizing Class A trustees as being “better than” Class Bs is a mistake. If we trust the committee system, then we should support this issue.
There are 11 people waiting to speak right now.
Lori P. – the committee was unanimous in putting this issue forth as a recommendation. They feel it is time to take a “leap of faith”.
In Britain, they have a class B as chair of their board and they FEAR what would happen if a Class A were to be chair.
“If we react to fear, we have no chance to succeed.”
“When are we going to turn AA over to God as we understand him?”
A class A can act without the passion that a class B might have.
Another class A has spoken in favor of this proposal indicating that there are really only 6 class A’s eligible and that you really need 4 years of experience before you understand the structure of AA. He supports this proposal. Class Bs come in with knowledge of the structure of AA built-in.
During our break at 10:30 a.m. I discussed calling the question with several other delegates, both panel 56. They said that it would be a bad idea. This issue is too important to not allow everyone to be heard.
Question was called at 11 a.m. Passed w/ substantial unanimity.
Motion carried with substantial unanimity (2/3) 104 in favor. 21 against.
Minority opinion:
Number of abstentions was called for. Numbers were promised by the chair. Possibly 9 abstentions though its not possible to know who was in the room.
Tom: Issue was not capability. Issue is that this is a tradition that has saved us from potential mishaps along the way.
Eric: Thanks to every member present. We would not have “come of age” until one of our members is chair of the board. (The previous is a paraphrase of a quote by Bill W.)
Item E: Has to do with replacement of a Class B trustee and clarification of the possible term of office.
This is an attempt to put into the system the right way of doing things.
Passed with only one vote against. No minority opinion.
Item F: Replaces language in the Bylaws of the General Service Board that requests Class B trustees to provide board with “regional views and opinions” with language that requests they provide “views and opinions based on Fellowship-wide experience”.
A trustee has indicated that at times, trustees have been asked to go to their regions and seek the “mood of the fellowship”.
Are trustees being “bound by their region”?
Is this language even necessary? Don’t trustees already take the good of the fellowship into account?
The committee recognized that they wanted to be in line with the service manual.
Question called at 11:54 a.m. Passed!
Vote on the motion: 128 votes cast. Have 90 votes..needed 86 for 2/3. I voted against it because I agree that there needs to be a better way to say that you must represent your region but should always keep the fellowship as a whole in mind.
Motion made to reconsider. Passed! Simple majority: 82 in favor and 32 against.
Lunch break planned and issue once again open for debate.
Caio, babies!!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Wednesday? Where did it go?
I got 1761 steps yesterday. That is indicative of how much time I had to spare yesterday. It was colder and rainy outside. Here's how it went:
1. We got up at 6 a.m. as we have every day while here. Again we went to Pax for breakfast. I had the eggs and bacon and "breakfast potatoes". My stomach wasn't impressed. I survived. We saw Bobby F and his wife. Bobby represents the northern and central areas of New York State. They were with Murdo M., one of the Canadian delegates.
2. Our day started at 9 a.m. with a workshop on the "Spiritual value of our AA dollars". We were grouped in separate rooms of about a dozen people. We shared about three questions regarding things like "Do I encourage others to "dig deeper" to support AA?" and "How does my group insure that its dollars are spent wisely?" We had delegates as well as both Class A and Class B trustees in our groups.
3. At 11 a.m. we were presented with the panel 57 Area Highlights from the Pacific and Southeast regions.
4. Lunch was by region so we met with Bob M., our East Central regional trustee. We discussed upcoming regional activities. I got to cordially invite everyone to the East Central Regional conference which will be held in Manitowoc this October. Lunch was some kind of wrap which I wasn't wild about.
5. After lunch, we had elections for several Trustee positions. I did not get to sleep until around midnight the previous night and it showed. I had all I could do to stay awake while delegates were presenting their "two minutes" to stump for the trustee candidate from their Area. Some coffee, hard candy, and Diet Pepsi helped me to stay viable.
6. Next, we had Presentation/Discussion on the topic "Our primary purpose". Delegates gave talks on "Attraction rather than promotion", "Working with wet drunks" and "Practicing these principles in all our affairs". We will be receiving hard copies of all these presentations.
7. At some point in the day, we found the copies of the new "AA in Prison, Inmate to Inmate" and "In our own words - Stories of young AA's in recovery" from the pages of the AA Grapevine.
8. Things did get behind schedule and the Sharing session that was to follow the Presentation/Discussion session got cut back. I think I had about 75 minutes free before dinner and I was on my way to take a walk over to the Hudson river when Liz arrived and reported that it was beginning to rain. That killed any chance to go out and walk.
9. Dinner was sea bass. The salad had pickled artichoke hearts and I did try it but essentially barely touched it. I'm not big on pickled stuff and the artichoke made my face scrunch up significantly.
10. Following dinner we began Committee reports and discussion as follows:
General Service conference Wednesday evening session.
Treatment Facilities committee – Jimmy S.
First recommendation passed unanimously regarding revising Hope: Alcoholics Anonymous to retain the original script at a cost of about $50000. It was felt that the script was “rock solid AA” so it should be maintained.
Entire report accepted unanimously. Very little discussion.
Policy/Admissions committee – John S.
April 18-24, 2010 is date for 2010 General Service Conference . Passed unanimously.
AA. Grapevine Committee – Glenn S.
Recommendation that Grapevine and LaVina include a section on the medical, legal and social aspects of alcoholism with an appropriate disclaimer.
-opinion express that it is an “outside issue”. The “grey pages” are no longer of use considering the resources available on the internet.
- why put “grey pages” back since they had to work to take them out in the first place. Reader survey done professionally and 68% rated this stuff as “somewhat or very important”. Grapevine Board and editorial advisory board and gv staff recommended that this be done.
Concerns regarding possible affiliation expressed. New alkies not known for reading the disclaimer. Lets not louse this up with “Freudian complexities”.
Will this be at the expense of other sections in the grapevine? Ans: Not intentionally. Up to the GV staff. No.
Younger people who have never seen the “grey pages” probably don’t want them re-instated. No matter how many disclaimers, this is not sharing from another alkie.
Would hope we would concentrate on things that unite us and not those that divide us. Medical, legal and social aspects tend to divide.
Why was it delineated to medical, legal, social? Need to state it in broadest policy terms. It is not restricted to med, leg, social. Subject of alcoholism is really what its about.
“our area is adamantly opposed.” Medical opinions vary. Including some and not others is not reasonable. Ans: the committee voted unanimously to do this.
Where would this info come from and who would check it for accuracy? Ans: We don’t think that research results from an outside organization will be checked by GSO staff.
Northern Ill is opposed. Could you share discussion of the nature of the disclaimer? Ans. We decided not to get into specifics. It’s a matter of trust. We will trust the GV staff in that regard.
Issues are divisive, opinionated. Medical opinion changes “like the weather”. Some meetings use the GV as basis for meeting. Newcommers might do a meeting on a “rat study”. We don’t care how the jackass got in the ditch, just how to get out.
Will the same type of articles be in LaVina as in GV. Ans: LV included just to be inclusive.
Would we include articles from our class A trustees who are in the medical field? Ans: yes, no reason why not.
Here is staff opinion. Outside issue? A lot of material we use tends to make us insulate ourselves. We are the voice of AA in the world. We are cutting ourselves off from the rest of the world regarding studies and research. The editorial staff will not put opinions in the GV. Younger people don’t want it? We are already not reaching young people. This could help us be with the times.
We already listen to professionals via CPC. AA comes of age has some stuff in it. Is in favor of this idea because it brings us up to date.
We already have plenty of E, S and H. This will make it more interesting. Not worried about the GV board and editorial staff. They will be discriminating. It’s a fine idea.
Only in recent times have we become exclusive to our friends. You don’t hear doctors speaking at our meetings anymore. Cooperation not affiliation is our rule. The disease concept is a key part of carrying the message. Bill was not successful until he used that concept. We realize we know only a little.
Dealings with professionals: They see us as “navel gazers”. They think we think we are their competition. This would show that we are open to what others are saying about alcoholism. We had a better relationship with the professions in the past and we seem to have lost that. This will enable us to not exist in a vacuum.
