Peggy D. – Newsletter/Audio-Visual/Literature: We will be publishing a newsletter on June 30 and September 30. The June newsletter will contain the Delegate’s Report. Please submit your articles to news93@yahoo.com Also, John will be interviewing our past delegates for publication in future newsletters. Audio Visual – A presentation was made by Lothar in Santa Maria at the Golden Group. 4 AA videos were shown. A presentation was made on May 7^th in Port Hueneme on Bill W and the 12 Traditions. One June 3^rd, Lothar will make a presentation in Tehachapi on the 12 Traditions. Literature – The sub chair was absent and there is no report.

John - Central Office: The committee meeting had four representatives today and we talked about the Area Committee asking John to get feedback regarding special needs from Central Offices. We also talked about the goals of the Central Offices Liaison, which is to generate the cooperation and communication between Central Office and General Service. The Liaison from Santa Barbara was telling us that the District is organizing a joint service day with Central Office, General Service and H&I. That is tentatively scheduled for August of this year. We are encouraging Central Office Managers, alternate Central Office Representatives and other Central Office folks to join us at the Area Assembly Central Office Committee meetings in the future. We are also talking about introducing members to service by bringing them along to show them the ropes.  We also talked about when reporting to our Groups from the Central Office perspective as a liaison to keep it short and try to keep it interesting.

Shawn M. – DCM Sharing Session: We had three questions come up during our sharing session.  Our first question was “How do we DCMs divide the responsibility of reaching all the Groups in our Districts when they are too large?”  Our suggestion was that we could create sign-up sheets and divide Group up between the active GSRs.  We could also draw names from a hat.  We could look into redistricting.  2.  “How do DCMCs get DCMs? How do we get involvement?”  We talked about belonging to a Home Group and how important this was to learning about the structure of AA.  We also talked about meetings being registered and educating them on how AA works.  3.  “What kind of activities do DCMs generate?”  We do public service, including PSAs on TV and newspapers, on buses and benches.  Sponsor literature racks in schools and courthouses.  Books in libraries and popcorn and movie nights.  Fellowship breakfasts and workshops.  Maybe DCMs could even visit other District meetings to see how others do it.

Bertie – GSR Sharing Session: Several in attendance at the session with good participation.  Some questions discussed were with regard to meeting affiliation (Tradition 6) and principles before personalities (Tradition 12).  We talked a lot about giving reports and the enthusiasm necessary to keep everyone’s attention.  We discussed the various forms that have been passed out in the last couple of Assemblies, which are guides to giving a brief but informative report to the Group.

Lunch Break ---

The Assembly was called to order at 1:00 P.M. by Chair Vicki B. who led us in the Serenity prayer.  The 12 Concepts were read in English by Jay R. and by Tomas in Spanish.

OFFICERS REPORTS

The eligibility rules were read and the roll call taken by the Area Secretary, Bertie D.:

There were also 34 guests and our fill-in “Sound Dude”, Alan.  Districts without representation were 12, 20, 21, 50, and 53.  We hope you can join us at our next Assembly in Bakersfield.

Birthdays for April and May were recognized. 

The minutes from the January Area Assembly were submitted for approval.  A motion was made to accept the minutes as written.  The motion was seconded and passed.

Treasurer’s Report – Debbie B.: There are many reports on the table for the first quarter of Area 93. Actually there are probably too many reports. In the future, I will just present the quarterly contribution report and the "Budget vs. Actual" report and the expense and contribution year to date. DCMs will receive a monthly quarterly report that they will copy and distribute to GSRs. The April reports are also available today. Anyone can contact me directly by phone, email or regular mail for a copy of the contribution report at any time. At this time there are a couple of corrections to the reports. The contribution report and the quarterly report show a difference of $8.55. This was a contribution from the sound dude of donated tapes and did not reflect correctly under "other contributions" so the correct total is $9,854.88. The Orcutt Group is incorrectly shown in District 51, which is actually District 52. Assembly food expense still shows an advance of $300.00 which was used at the January Assembly and the correction has since been made. With these corrections in mind, I would like to ask for a motion to approve the quarterly reports? I need a second from a member of the Finance Committee to approve the reports with the corrections noted. There was a second from Eddie D. The motion passed.

Chairman’s Report – Vicki B.: Very briefly, I want to remind you about the ask-it-basket, which we will be getting to at the end of this Assembly. If you have not placed a question in the basket yet, and you have a question, please place it in the basket and we will address it after Steve’s report.

Alternate Delegate – Jeanine R.: It was my pleasure to lead the News GSR Orientation. We would like them to now come to the microphone and introduce themselves to the Assembly. (Introductions done) If anyone is sitting next to a new GSR, please be available to answer any questions that they might have. We also had a second Spanish-language orientation with about 25 present. Some of them were new GSRs or those thinking of becoming one. There were a lot of questions and answers.

Delegate’s Report – Steve H.: Before I begin telling you about this year’s General Service conference, I have a few regular news items to pass on.

The General Service Board is looking for a Class A (non-alcoholic) trustee to replace Arthur Knight when he rotates off the Board in April of next year. Class A trustees generally, but not always, have some personal knowledge of AA and usually have a job or interest in a field associated with alcoholism like medicine, the courts, treatment facilities, prisons, psychiatry, and so on. If you know of someone you think could and would serve AA well, please let me know and I’ll give you an application and some more information about the commitment.

The Grapevine is still looking for an Executive Editor. The applicant must have at least 6 years of continuous sobriety, a college degree or equivalent, a minimum of 5 of related experience, strong background in editorial work, and strong persuasive skills. Again, please let me know if you or someone you know might be interested and I’ll give you more information along with the application.

