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Alcoholics Anonymous Area E AGM 2017

Minutes of Meeting: Saturday, 5th Feb 2017 @ 1:00 PM
_________________________________

Chair:             Andrew I (RtR Kirribilli Fri PM)

Attendance:

Andrew I	Area Chair	RtR Kirribilli Fri PM	Present
Rosemary P	Area Secretary	RtR North Syd Tue PM	Present
John B	Area Delegate	Seaforth Tue PM	Present
Anna S	Area Alternate Delegate	Dee Why Thu PM	Present
Peter	Area Treasurer	North Sydney Mon PM	Present
Michael S	Area Group Liaison	RtR Kirribilli Tue PM	Present
John G	Area Public Information Coordinator	Narrabeen Sun PM	Not Present
Lachlan B	Area Webmaster	Royal North Shore Thu PM	Present
Christopher L	GSR	RtR Kirribilli Fri PM	Present
Garry T	GSR	Gordon Mon PM	Present
John R	GSR	Royal North Shore Thu PM	Present
Caroline E	GSR	Cremorne Mon Thu	Apology
David C	GSR	Epping Mon PM & Thu PM	Present
Rowena R	GSR	Seaforth Tue PM & Dee Why B’fast	Apology
Tina S	GSR	Mona Vale Sun AM	Apology
David P	GSR	Chatswood Sun AM	Present
Sally C	GSR	Neutral Bay Tue PM	Present
Sue	Member	RtR North Syd Tue PM	Apology
Peter T	GSR	Long Reef Tue AM	Present
Michael B	Member	RtR North Syd Tue PM	Present
Andy (Party Hire)	Member	RtR Kirribilli Fri PM	Present
Jim R	Member	Waverton Sun PM	Present
Bruce M	Trustee	RtR North Syd Tue PM	Apology
Mike N	Member	RtR Kirribilli Fri PM	Present
RJ	Member	RtR North Syd Tue PM	Present
Mary H	Member	RtR Kirribilli Fri PM	Present
Sean H	Member	RtR Kirribilli Fri PM	Present
Simon K	Member	RtR North Syd Tue PM	Present
Martina	Member	RtR Kirribilli Fri PM	Apology
Gary B	Member	RtR North Syd Tue PM	Present
Peter Je	Member	Dee Why Thu PM	Present

 

 

Meeting Opened:                01:00pm

12 Traditions Read By:                 Michael B (RtR North Syd Tue PM)

Previous Minutes:              Accepted (Garry/Lachlan)

 

  Chairman’s Report: Andrew I

Andrew I tabled the report highlighting:

It is an absolute honour to have been accepted in the role of Chairman of the Area E committee.

Although the mail chimp mailing list communication system was wisely and well established by previous members of the Area E committee, with a focus on clear communication and continuing to move the Area E committee further into the digital age I thought it a priority to activate the Area E Website. Lachlan B was kind enough to accept the role of Webmaster and as luck would have it already had much of the website built just for this purpose.

On this medium we have been able to include the meeting dates for next 2 years, upload the monthly meeting minutes and post promotional material both for Area E as well as communications from the other facets of AA nationally. Additionally, members are able to sign up to the Area E mailing list directly from the site.

As part of my duties as Area E Chairman I have been fortunate enough to be involved with the organisation of 3 Area E assemblies.

With numbers around the 20 mark on the 28th of May our first assembly held at the Ku Ring Gai Community Centre in St Ives included acceptance of topics from the members of Area E as well as a presentation of the first concept of world service. Three topics were put forward and two were accepted by the assembly. This was followed by a presentation of the concepts put together by Anna S with the different facets of first concept being the main topic of discussion.

On the 28th of August, our second assembly was held at the North Curl Curl Community

Centre but was slightly less well attended that the first with around 12 attendees. At this assembly, the presentation of the remaining 11 concepts was expertly presented by Chris H of the Road to Recovery group. Anna’s wonderful and well thought out presentation evoked lively discussion and deep thought around all of the AA’s 12 concepts of World Service and associated topics. My most marked take home message of the day was that Gratitude can best be expressed as the action of participating in service in AA, especially at Area level.