Are we going to discuss advances in treatment? What are we trying to accomplish? Ans: have others involved that produce research introduced into the magazine. There is no “agenda”.
All opposition to the “grey pages” centers on “singleness of purpose”. This would be different than the “grey pages”.
It used to take work to find this research. It can now be found via a web search.
Pages about alcoholism were removed in 1991 because of fear of connection to an outside issue. Committee discussed issue of being fear-based. AA has always cooperated and never been affiliated. Section is for information only. Who is afraid of information?
These pages can be used as a 12-step tool? The plan is that the disclaimer will proclaim that it is “for information only”.
There are widely opposing viewpoints on alcoholism. Which ones do you print? A judgment must be made. Who will make that?
Value of GV for people who do not have internet access. Homeless people don’t have computers.
““Grey pages” was the first place I ever heard that alcoholism is a disease.”
Our co-founder, Bill, was an ardent believer in cooperation with the professional community and investigation of various theories.
GV is used as a 12-step tool. We don’t have to use the GV to prove to professionals that we want to cooperate.
My concern is the fear we have and the “fortress” we are building around ourselves.
We would not discuss these in our meeting. If this is our meeting in print, why would we put this stuff in?
The GV is just like my home group. Full of lunatics!!
We should not stick with 1930’s information today. i.e. Dr. Silkworth’s allergy theory.
Question called at 8:36 p.m. I voted in favor. Recommendation requires substantial unanimity. 81 for, 35 against. Simple majority is construed as a strong suggestion. This is 69.8%
There was much minority opinion expressed. I have not recorded it because nobody brought our a truly new thought.
Motion made to reconsider. Seconded. 46-76 motion failed. Original proposition passes.
Cooperation with the professional community committee – David S.
This committee made no recommendations.
Conference committee on Trustees
Item A, first of six. Motion passes unanimously
Item B passes unanimously.
Item C passes unanimously
Item D states that both class B and class A trustees would be eligible for election as chairperson of the General Service Board.
There are at any given time about 40 resumes on file for class A trustees.
Motion to close debate: no 2/3 55 to end, 64 not to end.
Did the committee consider the financial ramifications of a Class B being elected as chair? No. they did not.
There is a picture of Leonard (class A) with the chairman of Mexican AA in the LaVina. This would not be possible with a class B chair.
This topic went on until about 10:15 p.m. and then the session was closed for the day. We will resume this item today.
11. After the evening session, we went to the Stardust Diner as guests of our ECR trustee. The waiters and waitresses sing like Karioke old songs. We had ice cream with a brownie in Lizes case and Apple cake in my case. I've had better desserts. We went back to the hotel and bed at about 11:30 p.m.
It's now Thursday morning and I can see the end of the week coming soon. It is cloudy but sunny. Time to get going. I'll catch you later.
Ciao, babies!!
I got 1761 steps yesterday. That is indicative of how much time I had to spare yesterday. It was colder and rainy outside. Here's how it went:
1. We got up at 6 a.m. as we have every day while here. Again we went to Pax for breakfast. I had the eggs and bacon and "breakfast potatoes". My stomach wasn't impressed. I survived. We saw Bobby F and his wife. Bobby represents the northern and central areas of New York State. They were with Murdo M., one of the Canadian delegates.
2. Our day started at 9 a.m. with a workshop on the "Spiritual value of our AA dollars". We were grouped in separate rooms of about a dozen people. We shared about three questions regarding things like "Do I encourage others to "dig deeper" to support AA?" and "How does my group insure that its dollars are spent wisely?" We had delegates as well as both Class A and Class B trustees in our groups.
3. At 11 a.m. we were presented with the panel 57 Area Highlights from the Pacific and Southeast regions.
4. Lunch was by region so we met with Bob M., our East Central regional trustee. We discussed upcoming regional activities. I got to cordially invite everyone to the East Central Regional conference which will be held in Manitowoc this October. Lunch was some kind of wrap which I wasn't wild about.
5. After lunch, we had elections for several Trustee positions. I did not get to sleep until around midnight the previous night and it showed. I had all I could do to stay awake while delegates were presenting their "two minutes" to stump for the trustee candidate from their Area. Some coffee, hard candy, and Diet Pepsi helped me to stay viable.
6. Next, we had Presentation/Discussion on the topic "Our primary purpose". Delegates gave talks on "Attraction rather than promotion", "Working with wet drunks" and "Practicing these principles in all our affairs". We will be receiving hard copies of all these presentations.
7. At some point in the day, we found the copies of the new "AA in Prison, Inmate to Inmate" and "In our own words - Stories of young AA's in recovery" from the pages of the AA Grapevine.
8. Things did get behind schedule and the Sharing session that was to follow the Presentation/Discussion session got cut back. I think I had about 75 minutes free before dinner and I was on my way to take a walk over to the Hudson river when Liz arrived and reported that it was beginning to rain. That killed any chance to go out and walk.
9. Dinner was sea bass. The salad had pickled artichoke hearts and I did try it but essentially barely touched it. I'm not big on pickled stuff and the artichoke made my face scrunch up significantly.
10. Following dinner we began Committee reports and discussion as follows:
General Service conference Wednesday evening session.
Treatment Facilities committee – Jimmy S.
First recommendation passed unanimously regarding revising Hope: Alcoholics Anonymous to retain the original script at a cost of about $50000. It was felt that the script was “rock solid AA” so it should be maintained.
Entire report accepted unanimously. Very little discussion.
Policy/Admissions committee – John S.
April 18-24, 2010 is date for 2010 General Service Conference . Passed unanimously.
AA. Grapevine Committee – Glenn S.
Recommendation that Grapevine and LaVina include a section on the medical, legal and social aspects of alcoholism with an appropriate disclaimer.
-opinion express that it is an “outside issue”. The “grey pages” are no longer of use considering the resources available on the internet.
- why put “grey pages” back since they had to work to take them out in the first place. Reader survey done professionally and 68% rated this stuff as “somewhat or very important”. Grapevine Board and editorial advisory board and gv staff recommended that this be done.
Concerns regarding possible affiliation expressed. New alkies not known for reading the disclaimer. Lets not louse this up with “Freudian complexities”.
Will this be at the expense of other sections in the grapevine? Ans: Not intentionally. Up to the GV staff. No.
Younger people who have never seen the “grey pages” probably don’t want them re-instated. No matter how many disclaimers, this is not sharing from another alkie.
Would hope we would concentrate on things that unite us and not those that divide us. Medical, legal and social aspects tend to divide.
Why was it delineated to medical, legal, social? Need to state it in broadest policy terms. It is not restricted to med, leg, social. Subject of alcoholism is really what its about.
“our area is adamantly opposed.” Medical opinions vary. Including some and not others is not reasonable. Ans: the committee voted unanimously to do this.
Where would this info come from and who would check it for accuracy? Ans: We don’t think that research results from an outside organization will be checked by GSO staff.
Northern Ill is opposed. Could you share discussion of the nature of the disclaimer? Ans. We decided not to get into specifics. It’s a matter of trust. We will trust the GV staff in that regard.
Issues are divisive, opinionated. Medical opinion changes “like the weather”. Some meetings use the GV as basis for meeting. Newcommers might do a meeting on a “rat study”. We don’t care how the jackass got in the ditch, just how to get out.
Will the same type of articles be in LaVina as in GV. Ans: LV included just to be inclusive.
Would we include articles from our class A trustees who are in the medical field? Ans: yes, no reason why not.
Here is staff opinion. Outside issue? A lot of material we use tends to make us insulate ourselves. We are the voice of AA in the world. We are cutting ourselves off from the rest of the world regarding studies and research. The editorial staff will not put opinions in the GV. Younger people don’t want it? We are already not reaching young people. This could help us be with the times.
We already listen to professionals via CPC. AA comes of age has some stuff in it. Is in favor of this idea because it brings us up to date.
We already have plenty of E, S and H. This will make it more interesting. Not worried about the GV board and editorial staff. They will be discriminating. It’s a fine idea.
Only in recent times have we become exclusive to our friends. You don’t hear doctors speaking at our meetings anymore. Cooperation not affiliation is our rule. The disease concept is a key part of carrying the message. Bill was not successful until he used that concept. We realize we know only a little.