Al-Anon celebrated its 50^th Anniversary with a banquet at its Virginia Beach, VA headquarters. For those interested in a well-written history of Al-Anon in the latest edition of the Stepping Stones Foundation newsletter.

The General Service Office will soon be changing their Group record keeping computer software to MS Access in an effort to make it more compatible with most areas’ record keeping systems.

Area 93, for better or for worse, will not be hosting the 2004 PRAASA. That honor went to Mid Southern Area who plans to hold the event in Costa Mesa. If you are interested in bidding for the 2005 PRAASA at next year’s General Service Conference, we should decide before the end of this year so we can get the bid information together.

I have turned this year’s PRAASA audio tapes and the tapes Jeanine had made from our Pre-Conference Workshop over to the Archives Committee so if you are interested in borrowing them, please see Shirlee B., our archives Committee chair.

I have also given our Archives Committee some keepsakes from this year’s Conference:

A 3^rd Edition Big Book signed by Conference members.

2 copies of the new General Service Office Archive’s second set of historical photographs which include photos of the first 4 International conventions plus some photos of Bill W. and early friends of AA.

A first edition, first printing copy of the new Archives Handbook, signed by all the members of the Trustees Archives Committee who saw it through development and the Conference Archives Committee members who first reviewed it.

And a copy of the 51^st General Service Conference Opening Dinner program with a handwritten note to the Area 93 archives from Dr. Bob’s son, Bob, Jr.

If you would like to see any of these historical mementos, please see someone from the Archives Committee,

I brought 2 more copies of the 3^rd Edition Big Book, signed by the Conference members, back with me. One of them is in English, the other in Spanish. Toward the end of today’s Assembly, the books will be given away in a drawing of the numbers you got at the registration desk. So, if you didn’t get a number, please see our Registrar, Stephanie.

I believe I have dates set for all of my "Delegate Day" local reports. Here they are for those of you want to attend them all and get the 2001 Delegate Day Tour tee shirt. (Just kidding.)

May 7^th – San Fernando Districts, in Burbank

May 26^th – Kern County Districts, at the Golden Empire Round-Up, in

Bakersfield

June 3^rd – Antelope Valley Districts, at Rafters

June 10^th – San Luis Obispo County Districts

June 24^th – Spanish Speaking Districts, in Oxnard

June 30^th – Antelope Valley Districts, at the Antelope Valley Round-Up in Lancaster

Sept 1^st – Ventura County Districts, at the Ventura County AA Convention

10. I brought a number of handouts for my report today

A copy of the report I will give today titled "51^st General Service Conference Report."

A copy of the Conference decisions titled "Advisory Actions and Additional Considerations." These will also be printed in the Final Conference Reports due out this summer.

And a copy of the Conference decisions on those specific topics we discussed during our Pre-Conference Assembly.

Now, on to my Conference report.

The theme of this year’s General Service Conference was "Love and Service."

"Our Twelve Steps, when simmered down to the last, resolve themselves into the words ‘love’ and ‘service.’" This was part of Dr. Bob’s final message to Alcoholics Anonymous and was read to us by his son, Bob Smith, Jr. at the Conference’s opening dinner.

Those two words "Love" and "Service" have lasted as a description of the AA program in its simplest form for the 51 years since Dr. Bob said them. And it was a spiritual event in itself to have his son, the only living witness to the day Bill met Dr. Bob in Akron, there to read those words to us.

Although most think of "The Conference" as a week-long meeting for delegates, trustees, and GSO staff members in New York – the conference process takes place year-round and involves us all: you, your groups, GSRs, DCMs, and the rest of the Area Assembly members in addition to trustees and GSO staff members. Those who finally discuss and decide upon our ideas, though, are the 93 delegates, 27 trustees and directors, and 13 staff members: 133 servants trusted by tradition to act on behalf of the approximately 2 million alcoholics in the US and Canada.

"Trust" is certainly not a foreign word to us. The Early Bird Edition of this year’s Box 459 tells us: "Since day one of sobriety, every AA member has heard the suggestion that we must trust the process – the process of our recovery, a day at a time; the process of the group conscience as it emerges in our home groups. Likewise, the process works at the Conference level, through the committee system. Conference members discuss items on their agendas, deliberate, and report their recommendations to the entire conference body for a vote. Thus the group conscience of the fellowship emerges in the form of Conference Advisory Actions."

Before I tell you what happened at the Conference, I would like to tell you about some of the other important work done by our trustees, the directors and GSO staff members during the past year and reported during the Conference.

We received reports from our three corporate boards (the General Service Board, the AA World Services or AAWS Board, and the Grapevine Board), each of the General Service office and Grapevine staff desks, and special reports on finance, publishing, and group services. Here are some highlights.

General Service Board Report:

About 47,000 AAs, Alanons, and guests attended last year’ International Convention in Minneapolis, including about 3,000 AAs from other countries.

GSO staff members visited Cuba, Romania, Panama, France, Germany, the Czech Republic, Belarus, and Brazil last year. I asked the General Service Office manager, Greg Muth, if I was imagining that last year seemed like there was a lot more international travel than usual and he confirmed it was. AA in the US and Canada understands its central position in the AA world and is now trying to make our experience available to any and all who ask.

We financed translation of the Big Book into Mongolian, Romanian and Slovak and approved the India Central Office’s translations into Punjabi and Bengali. India, by the way, is working on translations in five more dialects. So far, the Big Book has been translated into forty-two languages.

We are continuing our efforts to protect the Big Book copyright abroad in Germany – hoping to soon end the problem of an individual there publishing copies of the Big Book in four languages and giving them away in Germany and abroad (including in the US.) This is of course a serious problem for a number of foreign General Service offices trying to finance their initial growth with literature sales.