Our third assembly for the year was held at the Doherty Centre in Chatswood on October 15th attracting around 15 members with activities including discussion of Area E’s topics for conference and a chance to meet and chat with a Trustee on the National Service Board. It was a very enlightening activity to see where AA is at as a nation. It was a take home here that the Conference Agenda Committee should be given more ability to streamline the topics that come in as many were the same or similar and it could save time and energy to refine and distil these topics into larger broader topics. I will put this forward as a topic for discussion at the 2017 conference.

Moving forward into 2017 the Committee has decided to embark on an Area Reach Out project. This project is designed to improve the lines of communication between Area E and the groups by allocating a Committee Member to firstly distribute information regarding the National Structure Review, then once established these new lines of communication promise to increase group engagement in Area Activities.

I have really been enjoying the last 12 months as Chairman of the Area E committee and feel confident that over the next 12 months myself and the committee will be able to create extra enthusiasm for Area work and entice more GSR’s of Area E to attend our monthly meetings and special events.

Andrew I

Area E Chairman

 

Delegate’s Report: John B

John B tabled the report highlighting:

Area E spans all of the Northern Sydney and Northern Beaches suburbs. There are over 100 registered meetings throughout the area, with some groups having multiple meetings.

The service contributions during the year of all Area E office holders and GSRs are greatly appreciated.

Members are rotating off the Treasurer and Group Liaison jobs this year and volunteers for these positions are needed. In addition, a new job of Editor is being established. This job’s duties include encouraging members in Area E to submit articles to the new national E-Magazine called The Mixer, first edition due in March, and help edit contributions.

Area E is very well serviced by the Northern Sydney Central Service Office (NSCSO), its committee and volunteers. The NSCSO is open five days a week, sells literature, produces a monthly newsletter, maintains rosters for telephone support outside of office hours and for the AA 1800 number, supports visitations to seven H&I, participates in programs for Bridging The Gap at three hospitals and Court Service.

In addition to the 2016 Annual General Meeting, Area E held three Assemblies during this year. – On 28 May, 2016 at St. Ives : Interactive workshop on the Concepts (Introduction and Concept 1) and discussion of drafts of topics prepared by groups and members for submission to Conference – On 28 August, 2016 at North Curl Curl : Interactive workshop on Concepts 2-4. – On 15 October, 2016 at Chatswood : Discussion of Topics submitted to the 2016 General Service Conference, with participation by the Eastern Region Trustee. The assistance from members and Groups in holding these Assemblies is appreciated.

Participation in AA activities outside of Area E: – Area E, the NSCSO and members supported the Fiji Convention’s function to serve the primary purpose of carrying the AA message to all who need it and want it. This support included members’ attendance at the convention, the NSCSO providing literature for the convention and financial contributions by Groups and Area E; – Members attended the Eastern Region Forum held on 24 September at Caringbah and made a presentation on an Introduction to the Concepts.

Separate reports will be made at the Annual General Meeting by: – myself in relation to the 2016 General Service Conference; and – the Alternate Delegate in relation to a particular request from Conference seeking members and Groups views on the functionality of the current model of the AA Service Structure in Australia.

Later in the year there will be workshops and an Area E Assembly on the AA Service Structure.

Yours in Service, Unity and Fellowship,

John B. Delegate

 

Alternate Delegate Report: Anna S

Anna S tabled her report as a special report at the end of the meeting.

 

Secretary’s Report: Rosemary P

Rosemary P tabled the report highlighting:

• Have enjoyed the opportunity to fill the Area E Secretary position.
• Enjoyed the company of the other Area E members and GSR’s and the energy filled discussions we sometimes have.
• Being a part of the Area committee certainly has instilled in me that AA is bigger than just the meetings and it is important we all play our part at Area level.

 

Treasurer’s Report: Peter

Peter tabled the report highlighting:

 

Opening Balance @ 07/02/2016                 $5661.18

Income                                                                 $5,340.26

Expenses                                                             $4,534.69 (National Conference Levies & Fiji Donations being $3,710)

Closing Balance @ 04/02/2017                    $6,466.75

 

 

Group Liaison Report: Michael S

Michael S tabled the report highlighting:

• This is my final report & in the last two years what I have concluded that the groups/meetings didn’t have enough members to fill all the position and the ones that did may have not seen the interest in filling all of them, only mainly the ones that kept the meeting open and running.
• Some members had dual service positions. I wasn’t able to get to all the meetings in Area E but there seemed to be a theme.
• My role was to introduce myself, supply information material, knowledge, take best contact info and pass on my information to assist in any queries anything else was not required on asked off.Yours in service
  S