Dealings with professionals: They see us as “navel gazers”. They think we think we are their competition. This would show that we are open to what others are saying about alcoholism. We had a better relationship with the professions in the past and we seem to have lost that. This will enable us to not exist in a vacuum.
Are we going to discuss advances in treatment? What are we trying to accomplish? Ans: have others involved that produce research introduced into the magazine. There is no “agenda”.
All opposition to the “grey pages” centers on “singleness of purpose”. This would be different than the “grey pages”.
It used to take work to find this research. It can now be found via a web search.
Pages about alcoholism were removed in 1991 because of fear of connection to an outside issue. Committee discussed issue of being fear-based. AA has always cooperated and never been affiliated. Section is for information only. Who is afraid of information?
These pages can be used as a 12-step tool? The plan is that the disclaimer will proclaim that it is “for information only”.
There are widely opposing viewpoints on alcoholism. Which ones do you print? A judgment must be made. Who will make that?
Value of GV for people who do not have internet access. Homeless people don’t have computers.
““Grey pages” was the first place I ever heard that alcoholism is a disease.”
Our co-founder, Bill, was an ardent believer in cooperation with the professional community and investigation of various theories.
GV is used as a 12-step tool. We don’t have to use the GV to prove to professionals that we want to cooperate.
My concern is the fear we have and the “fortress” we are building around ourselves.
We would not discuss these in our meeting. If this is our meeting in print, why would we put this stuff in?
The GV is just like my home group. Full of lunatics!!
We should not stick with 1930’s information today. i.e. Dr. Silkworth’s allergy theory.
Question called at 8:36 p.m. I voted in favor. Recommendation requires substantial unanimity. 81 for, 35 against. Simple majority is construed as a strong suggestion. This is 69.8%
There was much minority opinion expressed. I have not recorded it because nobody brought our a truly new thought.
Motion made to reconsider. Seconded. 46-76 motion failed. Original proposition passes.
Cooperation with the professional community committee – David S.
This committee made no recommendations.
Conference committee on Trustees
Item A, first of six. Motion passes unanimously
Item B passes unanimously.
Item C passes unanimously
Item D states that both class B and class A trustees would be eligible for election as chairperson of the General Service Board.
There are at any given time about 40 resumes on file for class A trustees.
Motion to close debate: no 2/3 55 to end, 64 not to end.
Did the committee consider the financial ramifications of a Class B being elected as chair? No. they did not.
There is a picture of Leonard (class A) with the chairman of Mexican AA in the LaVina. This would not be possible with a class B chair.
This topic went on until about 10:15 p.m. and then the session was closed for the day. We will resume this item today.
11. After the evening session, we went to the Stardust Diner as guests of our ECR trustee. The waiters and waitresses sing like Karioke old songs. We had ice cream with a brownie in Lizes case and Apple cake in my case. I've had better desserts. We went back to the hotel and bed at about 11:30 p.m.
It's now Thursday morning and I can see the end of the week coming soon. It is cloudy but sunny. Time to get going. I'll catch you later.
Ciao, babies!!
Tuesday, April 24, 2007
Tuesday has come and gone:
Liz and I started out the morning with breakfast at Pax, a little corner place around the corner from the hotel. They had lots of breakfast stuff and it's lucky we got there long before 8 a.m. because the place really filled up just before 8. We each had coffee and a muffin. Liz also had a bowl of mixed fruit. I had a little time to read USA today before my 9 a.m. Finance committee meeting and also to catch up on the latest NFL draft rumors.
Our Finance committee meeting went quite well but we did eat up the entire morning nonetheless. We went over all of the actions we had taken during our previous session so that we all agreed on the wording and we settled the last item on our agenda. After our business, we gave Don Meurer and his staff assistant (not sure of his name) a signed print of some photographs that were purchased as gifts for them. Then we held our election for chairperson of the committee for next year. I intended to vote for Andrew W. from Montana but then Bobby reminded us that we should not hesitate to vote for ourselves if we thought we could do a good job. I voted for myself. Andrew won. Francis G. from Massachussetts was the second leading vote-getter and will serve as alternate chair of the finance committee next year.
We had lunch which consisted of a buncha Italian type foods. I had some meatballs and some pasta and some sausage. The sausage came up on me later......well, not literally but as a gas. Better that direction than the other. LOL.
Again, I had time to take a walk after dinner and I ventured a little further from the hotel than I had gone before. The afternoon session was scheduled to start at 1:15. I got there at 1:15 p.m. on my watch and the session had already begun. Somehow, my watch and the time on the chairperson's timepiece must not have been the same.
The afternoon session began with Area Highlights from the Eastern Canada and West Central Regional delegates. Of particular interest to me were the French speaking delegates from Quebec, Claude and France. I so admire them and also the native Spanish speakers who bravely speak and participate in our Conference in English. France has a translator with her but I still believe it takes a lot of courage.
At 1:45 p.m., we had Presentation / Discussion featuring talks on "Inclusiveness in AA" but El N. of South Carolina, Gary K., Southeast Regional Trustee, and Luc R., delegate from Southwest Quebec.
El spoke emotionally about two people who came to their meeting in South Carolina and could only read and speak Polish. She reminded us of how real the 7th tradition becomes when a situation like this occurs.
Gary spoke on Growth of the fellowship and challenged us with many troubling aspects of our fellowship. When did open meetings held by groups degenerate in to "open discussion" sessions where anybody talks about anything? His presentation was confrontational in a provocative and constructive way.
Luc spoke poignantly about Reaching out to all who want it. He shared how he seriously considered not returning to the conference after troubling experiences last year.
After the sharing following these three presentations, we were to tour the GSO at 475 Riverside drive. We were told that designated trustees and GSO staff would gather us in groups of 10 or so and escort us via the subway. I joined a group with one of our trustees. We walked a few blocks to the subway entrance but by the time me and several other members of my group got through the turnstyles, the rest of the group was gone! Four of us stood there looking at each other. Fortunately, another group showed up within a few seconds and we went with Leonard Blumenthal, the chair of our Board of Trustees and Dorothy W., one of our trustees at large. We managed to stay together and got off the subway at the proper place.
At the GSO, I spent lots of time seeing a demo of the new Fellowship New Vision database program for keeping track of group information. I was told that our Area Registrar will be trained in the use of FNV in May and that I, as delegate, may request to have access to it as well. Security consists of three layers. First, a digital certificate will be provided for each user (Area registrar) that is installed on the registrar's computer. This tells the system what actual computer is attempting to connect to it. The second phase is a login name and password. The third phase is a PIN that each user must enter. Members of the fellowship need have no concerns about the security of our data.
After visiting with Rick W., GSO Conference coordinator, and Robin B., Grapevine Editor, and snapping a few pictures, I met up with Jeff C., delegate from Northern Wisconsin and the UP and Maurice H., delegate from Chicago and we walked back to the hotel. On the way, we visited the beautiful cathedral of St. John the Divine. It is an impressive and very beautiful cathedral. We also walked through Central Park for a good bit.
We arrived back at the hotel about 10 minutes late for dinner but that did not seem to be any kind of problem. I sat with delegates from Texas, Iowa and Southern Minnesota as well as Northern Minnesota and Montana. We had chicken again, this time with some cheese on it and some tomato-based sauce on the side. Dessert was a kind of fancy cheesecake that I didn't finish.
Following supper, we had our second Delegates-only meeting. We panel 57 delegates put our names in a hat and one name, Sharon F. from one of the Ohio districts was selected. Her name was put in the hat with one choice from each of the other regions and after the sharing session, we picked one name for Delegate Chairperson for next year. Incredibly, France J. from one of the Quebec districts, the one delegate who probably has the least comfort with the English language, was elected delegate chair. Ron H. was picked as alternate Chair.
During the sharing session, I went to the mike and explained how I felt about certain aspects of the conference. I explained how scared and alienated I felt when I first arrived and how this was complicated as I walked into the Delegate's-only meeting on Saturday night only to find that nearly everyone else was dressed in coat and tie and I came in a polo shirt and khakis. Nobody told me it was a dress-up AA meeting. My delegate buddy did find me and greet me soon after I walked into the room. He must have known what I looked like from my pictures on my blog. However, he did not invite me to sit with him.