GSO had a good year financially. Income from literature sales and contributions were more than expected and total expenses were less. We brought in about $9,770,000 and spent about $8,790,000. In our financial report we were reminded that the good news about last year’s finances is also the bad news if we view it as a reason for reducing our GSO contributions.

1,081 new groups were registered in the US and Canada last year, bringing the total to 56,389.

In response to our requests for quicker delivery time, the new GSR kits will now be mailed first class.

A new Special Needs service piece is being printed in English, Spanish, and French.

GSO’s web site was visited 1,700,000 times last year, a 60% increase over the year before. The web site (aa.org) is expanding its services to include links with overseas GSO’s (with a disclaimer message), more recovery-oriented pamphlets, and a section titled "Fellowship Services" which will include information on Regional Forums, New Group and Group Change forms, and the AA Guidelines (or "yellow sheets".)

We are presently discussing whether to put the Big Book on our web site. This question has been presented directly to our central offices for comment and has been favorably reviewed in terms of copyright protection.

AAWS distributed 1,784,000 books and 3,621,000 pamphlets last year, including about 760,000 Big Books in English and 30,000 Big Books in Spanish.

The GSO Archives celebrated its 25^th anniversary in November. Its 2000 activities included production of a new 10 photo set of AA history photographs, and continuation of the audio library preservation project which involves transferring reel-to-reel tape recordings of the early International Conventions and General Service Conferences onto CD-ROMs.

Grapevine Board Report:

In an effort to reduce overall costs, the Grapevine has decided to send out its subscription fulfillment and magazine shipping operations to a company located in Ohio. The changeover included the need for high-speed Internet lines between the Grapevine office and the service company to allow easier transfer of subscription information. Subscriber services will still be handled in New York.

The Grapevine is still looking for an executive editor. I believe two of our Area 93 members have already submitted applications, so let me know if you are interested and I will get you the requirements and application information.

Good News: The Grapevine is close to breaking even financially for the first time since 1993. I will talk about LaVina during my Conference actions report.

The Archives Committee oversaw the final development and publishing of the new Archives Handbook. It is now available for sale at $2.50 per copy.

The CPC Committee worked on a service piece titled "working With Students Attending Professional Schools" and continued discussions on how to address the problem of people referred by institutions to AA who focus on problems other than alcohol.

Treatment Facilities Committee reviewed the annual Treatment Facilities information letter sent to treatment facility professionals reiterating its support for bridging-the-gap contact efforts. The committee also plans to have a GSO staff member attend the next Bridging The Gap workshop in Denver.

The Correctional Facilities Committee revised and published the pamphlet "It Sure Beats Sitting In A Cell". They also worked on a service piece to accompany the video "Carrying the Message Behind These Walls."

The Finance Committee basically reported a good year overall as I mentioned before.

The International Conventions / Regional Forums Committee reviewed bids to host the 2010 International Convention from 10 delegate areas and reduced the possible locations to 5 sites. These 5 were interviewed during the General Service Conference. The 2005 International, as you may recall, will be in Toronto. The Committee also reported that 4 Regional Forums and 1 Special Hispanic Forum (in Austin, Texas this December) are scheduled for 2001.

The Literature Committee worked on the new Big Book project ("BB4" as it was affectionately know) along with pamphlets and service pieces for those with special needs, the Black / African American, and older people, plus a pamphlet on spiritual variety in the AA program.

The Trustees Nominating Committee selected Allen A. Ault, with a background in the corrections field, as a new Class A trustee. They also set the lists of those who will serve on the three corporate boards.

The Public Information Committee worked on a new public service announcement and a statement of policy regarding the posthumous anonymity of our co-founders.

GSO Staff Reports (Additional Information):

The Corrections Desk continued their work with inmates to find them outside correspondence partners and with local area committees to provide AA meetings within the facilities.

The Grapevine web site (aagrapevine.org) currently has three major components:

an archives section with about 120 previously published Grapevine articles,

an catalog of Grapevine-related items,

and the "I-Say" modified bulletin board on-line meeting.

Loners and Internationalists Meetings-By-Mail Desk. "Loners" are those unable to attend AA meetings because no meetings are held near enough to them, "Homers" are those who are housebound, "Internationalists" are seagoing AAs, while "Loner Sponsors" are typical AAs who are willing to write to those unable to attend regular meetings. This desk arranges literature distribution and exchange of mail correspondents’ names.

The Public Information Desk works with area delegates to correspond with individuals who break their anonymity at the level of press, radio, films, and television. We in the Southern California areas, of course, get more than our share due to our proximity to the television and movie studios. Last year, the PI Desk responded to 47 anonymity breaks, -- of which were processed by our Area 5 Delegate.

The Spanish Services Desk was established in 1985, primarily to help other GSO staffers correspond with Spanish Speaking AAs. Danny M., our current Spanish Services staff member, will be retiring soon. The search for his replacement is still going on so, if you or someone you know is interested, let me know.

So that, in brief, is what AA in the US and Canada accomplished last year.

Now I will highlight what happened at this year’s General Service Conference on April 22^nd through the 28^th.

The Conference, itself, took place in the meeting rooms of the Crowne Plaza Hotel on Broadway Street (at Times Square) in Manhattan. The Conference members stayed there as well. That was a good thing since the pace of the Conference did not allow us much time to wander around the neighborhood.