           

 

Web Master Report: Lachlan B

Area E Website http://areaeeraa.info

Lachlan B tabled the report highlighting:

• This year saw the inauguration of the webmaster position on the Area E committee.
• A website was built to host all of the Area E documents and meeting minutes and notices at the web address http://areaeeraa.info/.
• The launch of the website has been well received with a number of features added during the year as members have requested.
• The website also acts as a central point of reference for members of the fellowship and they can join the area E mailing list from the homepage.
• The use of the homepage has been integrated into the mailchimp email distribution system. I am looking forward to rolling out more improvements this year.

 

 

PI Report: John G

John G was not present hence a report not tabled:

 

 

Area E Service Position Rotations:

14 Voting Members:

 

Service Position	Newly Appointed for 2017
Area E Treasurer	Michael S
Area Group Liaison	Sally
Mixer Editor	Peter

 

Alternate Delegate Special Report: Anna S

Anna S tabled a special report:

Australian General Service Conference is the group conscience of the whole AA Fellowship in Australia. It’s purpose is to make sure that a voice of every AA member can be heard and responded to wherever welfare of the Fellowship is concerned.

In 2015 Conference received a topic requesting review of our current service structure. ‘The 2015 Topic implied that lack of unity is a threat to AA in Australia’ ( in Topic : 001/2017) and it affects members participation in carrying AA message.

The 2015 Conference formed Structure Review Committee to respond to the topic.

The 2016 Conference was presented with documents containing investigations to the background of the 2015 Topic and a proposition of a structure review plan.

The Conference is now inviting AA members to voice their stand (Topic: 001/2017) on proposal produced by the Structure Review Committee.

At area meeting in December 2016 area E committee members agreed that in order to best respond to invitation from Conference presented to us by our area delegate we needed to make sure that every AA member in area E will be provided with an opportunity to make an informed decision on issue that is critical to the future of AA in this country.

Boarders of Area E are demarcated by North Sydney, Baulkham Hills, Galston, Brooklyn and Northern Beaches, with central service office NSCSO fairly central at St Ives. Personal interaction of area delegate with groups is limited since only about 1 in 10 groups elect a GSR, i.e., service representative.

To reach every group in area e, the area has been divided into 11 geographically determined districts. Members of area e committee have taken responsibility to deliver copies of the conference document to secretaries of groups. By now all committee members have received material for distribution.

We aim to finish distribution of the conference document by the end of February, and between mid April and end of May to provide groups with a brief interactive presentation to clarify the purpose and importance of this project.

We are hoping that AA members will read, discuss and vote on the proposal at group conscience by June, July.

In August Area E will hold the Assembly where the results of your group conscience can be presented should you wish your voices are heard.

Our Delegate will present Area E group conscience to the 2017 Australian General Service Conference in early November.

All above information is contained in the document ‘AA survey’ and cover letters to members and group secretaries currently available on AA area e information website: areaeeraa.info

For any further enquirers please contact John B. our Area E delegate on email : john3743@outlook.com

 

Delegate’s Special Report: John B

John B tabled the report highlighting:

Delegates Notes for report on 2016 General Service Conference:

General Service Conference 2016

Topics are submitted on the TOPIC FORM by Members, Groups and the General Service Board and then allocated to the Conference Committees. The Committees discuss their allocated topics and submit their recommendations to the Conference Floor for discussion and voting on recommended actions.

Some observations in relation to the Topics considered by the Conference Committees and Advisory Actions adopted at the 2016 Conference:

Trustees

Trustees Emeritus – not a Board member, does not have full participation rights at the Conference and at the Board, source of knowledge pertaining to issues Conference members may be unaware of

Charter and Service Manual

Clarification of matters in the Service Manual

Policies and Admissions

Pre-Conference provided advice to members seeking to re-activate an Area, recommended Structure Review Committee Report be updated and circulated as a 2017 Conference Topic, recommended to Conference Agenda Committee that a 4-hour session be allocated at the beginning of the 2017 Conference for discussion of this Topic