Anyway, I went on about my discomfort until I was unceremoniously dinged. I felt bad in hindsight that what I had done was mostly just whine. Life goes on.
We closed with the Serenity prayer in French led by France, our new delegate chair at about 9 p.m.
I must admit that it is hard to believe that I have been here for five days already. This experience is more than half past. Tomorrow the actual assembly begins and I am looking forward to a stimulating fast-paced time. It is significant that even though I have been in meetings nearly all day every day, I have NEVER been bored nor wanted to leave the room for even a minute. It is a measure of my love for this program of AA and for the wonderful delegates who have gone out of their way to make me feel included, wanted and loved.
I am so grateful to the people of Area 75 who have given me this incredible privilege and trusted the future direction of AA to me. God bless you all!!
Ciao, babies!!
Liz and I started out the morning with breakfast at Pax, a little corner place around the corner from the hotel. They had lots of breakfast stuff and it's lucky we got there long before 8 a.m. because the place really filled up just before 8. We each had coffee and a muffin. Liz also had a bowl of mixed fruit. I had a little time to read USA today before my 9 a.m. Finance committee meeting and also to catch up on the latest NFL draft rumors.
Our Finance committee meeting went quite well but we did eat up the entire morning nonetheless. We went over all of the actions we had taken during our previous session so that we all agreed on the wording and we settled the last item on our agenda. After our business, we gave Don Meurer and his staff assistant (not sure of his name) a signed print of some photographs that were purchased as gifts for them. Then we held our election for chairperson of the committee for next year. I intended to vote for Andrew W. from Montana but then Bobby reminded us that we should not hesitate to vote for ourselves if we thought we could do a good job. I voted for myself. Andrew won. Francis G. from Massachussetts was the second leading vote-getter and will serve as alternate chair of the finance committee next year.
We had lunch which consisted of a buncha Italian type foods. I had some meatballs and some pasta and some sausage. The sausage came up on me later......well, not literally but as a gas. Better that direction than the other. LOL.
Again, I had time to take a walk after dinner and I ventured a little further from the hotel than I had gone before. The afternoon session was scheduled to start at 1:15. I got there at 1:15 p.m. on my watch and the session had already begun. Somehow, my watch and the time on the chairperson's timepiece must not have been the same.
The afternoon session began with Area Highlights from the Eastern Canada and West Central Regional delegates. Of particular interest to me were the French speaking delegates from Quebec, Claude and France. I so admire them and also the native Spanish speakers who bravely speak and participate in our Conference in English. France has a translator with her but I still believe it takes a lot of courage.
At 1:45 p.m., we had Presentation / Discussion featuring talks on "Inclusiveness in AA" but El N. of South Carolina, Gary K., Southeast Regional Trustee, and Luc R., delegate from Southwest Quebec.
El spoke emotionally about two people who came to their meeting in South Carolina and could only read and speak Polish. She reminded us of how real the 7th tradition becomes when a situation like this occurs.
Gary spoke on Growth of the fellowship and challenged us with many troubling aspects of our fellowship. When did open meetings held by groups degenerate in to "open discussion" sessions where anybody talks about anything? His presentation was confrontational in a provocative and constructive way.
Luc spoke poignantly about Reaching out to all who want it. He shared how he seriously considered not returning to the conference after troubling experiences last year.
After the sharing following these three presentations, we were to tour the GSO at 475 Riverside drive. We were told that designated trustees and GSO staff would gather us in groups of 10 or so and escort us via the subway. I joined a group with one of our trustees. We walked a few blocks to the subway entrance but by the time me and several other members of my group got through the turnstyles, the rest of the group was gone! Four of us stood there looking at each other. Fortunately, another group showed up within a few seconds and we went with Leonard Blumenthal, the chair of our Board of Trustees and Dorothy W., one of our trustees at large. We managed to stay together and got off the subway at the proper place.
At the GSO, I spent lots of time seeing a demo of the new Fellowship New Vision database program for keeping track of group information. I was told that our Area Registrar will be trained in the use of FNV in May and that I, as delegate, may request to have access to it as well. Security consists of three layers. First, a digital certificate will be provided for each user (Area registrar) that is installed on the registrar's computer. This tells the system what actual computer is attempting to connect to it. The second phase is a login name and password. The third phase is a PIN that each user must enter. Members of the fellowship need have no concerns about the security of our data.
After visiting with Rick W., GSO Conference coordinator, and Robin B., Grapevine Editor, and snapping a few pictures, I met up with Jeff C., delegate from Northern Wisconsin and the UP and Maurice H., delegate from Chicago and we walked back to the hotel. On the way, we visited the beautiful cathedral of St. John the Divine. It is an impressive and very beautiful cathedral. We also walked through Central Park for a good bit.
We arrived back at the hotel about 10 minutes late for dinner but that did not seem to be any kind of problem. I sat with delegates from Texas, Iowa and Southern Minnesota as well as Northern Minnesota and Montana. We had chicken again, this time with some cheese on it and some tomato-based sauce on the side. Dessert was a kind of fancy cheesecake that I didn't finish.
Following supper, we had our second Delegates-only meeting. We panel 57 delegates put our names in a hat and one name, Sharon F. from one of the Ohio districts was selected. Her name was put in the hat with one choice from each of the other regions and after the sharing session, we picked one name for Delegate Chairperson for next year. Incredibly, France J. from one of the Quebec districts, the one delegate who probably has the least comfort with the English language, was elected delegate chair. Ron H. was picked as alternate Chair.
During the sharing session, I went to the mike and explained how I felt about certain aspects of the conference. I explained how scared and alienated I felt when I first arrived and how this was complicated as I walked into the Delegate's-only meeting on Saturday night only to find that nearly everyone else was dressed in coat and tie and I came in a polo shirt and khakis. Nobody told me it was a dress-up AA meeting. My delegate buddy did find me and greet me soon after I walked into the room. He must have known what I looked like from my pictures on my blog. However, he did not invite me to sit with him.
Anyway, I went on about my discomfort until I was unceremoniously dinged. I felt bad in hindsight that what I had done was mostly just whine. Life goes on.
We closed with the Serenity prayer in French led by France, our new delegate chair at about 9 p.m.
I must admit that it is hard to believe that I have been here for five days already. This experience is more than half past. Tomorrow the actual assembly begins and I am looking forward to a stimulating fast-paced time. It is significant that even though I have been in meetings nearly all day every day, I have NEVER been bored nor wanted to leave the room for even a minute. It is a measure of my love for this program of AA and for the wonderful delegates who have gone out of their way to make me feel included, wanted and loved.
I am so grateful to the people of Area 75 who have given me this incredible privilege and trusted the future direction of AA to me. God bless you all!!
Ciao, babies!!
Monday, April 23, 2007
Monday!
What a day! I went pretty much 12 hours with only a couple breaks of less than an hour and it went by pretty fast. I was worried I'd be sitting through boring stuff. This stuff is anything but boring! Here is a list of what went on today.
1. Liz and I got out of the room at 7 a.m. and went to Daniela Trattoria for breakfast. I'm not sure I need to have pancakes and bacon and eggs every morning but it was good and quick.
2. Our finance committee meeting began at 9 a.m. Our chairperson, Jamie W. from Texas, was pretty nervous but she did a good job of leading. She would go around the entire 8 person committee and every member either got their chance to give their input or pass. I didn't have as good a grasp of the background material for our issues as I should have. Nonetheless, my opinions and statements were greeted with respect and concern by all present. We got through 3 of our four items this morning. We meet again in committee tomorrow morning at 9 and I think the last item will go pretty fast because it is related to the third item.
3. We adjourned our committee at 11:45 and lunch was at noon. They had a buffet which contained hot dogs (with sauerkraut if desired), hamburgers, barbecued ribs and some kind of chicken. They had Dove ice cream bars of about 4 kinds for dessert in addition to some cheesecake which I took a pass on. I DID have a Dove bar. Yummie!
4. After dinner, we had a general session which started at 1:15 p.m. I went outside and stood on the street outside the Paramount building just a few blocks up Broadway on about 52nd street watching people in the warm sunny glory of the day.