The Conference officially began with registration at 11:30 AM followed by regional orientation sessions to acquaint us with the overall process. We then entered the famed meeting room where about 10 rows of conference-style tables

holding about 15 people per row were set up facing a riser section with a long, cloth-draped table and podium. Above the table was a 4 foot high by 20 foot long blue embroidered banner declaring the "51^st General Service Conference".

Attached to the front of the table was another embroidered blue banner proclaiming this year’s Conference theme: "Love and Service."

The tables were arranged with center isle and side isles with 2 microphones on stands in each aisle. I was told by my past delegate to move around during the Conference so I did just that and, by week’s end, had a chance to view the proceedings from front to back and from side to side. That way I also got to meet and know a lot of other delegates, trustees, and GSO staff members.

During that first session, I sat on the right - near the front. I introduced myself to the people on either side; got my purple 3 ring conference binder and cup of coffee arranged neatly in front of me; looked around the room; and slowly realized that I really was going to be part of what was going to be discussed and decided this week. My mind shifted out of automatic and I began to actually feel myself part of a gathering group conscience.

The session included introductions of the Conference chairpersons, a summary of the upcoming Conference events, and a progress report on the Big Book project.

The Conference’s Keynote Address was given by Elaine McDowell Johnson Ph. D. This very gracious lady, a Class A (non-alcoholic) trustee, was later approved as our new Chair of the General Service Board. As such, she becomes the first woman and the first African/American to hold that position.

We then adjourned to meet as separate Conference Committees with our corresponding Trustees Committees.

I was assigned by lot last December to the Conference Committee on Trustees so I went to that joint meeting where the trustees summarized their efforts over the past year and reviewed our specific agenda items.

The day ended with a dinner and open AA meeting for all the conference attendees and their invited guests.

As I mentioned before, Dr. Bob’s son, Bob Jr., was one of the invited guests. He told us a little of what he saw and felt that day in Akron when his dad reluctantly agreed to talk to this New York stockbroker for just a short while and wound up talking with Bill for hours. Bob Jr. said he had no way of knowing then what would come of that meeting but he now has a great appreciation for the AA program’s success because his wife became an AA member and he eventually became an active Alanon member.

We were also honored by the presence of Nell Wing, Bill’s first secretary. She is getting along in age and was not able to speak to the gathering nor stay for long afterward. But just having her and Bob Jr. (two people who have witnessed the life of Alcoholics Anonymous from its beginnings to that night) there to touch and talk to - gave me a chance to actually feel my way back to the beginning.

Monday and Tuesday’s morning sessions were used for Conference committee meetings while the afternoon and evening sessions involved Board reports, presentations, and discussions. This year the presentations focused on current finances, the changing Grapevine magazine, Spanish translations, and Conference growth.

I spent the committee meeting time with the Conference Committee on Trustees, a group of 4 Panel 50 and 5 Panel 51 delegates along with Doug Richardson, our GSO staff committee secretary and his assistant, Joe. When I received my committee assignment last December, I thought I could not have found a less controversial subject that that of approving lists of candidates for board offices. I was wrong. Fate found an opportunity to surprise me. But more about that later.

Our last committee action on Tuesday morning was to elect next year’s Committee Chair and Alternate Chair. I was honored by the other delegates with the Chair position and now get to worry about doing that perfectly next year.

Tuesday afternoon was set aside for a visit to the General Service Office. We freshman delegates were assembled in groups of 10 or so, given subway tokens, then led on the journey from Times Square "uptown" to the Office.

The subway ride was not my first, because I was a regular rapid transit commuter in an earlier life. But it was new in the sense that I was taking the trip with a large group of prior strangers who felt as grateful as I was about being able to do something like this.

Twenty nine years ago, I was drunk every possible minute of every day and deeply hating my life - but realizing the very real possibility that it was going to go on like that for a very long time to come.

So there I was: sober for more than 28 years in a row because God gave me a gift and AA helped me keep it. And now we were all in the process of helping to pass the benefits of our gifts along to others. We thoroughly enjoyed the 15-minute ride and even got off at the right stop.

The walk from the subway station to the building where AA has its offices took us up to the building’s cross street, aptly named Reinhold Niebuhr Place, after the Serenity Prayer’s author. Then we passed through the front doors in a very long stream, signed in at the building reception desk, and rode the elevator up to the 11^th Floor.

We exited the elevator lobby, turned toward the AA reception desk, and came face to face with the polished bronze Circle and Triangle mounted at eye height on a dark gray fabric panel. The circle and triangle might not be our copyrighted possession any longer but it still was very much able to bring out that huge sense of gratitude that had been building on the subway ride.

We spent the next 2 hours touring the AA and Grapevine offices, talking to the AA staff and the support staff – amazed that so much AA work is produced by so few. I wish the office where I work were so efficient. We also got to tour the Archives office.

I’ll tell you more about my memories of that trip later.

Wednesday morning we delegates, trustees, and staff divided up into groups and had sharing sessions on the Conference topics of love and service.

Wednesday afternoon we had elections for the East Central and Southeast Regional Trustees and the US Trustee-at Large.

Wednesday evening we began our Committee reports and discussions. They continued for all three sessions Thursday, and the morning and afternoon sessions on Friday. The report and discussion sessions were accompanied by presentations on Conference topics.

The business part of the Conference finished about 5:30 Friday afternoon with final remarks by our Class A General Service Board Chairman, Gary Glynn. We closed by hearing the Serenity Prayer spoken in all 3 Conference languages (Spanish, French, and English), then said it together – each in our own language.

For me, that was the perfect way to end this very unique experience. I was able finish an event I will remember as one of those Big Deals In Life the same way I finish at most of my regular AA meetings – with a prayer that has always given me strength and filled me with hope.