Correctional Facilities

Provided suggestions, having watched CD Rom

International Committee

Support carrying the message to Fiji and to support organised regular visitations to carry the message to countries in our zone where there is little or no AA, recommended if no bid for Conference options, bring forward existing Conference, hold event within Asia/Oceania zone, do nothing, ask Fellowship to submit their other ideas

Finance

Improve financial disclosure

Literature

Support GSB action to establish national E-magazine, 12 Step banners to be printed same as Big Book, Edit and improve format of Big Book, establish committee to discuss production of brochure on 12 Steps for indigenous Australians

Remote Community

Workout how to carry the message to members/groups and prefessionals in remote Australia

Topics for 2017 to be submitted by 30 June, Theme for 2017 Conference : A Vision for You

 

 

Alcoholics Anonymous Area E Committee

Minutes of Meeting: Monday, 9th Jan 2017 @ 7:30 PM
_________________________________

Chair:             Andrew I (RtR Kirribilli Fri PM)

Attendance:

Andrew I	Area Chair	RtR Kirribilli Fri PM	Present
Rosemary P	Area Secretary	RtR North Syd Tue PM	Present
John B	Area Delegate	Seaforth Tue PM	Present
Anna S	Area Alternate Delegate	Dee Why Thu PM	Present
Peter	Area Treasurer	North Sydney Mon PM	MIA
Michael S	Area Group Liaison	RtR Kirribilli Tue PM	Present
John G	Area Public Information Coordinator	Narrabeen Sun PM	Present
Lachlan B	Area Webmaster	Royal North Shore Thu PM	Apology
Christopher L	GSR	RtR Kirribilli Fri PM	MIA
Garry T	GSR	Gordon Mon PM	Present
John R	GSR	Royal North Shore Thu PM	Present
Caroline E	GSR	Cremorne Mon Thu	MIA
David C	GSR	Epping Mon PM & Thu PM	Present
Rowena R	GSR	Seaforth Tue PM & Dee Why B’fast	Present
Tina S	GSR	Mona Vale Sun AM	Present
David P	GSR	Chatswood Sun AM	Apology
Sally	GSR	Neutral Bay Tue PM	Present

 

 

Meeting Opened:                07:30pm

12 Traditions Read By:                 Michael S

Previous Minutes:              Accepted

 

Action Items:

Action Item	Description	Owner	Due	Status
20170109.01	AA Structure Review Initiative: Each Area E District Responsible to: ·         Provide Anna S with your physical address if you want to receive a hard copy of the material by mail. ·         Visit personally, or delegate distribution to another well informed AA member, the groups on their list by the end of February 2017. ·         Provide 3 physical copies of the handout material to the groups GSR/Secretary. ·         Review the actions required by the group with either the groups GSR/Secretary. ·         Direct any issues/questions to John B. ·         Following are the District Responsible: o    District 1: John G o    District 2: Rowena o    District 3 Drew o    District 4: Sally o    District 5: Michael o    District 6: John R o    District 7: Michael o    District 8: David C o    District 9: Anna o    District 10: Rosemary o    District 11: David C	ALL	28/02/2017	New
20170109.02	Ask Lachlan to put an electronic version of the AA Australian Structure Review Handouts on the Area E Website.	Anna S	20170207	New
20170109.03	Area AGM Feb 4th: Michael S and Christopher L will organise catering	Michael S & Christopher L	20170204	New
20170109.04	All Area E Members to send their yearly report to Andrew I ready for the AGM on the 4th Feb.	All Area E Members	20170127	New
20161202.01	Area E Website – The print button to print the minutes has disappeared.  It needs to be returned so the minutes can successfully be printed.	Lachlan B	20170109	Completed
20161202.02	Area E Website – Add google maps for the address of the Area E meeting.	Lachlan B	20170109 20170207	In Progress
20161202.03	Andrew I to send an email to all Area E members asking for feedback regarding the articles on Groups and Meetings and Dogs At Meetings.	Andrew I	20170109 20170207	In Progress
20161202.04	AA 30 Sec Commercial at movies: at 2017 year end look at having the commercial screened at Warringah Mall for 1 movie for 3 weeks over the Christmas period.  It will be screened 25 times a week for a total cost of approx. $1000. Also review commercial screenings as part of the new unity project, possibly raising special contributions from meetings.	Rose P	20170901	Hold
20161202.05	Send Lachlan B the dates for the assemblies so they can be updated to the website.	Andrew I/ Lachlan B	20170109	Completed
20161202.06	All Area Members to start using the area specific email addresses so the area email history is kept.	All Area Members	20170109 20170207	In Progress
20161103.01	2017 Annual General Meeting to be organised.  The Kur-ring-gai Community Centre meeting room is available for the first Saturday in February and this date needs to be approved and a booking made. ·         Has been booked for the 4th Feb	Andrew I	20161202 20170109	Completed
20160906.3	Each Area E member to discuss having the Concepts Banner displayed at their meeting with the other 2 banners and also promote it at other meetings if possible. The Concepts Banner is not currently available to order. ·         20161202 – Andrew I to contact the NSCSO and ask them to commence printing of the Concepts banners in the short form on calico.  There is a current request from the groups for 11 of them.	All Andrew I	20161103 20161202 20170109 20170207	In Progress
20160504.2	Undertake an initiative to take an inventory of Area E ·         Waiting for a Conference Report due in Nov.	John B	20160831	Completed