5. The afternoon session began with panel 57 delegates from the Southwest and Northeast regions giving their 2 minute "Area Highlights" speech. Again, they had the green, yellow and red lights and the little bell to "ding" you if you went over two minutes. Only two people out of the 14 or so got dinged. It's not that big a deal.
6. At about 2 p.m., Leonard Blumenthal, the Chair of the General Service Board, gave his report after which there was a question and sharing session of about 30 minutes. He was followed by Paul C., class B trustee and chair of the AA World Services Board who gave his report and then hosted a half our of questions and sharing.
7. At about 3 p.m., we had a 15 minute break. This was followed by Arnold R., chair of the Grapevine Board, who gave his report and hosted 30 minutes of questions and sharing.
8. At 3:45 p.m., Vince Keefe, Chairperson of the Trustees Finance and Budgetary Committee gave his report, a PowerPoint presentation like that of the Grapevine report and the AAWS report. Vince hosted a half hour of questions and sharing after his report like the others had.
9. At about 4:30 p.m. the Trustee from Western Canada introduced his two delegates who gave their "Area Highlights". This was followed by the East Central region of which I am a part. I was the last person of the 8 delegates from our East Central region and I delivered my Area Highlights precisely and confidently. I almost choked up at the very end and my "Thank you" was barely audible but I made it. I got several compliments from delegates during some of the breaks after wards. I did add the word "sub" in referring to the Bridging the Gap committee since I did receive and email last night to the effect the BTG is no longer an Area 75 standing committee.
10. Dinner was served at around 6 p.m. It was prime rib and pretty decent. We got a martini glass full of cut fruit pieces for dessert. I used the time before the 7:15 pm start to the evening session to pass out my mementos to the delegates. After giving some of them out to individuals, I decided to just go through the entire meeting room and put one at each place like lots of the other delegates had done. That way, everybody had a chance to get one of my things and I didn't have to try to keep track of who I had "gifted" and who I had not. I recieved several unique mementos today. Larry S. from Northern Illinois gave out a purple bookbag thing. A guy from New Hampshire gave out little bottles of pure maple syrup from Vermont. And Becky, a N.E.R.D. (North East Region Delegate) gave out the US Vermont quarter with a lapel pin assembly glued to George Washington's cheek so that the maple trees with buckets on them show on the front. What a unique and wonderful idea!!
I also took this time to use the pre-printed address labels that I had initialed to adorn the books, mostly large print daily reflections books, that delegates had placed on the book table. I stuck my sticker on May 25th which is my AA birthday. If I stay sober till then, I'll have 20 years of continuous sobriety next month.
11. The evening session began with a presentation by Amy Filiatreau, our non-alcoholic archivist featuring a digitized speech by Bill W., one of our AA founders. It was a very moving experience.
12. From 8:15 p.m. until about 9 p.m., there was a general sharing session where members could step up to the mike and say whatever they wanted for 2 minutes. People asked things like"Why doesn't AA make literature ordering online available to groups and individuals?" Some people just expressed gratitude for the quality of the reports.
So Monday is over. It went so fast. It's hard to believe that I'm saying that. I was so off balance on Friday, Saturday and part of Sunday wondering what this thing was really going to be like. Now I am feeling very much a part of and not apart from. Everyone has treated me so wonderfully and as a delegate, I feel like I'm one of the most important people here. The staff is wonderful. It is an awe-inspiring experience to feel that I am such an integral part of the direction that AA is taking.
When I was elected delegate, I was flattered and humbled by the trust that Area 75 placed in me. I was also very fearful of this thing called the "Conference". It had been built up so much during the Delegates/Past Delegates conference in February and the past delegates had filled me with so many expectations that I wasn't sure I could buy into. I found myself unwilling to plan my life past the Conference.
As of Monday night, again, I feel a part of a wonderful group of loving supportive people. I can see it will be hell to leave this event this weekend.
Liz went to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island today and I have a note that says she and Bobby F.'s wife (Bobby is from New York state and also on the Finance committee) went to see Phantom of the Opera tonight.
Tomorrow is casual dress day and we go to visit the General Service Offices late in the afternoon. Thank you God for this wonderful privilege you have given me, for this fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous and for the rush that is New York City!!
Ciao, babies!!
What a day! I went pretty much 12 hours with only a couple breaks of less than an hour and it went by pretty fast. I was worried I'd be sitting through boring stuff. This stuff is anything but boring! Here is a list of what went on today.
1. Liz and I got out of the room at 7 a.m. and went to Daniela Trattoria for breakfast. I'm not sure I need to have pancakes and bacon and eggs every morning but it was good and quick.
2. Our finance committee meeting began at 9 a.m. Our chairperson, Jamie W. from Texas, was pretty nervous but she did a good job of leading. She would go around the entire 8 person committee and every member either got their chance to give their input or pass. I didn't have as good a grasp of the background material for our issues as I should have. Nonetheless, my opinions and statements were greeted with respect and concern by all present. We got through 3 of our four items this morning. We meet again in committee tomorrow morning at 9 and I think the last item will go pretty fast because it is related to the third item.
3. We adjourned our committee at 11:45 and lunch was at noon. They had a buffet which contained hot dogs (with sauerkraut if desired), hamburgers, barbecued ribs and some kind of chicken. They had Dove ice cream bars of about 4 kinds for dessert in addition to some cheesecake which I took a pass on. I DID have a Dove bar. Yummie!
4. After dinner, we had a general session which started at 1:15 p.m. I went outside and stood on the street outside the Paramount building just a few blocks up Broadway on about 52nd street watching people in the warm sunny glory of the day.
5. The afternoon session began with panel 57 delegates from the Southwest and Northeast regions giving their 2 minute "Area Highlights" speech. Again, they had the green, yellow and red lights and the little bell to "ding" you if you went over two minutes. Only two people out of the 14 or so got dinged. It's not that big a deal.
6. At about 2 p.m., Leonard Blumenthal, the Chair of the General Service Board, gave his report after which there was a question and sharing session of about 30 minutes. He was followed by Paul C., class B trustee and chair of the AA World Services Board who gave his report and then hosted a half our of questions and sharing.
7. At about 3 p.m., we had a 15 minute break. This was followed by Arnold R., chair of the Grapevine Board, who gave his report and hosted 30 minutes of questions and sharing.
8. At 3:45 p.m., Vince Keefe, Chairperson of the Trustees Finance and Budgetary Committee gave his report, a PowerPoint presentation like that of the Grapevine report and the AAWS report. Vince hosted a half hour of questions and sharing after his report like the others had.
9. At about 4:30 p.m. the Trustee from Western Canada introduced his two delegates who gave their "Area Highlights". This was followed by the East Central region of which I am a part. I was the last person of the 8 delegates from our East Central region and I delivered my Area Highlights precisely and confidently. I almost choked up at the very end and my "Thank you" was barely audible but I made it. I got several compliments from delegates during some of the breaks after wards. I did add the word "sub" in referring to the Bridging the Gap committee since I did receive and email last night to the effect the BTG is no longer an Area 75 standing committee.
10. Dinner was served at around 6 p.m. It was prime rib and pretty decent. We got a martini glass full of cut fruit pieces for dessert. I used the time before the 7:15 pm start to the evening session to pass out my mementos to the delegates. After giving some of them out to individuals, I decided to just go through the entire meeting room and put one at each place like lots of the other delegates had done. That way, everybody had a chance to get one of my things and I didn't have to try to keep track of who I had "gifted" and who I had not. I recieved several unique mementos today. Larry S. from Northern Illinois gave out a purple bookbag thing. A guy from New Hampshire gave out little bottles of pure maple syrup from Vermont. And Becky, a N.E.R.D. (North East Region Delegate) gave out the US Vermont quarter with a lapel pin assembly glued to George Washington's cheek so that the maple trees with buckets on them show on the front. What a unique and wonderful idea!!
I also took this time to use the pre-printed address labels that I had initialed to adorn the books, mostly large print daily reflections books, that delegates had placed on the book table. I stuck my sticker on May 25th which is my AA birthday. If I stay sober till then, I'll have 20 years of continuous sobriety next month.
11. The evening session began with a presentation by Amy Filiatreau, our non-alcoholic archivist featuring a digitized speech by Bill W., one of our AA founders. It was a very moving experience.