Before we go on to my summary of this year’s Conference actions (a complete list of Conference actions is in the handout I brought), I want to give you a brief review of the General Service Conference process.

First, an idea (suggestion, question, or concern) comes from an AA member, an Area Assembly member, or a General Service Conference member. It may be shared at the group, district, and/or Area Assembly level then sent to the General Service Conference Coordinator at GSO.

The idea is then reviewed by the GSO or Grapevine staff and forwarded to the appropriate trustees’ Committee.

A quick explanation here: trustees’ Committees (made up of our elected and appointed trustees) meet on at least a quarterly basis in New York to do this and other work on our behalf. Conference Committees, on the other hand, are made up of delegates and meet only during the Conference itself.

The trustee’s Committee may then research the idea, collect further information, assign it to the appropriate Conference Committee, and include the item on the Conference agenda during their January Board Meetings. This agenda, along with the background information is what we eventually discuss in our groups, districts, and at the Pre-Conference Assembly in March.

Now the idea has made it to a Conference Committee and will be discussed along with the other items on their agenda. From these discussions come committee recommendations or additional considerations.

Another quick explanation: if a recommendation is approved by the Conference, it becomes a Conference Advisory Action, which becomes "binding" or final, when approved by the General Service Board. The Board meets directly after the Conference adjourns. An additional consideration is a statement that the committee decided to take no action or to make a request for further study or discussion by the corresponding Trustees’ Committee or by the fellowship in general. These additional considerations often become the basis for the next year’s General Service Conference agenda.

Finally, the committee presents its recommendations to the Conference for discussion and approval (or amendment or disapproval.) The additional considerations are then presented for questions and discussion. On rare occasion, the Conference will decide that an additional consideration is important enough to put into action right away and will propose it as a floor action which will be added to the end of the Conference Agenda, when it will be discussed and decided.

At this year’s General Service Conference:

The Agenda Committee recommended:

that the theme for next year’s Conference be "Sharing the Steps, Traditions",

that the presentation / discussion topics be on Unity and Inventory,

and the workshop topics be "Using the Steps, Traditions, and Concepts in Our Daily Lives."

The CPC Committee had no recommendations. Their additional considerations dealt with continuing discussions of last year’s topics.

The Correctional Facilities Committee also had no recommendations while their additional considerations dealt with continuing discussions of last year’s topics.

The Finance Committee recommended:

that if the Reserve Fund exceeds the 12 month upper limit, we allow a one-year period to review the Reserve Fund level, followed by a second year to formulate actions to adjust Reserve Funds below 12 months operating expenses.

Note of Interest: We spent a lot of time discussing an amendment to this motion to set a time limit on when the formulated actions should be started. We even got an amendment to the amendment. (I was very glad I was not chairing this session.) But the original recommendation eventually stood as proposed. The Conference body felt the original recommendation correct because it was stated in a way that gave our trusted servants (the trustees Finance Committee) the room and the time they needed to act on our behalf.

The Committee’s additional considerations asked for further area sharing on using literature prices to control the Reserve Fund (if needed), accounting for international conventions, and self-support of AAWS.

The Grapevine Committee recommended:

that La Vina continue to be published by the AA Grapevine and supported by the General Service Board as a service to the Fellowship

and that La Vina continues to be published utilizing AA Grapevine resources in order to achieve efficiencies in production and distribution.

Note of Interest: La Vina originally began its life on a 5-year trial basis. This time the recommendation to continue publishing the magazine was purposefully made without a time limit because the general feeling in the US and Canada is that La Vina should be viewed as a needed service we provide to our Spanish speaking community. This also gives our Grapevine board members greater latitude in managing La Vina’s financial affairs.

The Committee’s additional considerations included a decision that Grapevine should produce a soft cover anthology of articles to newcomers, that the Grapevine "announcement card" is not needed at this time, and that no action was needed on the request to stop hosting the Grapevine’s on-line meeting.

The Literature Committee recommended:

that the Fourth Edition of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, be approved keeping in mind the 1995 Conference Advisory Action which reads: "The first 164 pages of the Big Book, Alcoholics Anonymous, the Preface, the Forewords, ‘The Doctor’s Opinion’, ‘Doctor Bob’s Nightmare’ and the Appendices remain as is".

The recommendations go on to give our Publications Department latitude in arranging the rest of the book layout.

that … the Twelve Concepts (short form) and GSO’s web site address be included in the next printing of the Big Book,

that the pamphlet "Can AA Help Me Too? – Black/ African Americans Share Their Stories" be approved,

that a pamphlet titled "AA For the Older Alcoholic – Never Too Late" be approved and printed in large type format.

The Committee’s additional considerations included a decision to take no action on a number of requests for the Conference to review the Fourth Edition before approval, and a decision to take no further action on a new pamphlet to address a variety of religious experience.

Note of Interest: the Conference decided they had no need to review the new Big Book before the discussion and vote. We felt we should trust that the trustees Literature Committee and the Conference Literature Committee did their best for us. The new big Book will keep 16 old stories and add 24 new ones. The Conference Committee also asked the trustees Committee to bring a draft manuscript of the stories dropped from all three prior editions to the next Conference for review.

The Fourth Edition should be available before the end of this year.

Another Note of Interest: We had a very long discussion about a proposed floor action to immediately begin French and Spanish translations of the new book. The Conference eventually realized that the translation process was much more complicated than just translating 24 new stories into the respective languages. We still have an outstanding discussion on the Spanish translation of the main text; both editions will probably want to include other stories from native Spanish and French speakers; and we need to know the effect of a new edition on the other Spanish and French speaking general offices. So, we decided to let AAWS proceed with the policy they already have in place: to provide the US / Canadian membership with literature in all three languages as quickly as they can.