                                                           

 

Chairman’s Report: Andrew I

Andrew I tabled the report highlighting:

 

• Actioned outstanding action items.
• Liaised with Anna S and John B re the AA Structure Review Plan and grouping the Area E meeting into Districts. This is discussed further in AOB.

 

 

PI Report: John G

John G tabled the report highlighting:

 

• He is keen in scheduling AA members to speak at schools.
  • He has spoken to the Broken Bay Catholic School and a few others but was not successful.
  • It is recommended not to mention you are an alcoholic when contacting them.
  • He is going to contact his local member re pursuing this further and is open for any suggestions of who to contact.
  • John R said he did the same in 2007 and did 6 schools. Unfortunately who took over the portfolio a lot of the ground works was lost.  John R found phoning was not useful and ended up writing letters to schools in the area. Then followed up with a phone call and then they had the 6 schools.  Rowena recommended contacting the Year Directors as they determine what is going to be done through the year.  You will need to phone the school and find out the name of Year Director and then send a letter.  It has been found in the past Private schools are more receptive.  Anna recommended reviewing the pamphlet of how to talk to the public re AA

 

 

Treasurer’s Report: Peter

A report was not tabled.

 

 

Delegate’s Report: John B

John B tabled the report highlighting:

 

• The proposed timetable for activities in 2017 Area E:
  • Feb 4^th – Area E Assembly : AGM
  • Structure Review Committee – Service Structure & Inventory of AA is progressing.
  • June 17^th/18^th – Area E Assembly: Review topic submissions.
  • August 19^th/20^th – Area E Assembly : On the Service Structure & Inventory of AA in Australia
  • October 14^th/15^th –Area E Assembly : Review all topics being submitted to the General Service Conference
  • January 29^th – Interactive workshop on Steps 1 to 9. Flyers available on website aa.org.au
  • March 10^th/12^th – Sydney Boomerang Roundup. Flyers available on website aa.org.au

 

• The MIxer – A new online National Magazine – called simply,The Mixer will be available April/May 2017. The name is derived from the Big Book quote “We are people who normally would not mix.” It reminds you of a cocktail mixer (sterling silver, naturally). It suggests class and conviviality – inevitably followed by a sore head.

 

 

Alternate Delegate Report: Anna S

Anna S tabled the report highlighting:

 

• Anna presented the handout of the AA Structure Review Plan which will be discussed in AOB.

 

Group Liaison Report: Michael S

Michael S tabled the report highlighting:

• Michael has been networking with members.
• Michael highlighted that he rolls out of this position at the next AGM hence the role will be available for anyone interested.

           

Web Master Report: Lachlan B

Area E Website http://areaeeraa.info

A report was not tabled.

