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CENTRAL OFFICE REPORT NOTES – AUGUST 26, 2024

New Products. Meditation daily readers, particularly for women and teens, new welcome chips, journals and workbooks to support the writing aspect of our Steps program. Information on the Plain Language Big Book from AAWS, which will be available November, included in the flyer distributed here and via email this week.

Website Updates. Webpages continue to be built and improved (see grey pamphlet for QR codes link to these pages) including service committees and various fellowship topics (sponsorship, service work, etc.). Working with Service Board Website Chair to update theme and navigation to improve website accessibility and experience, for newcomers and current fellowship members of all levels of technical experience.

Digital Pamphlets. Printed copies now available, as well as PDFs made available online for printing, on the Resources/Printable Literature page of our website. Newcomer, Treatment Center, PI/CPC and a Service packet on Traditions, Concepts and our Legacy of Service. Printing costs and budgeting options are still being researched. For now, these are available online via PDF, and a limited availability of complimentary printed copies are available at the office.

Meeting Pamphlets. Created paper meeting pamphlets for meditation meetings and women’s meetings. More meeting categories to be made available soon, such as for men’s meetings, LGBTQIA+, Accessibilities, etc. PDFs available on our website and a limited availability of complimentary copies are available at the office.

Updated Printed Meeting List. We have updated the printed Meeting Guide, used for Newcomer Packets and T&C work, with organization by day and time. PDFs available on our website, and complimentary copies are available at the office, though we do need advanced notice for any bulk printing requests.

Meeting Notes & News email. We have launched a biweekly email that emulates the Meeting Notes and News section of our monthly bulletin, and so far that email has been well received by our fellowship. We hope this email will facilitate more regular communication of any meetings changes as well as notifications of more short-term changes during holidays, hurricane season, etc.

Meeting Info Updates. For our website, the Meeting Guide app, our printing meeting list, and the Printed Meeting Guide, we need as accurate and up-to-date meeting information as possible. We hope that through increased outreach via email, business meeting visits, and with your help in spreading the word, that we will have an ongoing flow of information between members, meetings, and Central Office to keep our meeting information as accurate as possible. Please share any changes to meeting time, location, type, and notify us if any meetings that are no longer active, and please encourage your fellow members to do the same. This is especially important for the Newcomer and for fulfilling our primary purpose, and we appreciate your help. 

District Meetings. To facilitate communication, connection, and information exchange between Central Office, the Service Board, and our District committee members, we have made an effort to more regularly attend monthly business meetings for the districts of our service area. 

ICOAA. Carolyn attended the Intergroup and Central Offices of A.A. annual convention (August 22-25, 2024) and brought back a number of ideas for new products, resources, and services that our office can provide to help carry the message to the alcoholic who still suffers, as well as to members of our fellowship who want to be involved in service. Also examples of other offices’ policies, budgets, and financial paperwork to inform and guide fiscal decisions made within our Central Office and Service Board. Our office also presented the digital pamphlets and meeting pamphlets, and those received a positive response from other Central Office managers. Estimated budget pre-approved by the Service Board Trustees was $1525; actual expenses totaled $1212.95. Stay tuned for implementation of new products and policies within the coming months.