I would like to speak now of a personal disappointment regarding the "spiritual variety" pamphlet.

I had really hoped that the Conference Committee and the rest of the Conference members would see this issue exactly as I did - and decide to take immediate action to proceed on two pamphlets: one to explain that we are not a religious program and one to explain how an atheist or agnostic can work the program. Instead, the Conference decided to let stand the Committee’s very clear statement that no further action was to be taken on either type of pamphlet.

So I got to learn that the Conference Conscience is not always in sync with mine.

I have also come to realize since, that the "Conference Process" can work for me as well as for AA at large. I am an AA member and I have a concern. I can bring this matter up at my district or at my area assembly for discussion and pass it along to next year’s Conference Coordinator if my area decides the idea has value.

The Policy and Admissions Committee recommended:

to admit two AAs from Germany’s Central Office as observers.

The Committee’s additional considerations included recommendations that work continue on a revised Application For Additional Delegate Area, that discussions continue on the use of personal computers and electronic voting machines during the Conference, and that areas continue to provide GSO with ideas on future conference growth.

The Public Information Committee recommended:

that the 2001 AA Membership Survey be conducted on a random basis as was done in the 1998 AA Membership Survey,

and that a new public service announcement be developed for review at the 2002 Conference.

The Committee’s additional considerations included a request that discussions continue on the subjects of a holiday-oriented PSA, centralized tracking of PSA usage by radio and TV stations, and long range planning for PSA development. The Committee also wanted the Trustees Public Information Committee to continue work with their draft policy on our co-founders’ anonymity.

The Report and Charter Committee recommended:

that the AA Service Manual section on the Third Legacy voting procedure be change to reflect current practice,

and that "telephone meetings" be included under the "International Meetings" section in the AA Directories.

The Committee’s additional considerations included discussion of a number of other requests for changes to the new AA Service Manual and decided to take no action.

Note of Interest: The Committee purposely declined to make a lot of Service Manual changes this year because they wanted AAs to use the Manual a little more before they began to make a lot of changes - since most of the requests were to reinstate sections taken out of the old Service Manual. The Committee was reluctant to begin a process that would, in their opinion, make the new Manual as hard to navigate as the old one.

The Treatment Facilities Committee had no recommendations. Their additional considerations included a general discussion on formats used for AA meetings in institutions, the need for cooperation among various AA committees participating in "bridging the gap" activities, and problems with AAs sharing on problems other than alcohol at AA meetings.

The Conference Committee on Trustees recommended:

approval of the resumes of Regional and at-Large Trustee candidates,

and approval of the proposed slate of trustees and officers for the General Service, the AA World Services, and the Grapevine Boards.

The Committee’s additional consideration was that the Conference Coordinator include the trustees’ Nominating Committee’s Composition, Scope, and Procedure in the Committee members’ background information packets in the future.

Note of Interest: This was the part of the Conference I thought would be very uncontroversial. The Conference Committee and the Conference itself have almost always approved the proposed slate of trustees and officers without much comment. But this year, the General Service Board substituted the name of another qualified person for one recommended by the Grapevine Board for its slate of directors. And the trustees Nominating Committee agreed. The General Service Board, by charter, has always had this right but has rarely found that circumstances required them to use it. So, an amendment to the Conference Committee’s recommendation was made by a member of the Grapevine Board during the Conference. The member requested that the original candidate’s name be reinstated. What followed was a very long, sometimes emotional, discussion of the rights and obligations of the General Service Board and the relation of those rights to the spiritual principal of trust.

I knew well before the Conference began that people had some very strong opinions on both sides of this issue but no idea how these opinions would actually be expressed during the Conference. The traditional reminder of placing "principals before personalities" was quoted often during both the Committee and the floor discussions.

What eventually emerged was, again, a decision to trust our trusted servants. To accept that the decision made by the General Service Board and the trustees Nominating Committee was truly in the best interest of AA.

Here was a Great Event for me. I got to see how a very big group conscience was able to act in very difficult circumstances. And I know there was a power much bigger than all of us combined working to bring us to our decision.

The Archives Committee had no recommendations.

This committee was my secondary committee assignment - a real pleasure since my wife, as an Area 5 delegate, had served on this committee during the last panel. She got to see the beginnings of the new Archives Handbook and I got to see it published.

The Conventions / Regional Forums Committee recommended:

that the cities of Detroit, Indianapolis, and San Antonio be given consideration as sites for the 2010 international Convention,

and that the process for bidding future International Conventions begin 12 years in advance, rather than the current 10 years, to give us more flexibility in site availability.

The Committees additional considerations included the conclusion that the fellowship wanted International Conventions to continue (based on the International Conventions Survey results) and a discussion on ways to increase attendance at Regional Forums.

That is the end of the Conference’s recommendations and considerations.

Now, on to some thoughts I have had about my experience at the Conference.

The principal of trust. As I already said, I had a lot of opportunity during the Conference to renew my ability to trust in others. I expected that might happen but not until the Conference actually started. Fate, however, arranged for me to be placed with a cab driver whose primary driving skill was an ability to narrowly avoid other vehicles while driving as fast as he could. He also had the ability to convince me this might be his first week driving in New York because he did not know exactly where my hotel was located, even after giving him the address. So, I had to trust him to get me to there.

The benefit of prayer and meditation. I observed the one-year anniversary of my resuming regular prayer and meditation one week before the Conference began. It was good I had all that preparation because I walked into my first Conference meeting with a lot more preparation than confidence. I really needed frequent prayer breaks – asking to be calmed and to be given the ability to do my part of God’s will in a meeting with 133 other potentially opinionated people – so I was very glad I had a year of practice.