 

 

GSR Reports:

 

Garry T	Gordon Mon PM	·         Group is going well. ·         20 to 30 people ·         Serving hot food after meeting and finding members stay on.
Anna S	Dee Why Thu PM	·         This month 12 pamphlets were taken. ·          ‘Message to the Teenager’ is a popular one.
Christopher L	RtR Kirribilli Fri PM	MIA
John R	Royal North Shore Thu PM	·         The group has been running for 25 years. ·         A  BB Study Group is about to commence on the 7th February @ 7.30pm to 9.00pm at St Peters Church Hall, Cremorne. It is an 18 week program and highly recommended for newcomers.
Caroline E	Cremorne Mon Thu	MIA
David C	Epping Mon PM & Thu PM	·         Epping going well ·         Rent has been increased ·         10 members at the recent GSC
Rowena R	Seaforth Tue PM & Dee Why B’fast	·         South Pacific are bringing their clients to the Curl Curl and Seaforth meeting which is really reviving the meetings. ·         Last Saturday there were 100 people at Curl Curl. ·         A text was received that the Crypt is closing down for the foreseeable future because the Church is renovating.
Tina S	Mona Vale Sun AM	·         Going well, had a great turn up last Sunday.  Members taking on Service Positions relieving the Secretary from the load.  15 members.
David P	Chatswood Sun AM	Apology
John G	Narrabeen Sun PM	·         Good meeting.
Sally	Neutral Bay Tue PM	·         Attendance is good. ·         All service positions are filled. ·         There was a request from the group if they could have a PI position at the group level.  The response was that they can however, it would be recommended they liaise with the Area E PI representative to ensure there isn’t any doubling up on activities.

 

General Business:

• Anna S – AA Australian Structure Review Initiative:
  • Overview:
    • The AA structure in Australia is based on the USA structure. This year the General Service Conference will be considering a Topic on conducting an inventory and is gathering feedback from the existing groups to determine if the structure is working and/if any changes are required. If it is determined there are recommended changes a proposal will be written for further discussion.
    • The board will put aside two hours at both the February and the July board meetings to review the plan. There will be a four hour workshop at Conference.
  • A Structure Review Plan, along with theTopic for 2017 and the Investigations Report have been issued from the General Service Conference.  Area E members are to determine a strategy where this information and actions is is communicated in person to each of the Area E groups and at least 3 copies of the material left with each group.  
    • The complete hand out consists of:
      1. Cover Note to secretary
      2. Cover Note to AA member
      3. Topic 01/2017
      4. Investigations
      5. AA Structure Review Plan
    • Anna has divided the Area E groups into 11 districts and the following people volunteered for each district. For their district, It is the responsibility for each person to:
      • Provide Anna S with your physical address if you want to receive a hard copy of the material by mail.
      • Visit personally, or delegate distribution to another well informed AA member, the groups on their list by the end of February 2017.
      • Provide 3 physical copies of the handout material to the groups GSR/Secretary.
      • Review the actions required by the group with either the groups GSR/Secretary.
      • Direct any issues/questions to John B.
      • Following are the District Responsible:
        • District 1: John G
        • District 2: Rowena
        • District 3 Drew
        • District 4: Sal
        • District 5: Michael
        • District 6: John R
        • District 7: Michael
        • District 8: David
        • District 9: Anna
        • District 10: Rosemary
        • District 11: David

 

• Andrew I – AGM – Feb 4^th:
  • If you have an Area Service Position please mail your yearly report to Andrew by 27^th
  • Michael will do the catering.

 

 

NEXT MEETING: Tuesday 7th February at 07:30

 

Alcoholics Anonymous Area E Committee

Minutes of Meeting: Friday, 2nd Dec 2016 @ 7:30 PM
_________________________________

Chair:             Andrew I (RtR Kirribilli Fri PM)

Attendance:

Andrew I	Area Chair	RtR Kirribilli Fri PM	Present
Rosemary P	Area Secretary	RtR North Syd Tue PM	Present
John B	Area Delegate	Seaforth Tue PM	Present
Anna S	Area Alternate Delegate	Dee Why Thu PM	Present
Peter	Area Treasurer	North Sydney Mon PM	Present
Michael S	Area Group Liaison	RtR Kirribilli Fri PM	Present
John G	Area Public Information Coordinator	Narrabeen Sun PM	Apologies
Lachlan B	Area Webmaster	Royal North Shore Thu PM	Present
Christopher L	GSR	RtR Kirribilli Fri PM	Present
Garry T	GSR	Gordon Mon PM	Present
John R	GSR	Royal North Shore Thu PM	Present
Caroline E	GSR	Cremorne Mon Thur	Present
David C	GSR	Epping Mon PM & Thu PM	Present
Rowena R	GSR	Seaforth Tue PM & Dee Why B’fast	Apologies
Tina S	GSR	Mona Vale Sun AM	Apologies
David P	GSR	Chatswood Sun AM	Apologies