12. From 8:15 p.m. until about 9 p.m., there was a general sharing session where members could step up to the mike and say whatever they wanted for 2 minutes. People asked things like"Why doesn't AA make literature ordering online available to groups and individuals?" Some people just expressed gratitude for the quality of the reports.
So Monday is over. It went so fast. It's hard to believe that I'm saying that. I was so off balance on Friday, Saturday and part of Sunday wondering what this thing was really going to be like. Now I am feeling very much a part of and not apart from. Everyone has treated me so wonderfully and as a delegate, I feel like I'm one of the most important people here. The staff is wonderful. It is an awe-inspiring experience to feel that I am such an integral part of the direction that AA is taking.
When I was elected delegate, I was flattered and humbled by the trust that Area 75 placed in me. I was also very fearful of this thing called the "Conference". It had been built up so much during the Delegates/Past Delegates conference in February and the past delegates had filled me with so many expectations that I wasn't sure I could buy into. I found myself unwilling to plan my life past the Conference.
As of Monday night, again, I feel a part of a wonderful group of loving supportive people. I can see it will be hell to leave this event this weekend.
Liz went to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island today and I have a note that says she and Bobby F.'s wife (Bobby is from New York state and also on the Finance committee) went to see Phantom of the Opera tonight.
Tomorrow is casual dress day and we go to visit the General Service Offices late in the afternoon. Thank you God for this wonderful privilege you have given me, for this fellowship of Alcoholics Anonymous and for the rush that is New York City!!
Ciao, babies!!
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Sunday night:
Today's Activities
1. Breakfast at the hotel dining room. The buffet was $22 but I already talked about that, didn't I?
2. Mass at St. Malachy's Church. Think I mentioned that too. Very convenient.
3. Registration at 11 a.m. Finally, a schedule and more stuff to peruse than time can possibly allow.
4. Orientation and lunch with East Central Regional Trustee and other ECR delegates. I never know how important this Regional stuff was. Before I became delegate, all I ever knew about was that every once in awhile we had a conference that was called the East Central Regional conference. I never knew how important it was to make connections with the other delegates in our region. The ECR Delegates/Past Delegates conference in February was my first exposure to Regional Activity. Now I know how important it is to have friendly faces here in New York. It's been a lot easier to get close to the other Delegates from the ECR. It already has made me more comfortable here and will undoubtedly make me a more effective delegate.
5. Opening session/Orientation. We were exposed to several presentations, most notably a talk by Allen Ault, a Class A (non-alcoholic) trustee. Greg Muth, GSO General Manager, went over conference mechanics and Rick Walker, Conference secretary, went over the agenda and the manual.
6. The Opening session ended at 2:30 p.m. and my committee (Finance) didn't meet until 3:45 p.m. so I went upstairs. Liz arrived at the room within a minute of myself and she said that she and her new friend, Ramona, sister and guest of Leo S. from Southern Indiana ( who celebrated his 18th sobriety birthday today), were going to go buy a hot dog from a street vendor. We walked a few blocks and the girls determined that these hot dogs were nothing special. Just hot dogs. At two bucks though, they were pretty reasonable compared to lots of other things in NYC. The girls were going to walk down to 34th street and I followed them until it was time for me to turn back for my meeting.
7. Joint meeting of the Delegate's Finance committee and the Trustees Finance committee: Another binder of stuff. Vince Keefe, Class A trustee, explained that last year, contributions from groups increased by an unheard of 12%. The number of groups that contribute to GSO also increased significantly. There was no explanation given for either of these things. Vince indicated that a large challenge for the fellowship is that the amount that we have saved for employee pension funds does not meet the actuarial projections and we will need to put more money in this fund by law. This meeting was not a formal meeting of the Finance committee and no proposals were discussed. I will not be able to reveal what is discussed in our committee meetings as they happen as this is not to be discussed prior to it being acted on by the full conference persuant to our report and recommendations, if any.
8. After this meeting ended at 4:45 p.m., I called Liz and agreed to walk down Broadway and to meet them coming back from Ramona's camera purchase. There were all kinds of amazing things going on in the street. There were some acrobatic young men doing "break dancing" and other flips and such in the street. The police showed up to break up the demo and they all disbursed. There was a person dressed as a statue of liberty offering to let you take your picture with her/him? There was a young man painted all silver wearing silver clothing who moved like a robot. He also accepted donations for pictures taken with him. I only got to walk several blocks from 49th down to about 46th street before I met Liz and Ramona coming back. They had gone down to 34th street and 9th avenue to buy a camera. Liz described the store. It appeared to be owned by some Jewish people since it was closed on Saturday but open on Sunday.
9. Opening Dinner and AA meeting: We had a three course meal served to use most competently. I sat with Larry and Marcia S. from Northern Illinois, Hugh N., Mary S. from somewhere in "by god Ohio" and Marcia and Mary's guests. The meeting featured Mike Alexander, former GSO chairman and another former GSO employee who shared about the recently deceased Nell Wing, a long-time GSO employee and secretary to Bill W. We then heard five speakers who were allowed to speak for 10 minutes. The had a green light in front of them on the podium. After 8 minutes, it turned yellow. Two minutes later it turned red. All gave memorable talks.
10. Now it is definitely time for bed. We are planning to get out and get breakfast at 7 a.m. Liz has activities that start at 8:15 a.m. and my Finance committee meeting starts at 9 a.m. Liz is going to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island tomorrow. Goodnight, gentle readers!
Ciao, babies!!
Today's Activities
1. Breakfast at the hotel dining room. The buffet was $22 but I already talked about that, didn't I?
2. Mass at St. Malachy's Church. Think I mentioned that too. Very convenient.
3. Registration at 11 a.m. Finally, a schedule and more stuff to peruse than time can possibly allow.
4. Orientation and lunch with East Central Regional Trustee and other ECR delegates. I never know how important this Regional stuff was. Before I became delegate, all I ever knew about was that every once in awhile we had a conference that was called the East Central Regional conference. I never knew how important it was to make connections with the other delegates in our region. The ECR Delegates/Past Delegates conference in February was my first exposure to Regional Activity. Now I know how important it is to have friendly faces here in New York. It's been a lot easier to get close to the other Delegates from the ECR. It already has made me more comfortable here and will undoubtedly make me a more effective delegate.
5. Opening session/Orientation. We were exposed to several presentations, most notably a talk by Allen Ault, a Class A (non-alcoholic) trustee. Greg Muth, GSO General Manager, went over conference mechanics and Rick Walker, Conference secretary, went over the agenda and the manual.
6. The Opening session ended at 2:30 p.m. and my committee (Finance) didn't meet until 3:45 p.m. so I went upstairs. Liz arrived at the room within a minute of myself and she said that she and her new friend, Ramona, sister and guest of Leo S. from Southern Indiana ( who celebrated his 18th sobriety birthday today), were going to go buy a hot dog from a street vendor. We walked a few blocks and the girls determined that these hot dogs were nothing special. Just hot dogs. At two bucks though, they were pretty reasonable compared to lots of other things in NYC. The girls were going to walk down to 34th street and I followed them until it was time for me to turn back for my meeting.
7. Joint meeting of the Delegate's Finance committee and the Trustees Finance committee: Another binder of stuff. Vince Keefe, Class A trustee, explained that last year, contributions from groups increased by an unheard of 12%. The number of groups that contribute to GSO also increased significantly. There was no explanation given for either of these things. Vince indicated that a large challenge for the fellowship is that the amount that we have saved for employee pension funds does not meet the actuarial projections and we will need to put more money in this fund by law. This meeting was not a formal meeting of the Finance committee and no proposals were discussed. I will not be able to reveal what is discussed in our committee meetings as they happen as this is not to be discussed prior to it being acted on by the full conference persuant to our report and recommendations, if any.
8. After this meeting ended at 4:45 p.m., I called Liz and agreed to walk down Broadway and to meet them coming back from Ramona's camera purchase. There were all kinds of amazing things going on in the street. There were some acrobatic young men doing "break dancing" and other flips and such in the street. The police showed up to break up the demo and they all disbursed. There was a person dressed as a statue of liberty offering to let you take your picture with her/him? There was a young man painted all silver wearing silver clothing who moved like a robot. He also accepted donations for pictures taken with him. I only got to walk several blocks from 49th down to about 46th street before I met Liz and Ramona coming back. They had gone down to 34th street and 9th avenue to buy a camera. Liz described the store. It appeared to be owned by some Jewish people since it was closed on Saturday but open on Sunday.