The General Service Office. The GSO visit left me with a quiet confidence that we have competent and caring people working there on our behalf. Despite a relative flood of visitors (they average only about 4 per weekday during the rest of the year) the office atmosphere remained calm. Those not talking to us visitors continued on with the work they were doing. When I stopped to talk to a staff member, they put aside what they were doing and talked for as long as I wanted. I hope I am able to pass on that sense of service to those I serve.

Remote Communities. I attended an unofficial pre-conference meeting on carrying the AA message to remote communities. Of course when speaking geographically remote, I think of my drive up to Ridgecrest. When most Canadian delegates discuss "remote" they talk of:

A man traveling 6 hours by dog sled to attend a conferenced telephone meeting at a nearby town.

The North Saskatchewan delegate who traveled 9 hours for a district visit only to find, when she arrived, there would be no meeting because the community ice fishing hole had just been cut in their lake and all the GSRs were out fishing.

The Northeast Canada GSRs who need 5 days to complete a round-trip district meeting because the trains do not run every day.

After hearing those stories, I realize I have easy travel here in Area 93 and that Ridgecrest is, by no means, a remote community.

The Language of the Heart. I know, intellectually, what that statement means. I have read the book about it. And I have experienced it in my life. But I got to see it spoken in a very real and obvious way during the Conference. At the beginning, we were all saying, "Hi, I am so and so" and speaking loudly at handshaking distance. By the end of the conference that handshake had become a gentle grasp, pulling each other in to where we were talking quietly less than a hand’s width apart and sometimes cheek to cheek. And we were telling of how we felt about the things that had happened. I doubt I will ever be able to match that kind of experience speaking "The Language of the Heart."

God’s Will. Jim C., our Pacific Regional Trustee, created quite a lot of concern when he had a heart attack during the Conference. His wife, Linda, arrived the next day and visited the hotel to give us an update on Jim’s condition. At that time, all anyone knew was that he was still alive. So this was what she told me:

"If it all works out for the best in the end, this must not be the end."

That was a lot calmer statement that I think I would have made in similar circumstances.

Panel 50 Farewells. It is traditional for the second year delegates to share their feelings at the open microphone session at the end of the Conference. I noticed that half to two-thirds of those who talked ended their comments and their General Service Conference experience with the words "Thank you for my life." Thinking back, I find these words to be a very good way to describe what the AA program in general, and service work in particular, does for us all.

And so, I would like to thank you for this opportunity to share my experiences in the General Service Conference and now I can also say, thank you for my life.

Lothar asked a question regarding redoing the video "Markings on the Journey" to a more modern version which had been previously talked about. Steve advised that they are still working on that and that we should have – actually my guess would be that the video should be done by next year’s conference.

Diane had a question about the reproduction of the stories in the 1^st and 2^nd editions and asked if "Annie the Cock Fighter" would be put back into the Big Book. Steve advised that to his knowledge no stories would be put back into the book. However he advised that all the stories that have been dropped, including Annie’s story would go into this stand-alone book if it is published. My guess is that it will go ahead and that story would be in there.

Jay referred to the recommendation that the 12 Concepts be put into the Big Book and wanted to know if that came to a vote. Steve advised that it did. The 12 Concepts and the AA web site address will be placed in the next publication of the Big Book. Now for those of you who are collectors, and I am not recommending that you go out and do this, however, what I am telling you is that there may be a one-time opportunity to get a 3^rd Edition with the Concepts and the web site address in it. Because the way that the Big Books sells is that there will most likely be another printing of the 3^rd Edition before November and it will have the Concepts and the web site address in it.

Wayne N. stated that when he was serving n the Northern Interior Delegate Area, their Delegate attended the January Board meeting and brought the Agenda items back to the Groups at the beginning of February. This way they could get to work on it and have an informed Group conscience at the Pre-Conference Assembly. He wanted to know if perhaps Steve could do the same for this Area…. Steve stated he would.

Jeanine presented the Ask-It-Basket questions –

Debbie was asked – Please explain where our money donations go to GSO? How are the finances divided through Grapevine, AAWS, GSO, etc.? If your Group conscience is that you send money to New York, that goes to the General Service Office in New York. The Grapevine is a separate board and that is run by donations or subscriptions to the Grapevine. The only part I am a little confused about is Grapevine, AAWS, or GSO?

Question to Al. Could you please tell us how we can get more Groups to fully participate in the ways of AA? I love microphones…My Home Group is the Oildale Group of Bakersfield. My Home meeting is the Wednesday Candlelight Meeting. That’s how we get people to fully participate in Alcoholics Anonymous. I don’t know about you guys, but I use to know a whole lot of people who used to go to a whole lot of meetings. They stopped going to that one because it was too big or that one because it was too small and that one’s too noisy and this one’s been taken over by the kids, etc. At some point they are going to a meeting once in while or maybe not at all. They have never committed themselves to a Group. They don’t belong to a Group. Well if you don’t belong to a Group…who cares. In my opinion, the thing that we can do to activate AA is for each of us in this room to commit ourselves to a Home Group…If you belong to a Home Group – Wonderful! If you talk about it; that’s even better. If you are not committed to a Home Group…I challenge you to commit yourself to a Group. That doesn’t mean it has to be for the rest of your life or forever. But I think that’s the thing we have to do.

Dawn was asked, "When speaking at a Professional Community Meeting, would a service committee member be in violation of traditions to identify as a alcoholic? Answered by Archie…They would not be in violation if they identify as an alcoholic but they would be in violation if they identified themselves as an alcoholic and a member of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Bill was waiving a pamphlet called "Speaking at Non AA Meetings".