 

 

Meeting Opened:                07:30pm

12 Traditions Read By:                 Lachlan B

Previous Minutes:              Accepted

 

Action Items:

Action Item	Description	Owner	Due	Status
20161202.01	Area E Website – The print button to print the minutes has disappeared.  It needs to be returned so the minutes can successfully be printed.	Lachlan B	20170109	New
20161202.02	Area E Website – Add google maps for the address of the Area E meeting.	Lachlan B	20170109	New
20161202.03	Andrew I to send an email to all Area E members asking for feedback regarding the articles on Groups and Meetings and Dogs At Meetings.	Andrew I	20170109	New
20161202.04	AA 30 Sec Commercial at movies: at 2017 year end look at having the commercial screened at Warringah Mall for 1 movie for 3 weeks over the Christmas period.  It will be screened 25 times a week for a total cost of approx. $1000. Also review commercial screenings as part of the new unity project, possibly raising special contributions from meetings.	Rosemary P	20170901	Hold
20161202.05	Send Lachlan B the dates for the Assemblies so they can be updated to the website.	Andrew I/ Lachlan B	20170109	New
20161202.06	All Area Members to start using the area specific email addresses so the area email history is kept.	All Area Members	20170109	New
20161103.01	2017 Annual General Meeting to be organised.  The Kur-ring-gai Community Centre meeting room is available for the first Saturday in February and this date needs to be approved and a booking made.	Andrew I	20161202 20170109	In Progress
20160906.1	All Area Members to determine ideas of how to improve the way Area E and the Assemblies are run.	All	20161103 20161202	Completed
20160906.2	A brainstorming session to be held either separately or during an Area E meeting to discuss ways of improving Area E and Assemblies.	Andrew I	20161103 20161202	Completed
20160906.3	Each Area E member to discuss having the Concepts Banner displayed at their meeting with the other 2 banners and also promote it at other meetings if possible. The Concepts Banner is not currently available to order as changes may be required once the National Conference meets this month.  Once the Conference is over and any changes finalised the banner will be made available to order. ·         20161202 – Andrew I to contact the NSCSO and ask them to commence printing of the Concepts banners in the short form on calico.  There is a current request from the groups for 11 of them.	All Andrew I	20161103 20161202 20170109	In Progress
20160504.2	Undertake an initiative to take an inventory of Area E ·         Waiting for a Conference Report due in Nov.	John B	20160831 20161202	On Hold
20160405.1	Looking at integrating articles with mail chimp to eliminate the double handling. ·         Lachlan reported that this is complicated hence recommends we keep the current process.	Lachlan B	20160504 20160602 20160701 20160801 20160906 20161005 20161202	Closed
20160405.7	Create a guideline and add it to the website outlining the difference between a group and a meeting. Discussion included: ·         Groups are organised with office bearers and structure. ·         Reference to Tradition Three (The Long Form) “.. Any two or three alcoholics gathered together for sobriety may call themselves an AA group, provided that, as a group, they have no other affiliation.” ·         20160906 – Garry T highlighted that we should call it an article and not a guideline as a guideline is more official. ·         20160906 – Garry T has written the article and sent an article to John B.  John B will be reviewing it. ·         20161202 – John B submitted the article to the group to review.	Garry T & John B	20160504 20160602 20160701 20160801 20160906 20161005 20161202	Completed
20160405.8	Create a guideline and add to the website outlining the policy on Dogs at Meetings. ·         Call National Office(Tony) to determine if they already have guidelines. ·         20160801 – Owner changed to Garry T ·         20160906 – Garry T highlighted that we should call it an article and not a guideline as a guideline is more official. ·         20160906 – Passed onto John B and he is still to review them. ·         20161202 – John B submitted the article to the group to review.	John G Garry T & John B	20160504 20160602 20160701 20160801 20160906 20161005 20161202	Completed
20160307.3	Peter to talk to GSO to determine the amount the Area has donated as it is currently not clear. ·         Approximately $45,000 is donated each year by Area E.	Peter	20160405 20160504 20160602 20160701 20160801 20160906 20161005 20161202	Completed

                                                           

 Chairman’s Report: Andrew I

Andrew I tabled the report highlighting:

 

• Last month’s meeting was small but good.
• Attendance at this meeting is good and appreciated.
• At the last meeting a motion was carried to close action items not completed within 4 months.
• Prior to this meeting Andrew I, John B, Anna S and Rosemary P met to discuss possible major initiatives for the Area E in 2017. Andrew I will overview in General Business.