9. Opening Dinner and AA meeting: We had a three course meal served to use most competently. I sat with Larry and Marcia S. from Northern Illinois, Hugh N., Mary S. from somewhere in "by god Ohio" and Marcia and Mary's guests. The meeting featured Mike Alexander, former GSO chairman and another former GSO employee who shared about the recently deceased Nell Wing, a long-time GSO employee and secretary to Bill W. We then heard five speakers who were allowed to speak for 10 minutes. The had a green light in front of them on the podium. After 8 minutes, it turned yellow. Two minutes later it turned red. All gave memorable talks.
10. Now it is definitely time for bed. We are planning to get out and get breakfast at 7 a.m. Liz has activities that start at 8:15 a.m. and my Finance committee meeting starts at 9 a.m. Liz is going to see the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island tomorrow. Goodnight, gentle readers!
Ciao, babies!!
Sunday afternoon:
It's about a half hour before the opening dinner and AA meeting tonight. I'm feeling a lot better now that I have a schedule of the week's activities. Meetings don't start until 9 a.m. daily and Tuesday is casual dress day. Who knew that AA would have a dress code? I GET IT though. It's about gratitude and respect.
It's time actually to get dressed for this dinner. I'll have to fill you in on the other activities today later on. Hope I won't be too tired.
Ciao, Babies!!
It's about a half hour before the opening dinner and AA meeting tonight. I'm feeling a lot better now that I have a schedule of the week's activities. Meetings don't start until 9 a.m. daily and Tuesday is casual dress day. Who knew that AA would have a dress code? I GET IT though. It's about gratitude and respect.
It's time actually to get dressed for this dinner. I'll have to fill you in on the other activities today later on. Hope I won't be too tired.
Ciao, Babies!!
Sunday breakfast:
We decided, for efficiency's sake, to eat breakfast in the hotel restaurant. We were escorted to the "best view in New York", a nice table with a good view of Times Square.
The streets are still kinda sleepy at 8 a.m. There are a few people around and the Grey Line bus was loading people for city tours.
They had a very nice buffet with lots of typical breakfast stuff, eggs, pancakes, sausage, bacon, potatoes, pastries, fruit, you name it. It was $22. We both had the blueberry pancakes for $13. Coffee was $3 and the orange juice that he brought at the same time as the coffee (I opted out, Liz opted in) was $4.
The "Best view in New York" does not come without a price.
The sun is rising on another perfect spring day in New York City. There is not a cloud in the sky.
Hmm, forgot to post that last one. It's now 10:05 a.m. and we just got back from mass at St. Malachy's church, The Actor's Chapel, right across the street and 3/4 of a block from the hotel. They sang the Agnus Dei in Latin and even though I haven't sung that in decades, the words came back to me.
There were at least 5 policemen outside the church and about 3 cruisers. Nice to have all that protection.
There are some men crawling around on the roof of a 16 story building down there. It makes the blood vessels in my legs just throb just watching them. There are little balcony's on all of the "luxury rentals" apartments on the building right next to our window. I hope nobody goes out there. Not only do I get nervous being up this high, it makes me more nervous to see other people out there.
Registration for the conference is in about 50 minutes and then I'll be "locked in" for the rest of the week? I wish I could say my emotion was joy. It's fear.
Ciao, babies!!
We decided, for efficiency's sake, to eat breakfast in the hotel restaurant. We were escorted to the "best view in New York", a nice table with a good view of Times Square.
The streets are still kinda sleepy at 8 a.m. There are a few people around and the Grey Line bus was loading people for city tours.
They had a very nice buffet with lots of typical breakfast stuff, eggs, pancakes, sausage, bacon, potatoes, pastries, fruit, you name it. It was $22. We both had the blueberry pancakes for $13. Coffee was $3 and the orange juice that he brought at the same time as the coffee (I opted out, Liz opted in) was $4.
The "Best view in New York" does not come without a price.
The sun is rising on another perfect spring day in New York City. There is not a cloud in the sky.
Hmm, forgot to post that last one. It's now 10:05 a.m. and we just got back from mass at St. Malachy's church, The Actor's Chapel, right across the street and 3/4 of a block from the hotel. They sang the Agnus Dei in Latin and even though I haven't sung that in decades, the words came back to me.
There were at least 5 policemen outside the church and about 3 cruisers. Nice to have all that protection.
There are some men crawling around on the roof of a 16 story building down there. It makes the blood vessels in my legs just throb just watching them. There are little balcony's on all of the "luxury rentals" apartments on the building right next to our window. I hope nobody goes out there. Not only do I get nervous being up this high, it makes me more nervous to see other people out there.
Registration for the conference is in about 50 minutes and then I'll be "locked in" for the rest of the week? I wish I could say my emotion was joy. It's fear.
Ciao, babies!!
Sunday Morning:
Last night, since my last post, I went to the Delegates-only meeting. Much to my discomfort, I found that everyone dressed up. I didn't. I thought: It's going to be an AA meeting. Nobody judges you in an AA meeting. You can dress however you want. I judged myself. I was very uncomfortable. I wore the same polo shirt and khaki pants that I'd worn all day. No, I was not the only one who dressed casually. There may have been one or two other men who did not wear coats. Of course, it was specifically mentioned during the meeting that coat and tie for the men was expected all week except Tuesday. The delegate chairperson even referred to the "dress code" in that manner of speaking that describes how "my sponsor kicked my ass....".
My delegate buddy, Jorge F. from Rhode Island introduced himself to me shortly after I entered the room. I had heard from him once via email prior to the conference. We didn't sit together at the meeting. The tables were circular tables with about 10 people around each.
The meeting featured two panel 56 delegates from each region sharing their experience from last year's conference. There was lots of reference to "this conference will change your life", "enjoy the week. It goes by too fast.", "Don't go to the microphone if somebody else has already made your point.", "Trust the process.", and "you won't be the best delegate nor the worst."
After the meeting, Liz and I went out looking for people who might want to "do ice cream". I met some of the folks from the East Central Region outside the hotel entrance and we went with Chuck from Michigan and Chuck from Southern Indiana over to Jamba Juice on Broadway. My Peach Delight was OK but it wasn't ice cream.
I took lots of pictures with my Treo yesterday but I think I'd better start using my digital camera. The Treo is convenient but I may not be pleased with the quality of the photos. Times Square is incomparable all lit up at night.
The coffee still does not taste very good. I brought along our Dunkin' Donuts ground coffee but it does not taste nearly as good as it does at home. The little four cup coffee maker in the room has a metal coffee pot. I'm not sure if it's the metal or maybe the tap water that I've been using. Tomorrow, I'll add a little more ground coffee and see if that improves the taste. The next move would be to start using bottled water.
It's time to get dressed and go find some breakfast before church. We are going to try St. Malachy's church just around the corner from the hotel. Delegate registration starts at 11 a.m. today and I'm told that I'll be tied up the rest of the day. A large part of me just wants the uncertainty to be over.
Ciao, babies!!
Last night, since my last post, I went to the Delegates-only meeting. Much to my discomfort, I found that everyone dressed up. I didn't. I thought: It's going to be an AA meeting. Nobody judges you in an AA meeting. You can dress however you want. I judged myself. I was very uncomfortable. I wore the same polo shirt and khaki pants that I'd worn all day. No, I was not the only one who dressed casually. There may have been one or two other men who did not wear coats. Of course, it was specifically mentioned during the meeting that coat and tie for the men was expected all week except Tuesday. The delegate chairperson even referred to the "dress code" in that manner of speaking that describes how "my sponsor kicked my ass....".
My delegate buddy, Jorge F. from Rhode Island introduced himself to me shortly after I entered the room. I had heard from him once via email prior to the conference. We didn't sit together at the meeting. The tables were circular tables with about 10 people around each.
The meeting featured two panel 56 delegates from each region sharing their experience from last year's conference. There was lots of reference to "this conference will change your life", "enjoy the week. It goes by too fast.", "Don't go to the microphone if somebody else has already made your point.", "Trust the process.", and "you won't be the best delegate nor the worst."