Why are Intergroup Offices not a part of the General Service Structure? Marita answered this – This was actually a question that was discussed in the lunch line today. The consensus of our memory was that when Bill started the office in AA in New York…it was just "The Office." It handled everything. Then they started a separate office to answer the 12-step calls that came in and so that he could continue carrying the message through the rest of the Country while the local office told people where the meetings were held locally. Actually that was just the way that Bill set it up. That the Central Office was a completely separate service structure from what the General Service Office, which was then called "The Foundation" did. They handled creating literature and books and carrying the message across the Country and then the local phone number when you were looking for meetings. Both played a vital service in AA but they were different services and were never put in the same structure.

Bertie was asked – and this one is in Spanish…"What can we do so that the spirit of service doesn’t die in our Groups and in the different parts of AA? " The best way is to carry the message ourselves…I talked about this earlier in our GSR Sharing Session. If we continue to carry the message of service with a spirit of joy and enthusiasm and really letting people know what this is all about, I think that is the way we continue to bring people into service. We need to carry the message enthusiastically and wholeheartedly.

"I heard that the difference between an AA Group and a meeting of AA is that of being registered with New York. Is that true?" Stephanie responded – kind of – General Service in New York does not think in terms of meetings. They think in terms of Groups. Some Groups consists of a lot of meetings. Some consist of one meeting. They don’t understand meetings, they understand Groups.

Vicki was asked – "Are we, as an Area going to rent buses for PRAASA next year? Who will organize this and how much will it cost? Yes we have discussed looking into renting buses for the trip to PRAASA. It was done in Washington where they took the bus from Seattle to Spokane and they had a great time. It is definitely something we are going to research and bring to the Area Committee and back to the Assembly.

Joe V. was asked "When is AA going to ban caffeine as a drug?" – Joe stated that there has got to be a pamphlet on "Problems other than Water" or something like that. You know it doesn’t hurt when we go to PRAASA and we get stuck at airports…it’s a good drug…it works!

Jeanine advised everyone that if you want the travel experience of your life…go somewhere with Joe.

There are three questions left for Steve:

The 1995 Conference Advisory Action about the Big Book said that the appendices should remain as is and we are discussing putting the 12 Concepts into the appendices section…how can that be?

Steve stated that we will get around that technical difficulty by not making them part of the appendices although I cannot tell you for sure. On the surface there seems to be a conflict but I, quite frankly, don’t know how they are going to be put into the Big Book so it may well be outside of the appendices.

What is the average subscriptions in our Area and worldwide for LaVina?

Robbin advised it was about 7,189 worldwide. Steve advised that we could not get numbers for our Area until we gave them our zip code breakdown, and we have just done so this past month. So we won’t have those numbers until next month.

Does the income come from Literature sales?…this was the $9,770,000.00 that I quoted. Do the expenditure numbers include the salaries and benefits of GSO employees?

No that is not all from literature. About 55 to 60% of it was from literature, the rest was from Group contributions. And yes they do … part of that was salaries and benefits. An actually, whoever wrote the questions, I have got a lot of background paperwork. So if you or anyone else is interested in more information about this, please feel free to see me. I have some really good graphics to go along with it. Let me know and they are yours.

Tony R., the Alternate DCM for District 48 gave a sample "GSR Report" using the forms that were passed out today …

My name is Tony and I am an alcoholic. I am your GSR for this Group and this is my weekly report on the actions and activities within the General Service structure, which includes the General Service Office in New York, the Pacific Region, Central California Area Assembly and our local District. As a reminder, everyone is invited to attend the District or Area Assembly meetings. The next District meeting will be held at the Agua Dulce Women’s Club on the second Saturday of June. We have our District meetings every second Saturday of the month at 9:00 a.m. The next Area Assembly will be in Bakersfield on October 21, 2001. Everyone is welcome to attend.

I had the privilege of representing this Group at the Area Assembly on May 20 in Morro Bay and some of the items discussed at this Assembly, let me preface that the Assembly was primarily to receive the Delegate’s report from Steve Hagen on the General Service Conference in New York. Some of the major highlights discussed at the Assembly were; we had standing committee meetings. I attended the Registration Committee on behalf of our District and I will bring a District report back next month. We also have a number of reports that I picked up at the Assembly. Of particular interest to the Group – I have a summary of Group Contributions by District for Area 93 and of interest to this Group is that we gave $31.50 over the last quarter to the Area. The Area is self-supporting at this point. There is a full report on the literature table. I also have reports from Steve Hagen our Area Delegate and his full report on the General Service Conference. I also have a summary of the Advisory Actions and Additional Considerations. For this week I would just like to report that a couple of highlights I picked up from the Area Assembly – and I will be discussing them over the next month – of particular interest was the 4^th Edition of the Big Book was passed and should be available for distribution in November of this year. As stated before, it will contain the first 164 pages will not change, there were 16 stories that were maintained and 24 will be added. Of particular note, we talked about having all the stories from the first three Editions that were deleted put into one book and that was submitted as an Advisory Action for next year. They will have a draft of that book for next year’s discussion at the General Service Conference. As I stated before, I have a summary of some of the major topics I will be discussing later on in my next reports.

You may be interested in coming to listen to Steve give his Delegate’s report at the Rafters on June 3, 2001 from 3:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. and would strongly recommend that you as members of this Group attend so you can see first hand what happens at the General Service Conference. You are also encouraged to become involved in one of the many service committees and projects sponsored by the General Service structure. Please see me after the meeting if you need information or if you have any questions. Thank you for allowing me to be of service.