8 were nominated:

• Unification project
• Advertising initiative
• Area E inventory
• Participation in project, taking inventory of AA Service Structure in Australia
• PI dinner (delay)
• PI Play (delay)
• Regional Forum (delay)
• National Convention (delay)

 

PI Report: John G

John G was not present hence a report was not tabled:

 

Treasurer’s Report: Peter

Peter tabled the report highlighting:

Account Balance as at 2nd December 2016:          $4,745.60

 

Delegate’s Report: John B

John B tabled the report highlighting:

 

• General Service Conference well attended, 31 voting members (included 21 Area Delegates or Alternates)
• Advisory Actions of Conference will be published in AA Around Australia, December 2016 edition
• Two Topics submitted by Area E : General Service Structure diagrams adopted
• Communication improvements within AA, provide more information suggested
• Publication in Australia of E magazine progressing
• Service and Review Committee Reports with options for conducting an inventory of the AA Service Structure in Australia are to be updated and distributed to give members and groups time to discuss in 2017

 

Alternate Delegate Report: Anna S

Anna S tabled the report highlighting:

 

• Anna has been involved in establishing a new Big Book Study meeting at Seaforth on Wed @ 11am. The venue is children friendly and Anna will try to establish a GSR to represent the group.

Group Liaison Report: Michael S

Michael S tabled the report highlighting:

• He has been revisiting meetings he visited previously. Michael is finding there aren’t a lot of actual members at meetings, though attendance can be high, so the members that are there have to take on several service positions.
• Michael has found it is a good idea to visit meetings possibly every 6 months otherwise the members that are there carrying out several service positions can feel pressured to do more when GSR representation at Area E is mentioned.

           

Web Master Report: Lachlan B

Area E Website http://areaeeraa.info

Lachlan B tabled the report highlighting:

 

• He is receiving good feedback regarding the website.
• Andrew I highlighted people are finding it difficult to print the minutes from the site. After investigation it was found the ‘Print’ button had disappeared.
• Christopher L recommended putting google maps address on the site for the Area E meeting address.
• Lachlan B recommended we start using the Area E committee email addresses so all history of communications between the members is kept.

 

 

GSR Reports:

• John R – All is well,
• David C – Epping – Monday meeting is going strong. Ben has just rotated into the secretary position for the Thursday night meeting.
• Caroline E – Cremorne – Numbers have been increasing which is good and they are trying to create some structure and service. Some of the members are just about to start a new meeting at Naremburn.
• Christopher L – Kirribilli & North Sydney – Both well attended with donations strong. On Dec 10^th from 2pm to 5pm they are holding an informal event ‘Working With Others’. Everyone is welcome.
• Garry T – Gordon Mon night – the meeting going well – 20 to 30 people. They have started serving hot finger food after the meeting and it seems to have increased numbers and those staying after the meeting.
• Anna S – Dee Why Thurs night – this month 40 pamphlets were taken, from Centrelink Brookvale display, mostly being ‘Message to the Teenager’.

 

General Business:

• Andrew I – Overviewed that Andrew I, John B, Anna S, Rosemary P met to discuss 8 possible projects that Area E can put their energy into in 2017. He outlined how one of the sides of the triangle is missing and that is unity.  We have decided on a Unification Reachout Project but are yet to flesh it out.
  • Lachlan B – there is 2 things you can do. Go for quantity – get more people in, go for quality – enhance the people in the group.  You can’t do both.
  • Michael S – has experienced it being beneficial for Area E to reach out and attend groups/meetings than trying to get members to come to us.
• John B – Re the Annual General Meeting being held in February the responsibility rotates between CSO and Area for catering and this year it is Area E’s turn. It was also raised that the NSCSO Office Manager, Treasurer, Area E Treasurer and Group Liaison are up for rotation at the next AGM.
• Andrew I to send the forward schedule for Assemblies in 2017 to Lachlan so they can be put on the website.

 

 

NEXT MEETING: Monday 9th January at 07:30