After the meeting, Liz and I went out looking for people who might want to "do ice cream". I met some of the folks from the East Central Region outside the hotel entrance and we went with Chuck from Michigan and Chuck from Southern Indiana over to Jamba Juice on Broadway. My Peach Delight was OK but it wasn't ice cream.
I took lots of pictures with my Treo yesterday but I think I'd better start using my digital camera. The Treo is convenient but I may not be pleased with the quality of the photos. Times Square is incomparable all lit up at night.
The coffee still does not taste very good. I brought along our Dunkin' Donuts ground coffee but it does not taste nearly as good as it does at home. The little four cup coffee maker in the room has a metal coffee pot. I'm not sure if it's the metal or maybe the tap water that I've been using. Tomorrow, I'll add a little more ground coffee and see if that improves the taste. The next move would be to start using bottled water.
It's time to get dressed and go find some breakfast before church. We are going to try St. Malachy's church just around the corner from the hotel. Delegate registration starts at 11 a.m. today and I'm told that I'll be tied up the rest of the day. A large part of me just wants the uncertainty to be over.
Ciao, babies!!
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Saturday evening:
We couldn't find a "food sponsor" so we set out on our own. I foolishly entered an intersection while the DO NOT WALK sign was lit and ended up right in the middle of 3-4 lanes of traffic when their light turned green. Liz was pretty upset. So was I. I made a quick resolution: Only cross when the "Walk" sign is lit no matter what anybody ahead of you is doing. I am so embarrassed. You don't really ever have to mention this incident again. It is recorded here should I ever live to read it again.
We ended up eatting at Pigalle, a restaurant just a few blocks from the hotel but away from Broadway where there are pretty much wall-to-wall people at this time on a Saturday night.
I am still a little spooked about going up to our window and looking straight down. I'm so grateful that they don't have those glassed-in elevators. Being on the 31st floor is about 30 floors higher than I'd like to be. Then again, I suppose the view IS better from up here.
I'm going to the Delegates-only meeting in about a half hour. I could be coerced into going out for dessert after. We'll see. I've already got 7545 on the pedometer today.
More as more happens....
Ciao, Babies!!!
We couldn't find a "food sponsor" so we set out on our own. I foolishly entered an intersection while the DO NOT WALK sign was lit and ended up right in the middle of 3-4 lanes of traffic when their light turned green. Liz was pretty upset. So was I. I made a quick resolution: Only cross when the "Walk" sign is lit no matter what anybody ahead of you is doing. I am so embarrassed. You don't really ever have to mention this incident again. It is recorded here should I ever live to read it again.
We ended up eatting at Pigalle, a restaurant just a few blocks from the hotel but away from Broadway where there are pretty much wall-to-wall people at this time on a Saturday night.
I am still a little spooked about going up to our window and looking straight down. I'm so grateful that they don't have those glassed-in elevators. Being on the 31st floor is about 30 floors higher than I'd like to be. Then again, I suppose the view IS better from up here.
I'm going to the Delegates-only meeting in about a half hour. I could be coerced into going out for dessert after. We'll see. I've already got 7545 on the pedometer today.
More as more happens....
Ciao, Babies!!!
Saturday late afternoon
Just saw the play "Bill W and Dr. Bob". I sat right next to Dorothy M. , our past ECR Trustee. The play was wonderful. I had tears in my eyes at many times. We all enjoyed it.
We are going to head down to the "top of the escalator" and look for some quick "food sponsors".
I have a delegates-only meeting at 7 tonight.
More later....
Ciao, Babies!!
Just saw the play "Bill W and Dr. Bob". I sat right next to Dorothy M. , our past ECR Trustee. The play was wonderful. I had tears in my eyes at many times. We all enjoyed it.
We are going to head down to the "top of the escalator" and look for some quick "food sponsors".
I have a delegates-only meeting at 7 tonight.
More later....
Ciao, Babies!!
Saturday mid-day
We ate breakfast with our "food sponsor", Jane from Maryland at Trattoria Daniello just a few blocks from the hotel. Pancakes, ham (just a sliver) and two eggs over easy. Great start to the morning.
I still can't figure out whether that's the East River or the Hudson that we see out our window but I'm beginning to think it's the East River and that it's Brooklyn. Liz and I are "discussing" it at the moment.
We took a ride on the Greyline (Red busses) tour around the Downtown loop after we had breakfast. What a gorgeous day this is!! It's sunny and just GLORIOUS outside. We rode on the top of the bus and I took lots of pictures with my Treo. I shoulda brought my other camera but I wasn't thinking. Maybe we'll have time to ride the bus again tomorrow. I'm never sure because we can't register until the Conference officially starts tomorrow.
We did visit the hospitality room on the 4th floor after we got back from the bus tour. We met our East Central Regional Trustee and several other delegates from the ECR.
We need to get down to the "top of the escalator" now. We are going to see a performance of Bill W. and Dr. Bob this afternoon at 2 p.m.
The current assessment is that the river we see out our window is the Hudson. The jury is still out.
Ciao, babies!!
We ate breakfast with our "food sponsor", Jane from Maryland at Trattoria Daniello just a few blocks from the hotel. Pancakes, ham (just a sliver) and two eggs over easy. Great start to the morning.
I still can't figure out whether that's the East River or the Hudson that we see out our window but I'm beginning to think it's the East River and that it's Brooklyn. Liz and I are "discussing" it at the moment.
We took a ride on the Greyline (Red busses) tour around the Downtown loop after we had breakfast. What a gorgeous day this is!! It's sunny and just GLORIOUS outside. We rode on the top of the bus and I took lots of pictures with my Treo. I shoulda brought my other camera but I wasn't thinking. Maybe we'll have time to ride the bus again tomorrow. I'm never sure because we can't register until the Conference officially starts tomorrow.
We did visit the hospitality room on the 4th floor after we got back from the bus tour. We met our East Central Regional Trustee and several other delegates from the ECR.
We need to get down to the "top of the escalator" now. We are going to see a performance of Bill W. and Dr. Bob this afternoon at 2 p.m.
The current assessment is that the river we see out our window is the Hudson. The jury is still out.
Ciao, babies!!
Friday night/Saturday morning early
We half-napped for a few minutes after supper and then decided to go get some food essentials from the store that Bob told us about. It's called the Food Emporium. There is a deli at street level and a whole grocery store in the basement, er, one floor down. We bought some Diet Pepsi, some Poland Spring water, some Cheetos and some Triscuits.
We are going to breakfast with Bob M. and some of his friends this morning. We are meeting at the "top of the escalator" at 8 a.m. It's not really the top, it's the middle because their are another set of escalators that go up another floor.
I still haven't figured out my directions. The sun is up and it seems to be coming from a direction that didn't seem to be east. Oh, well.
The weather is forecast to be fantastic this week. A high of 77 today, 74 tomorrow, 80 on Monday and 67 on Tuesday. Gotta love it!
The hotel does have wireless internet. That's good. Of course, it wasn't free. It cost $15 per day with a 15% discount for a whole week. Still, that's pretty steep. Glad they don't have a meter on the water tap.
Time for a shower.
Ciao, babies!
We half-napped for a few minutes after supper and then decided to go get some food essentials from the store that Bob told us about. It's called the Food Emporium. There is a deli at street level and a whole grocery store in the basement, er, one floor down. We bought some Diet Pepsi, some Poland Spring water, some Cheetos and some Triscuits.
We are going to breakfast with Bob M. and some of his friends this morning. We are meeting at the "top of the escalator" at 8 a.m. It's not really the top, it's the middle because their are another set of escalators that go up another floor.
I still haven't figured out my directions. The sun is up and it seems to be coming from a direction that didn't seem to be east. Oh, well.
The weather is forecast to be fantastic this week. A high of 77 today, 74 tomorrow, 80 on Monday and 67 on Tuesday. Gotta love it!
The hotel does have wireless internet. That's good. Of course, it wasn't free. It cost $15 per day with a 15% discount for a whole week. Still, that's pretty steep. Glad they don't have a meter on the water tap.
Time for a shower.
Ciao, babies!
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