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SEPTEMBER 2024 CENTRAL OFFICE REPORT
GNOSB MEETING, TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 24, 2024

New Products. New books and booklets on various recovery topics (relapse warning signs, resentments, etc.) which also provides a variety of price points for literature products — pamphlets, booklets, books, etc.

Printable Service & Events Calendar. Created a printable PDF version of the Events calendar that home groups and service committees can print and share with fellowship members, post on their meeting space’s bulletin board, etc.
Printable Service & Events Calendar for September: https://aaneworleans.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/2024-09-GNOSB-SEPTEMBER-2024-SERVICE-EVENTS-CALENDAR.png
(October 2024 calendar coming soon)

Digital Packets Updates. Digital Packets PDF files available to be printed on our website, under Resources (desktop) / Printable Literature (mobile). Following the positive reception of presentations of these digital packets at two national fellowship conferences, we have also created templates of these packets that other members, service committees, Areas, and Central Offices across the country can now use and customize to support their local and regional fellowships as well. QR codes to PDF files available on orange “Carry This Message” document.
PDFs of Digital Packets (scroll to bottom of page) https://aaneworleans.org/printable-literature/

NAATW Workshop. Attended sessions at workshop event (St. Louis, MO, Sept. 13-15, 2024) and learned more about new and existing ways to integrate technology and best practices to support local and regional meetings and carrying the message. Presented the digital packets during a session on Public Info, and the response from attendees there, and last month at ICOAA, was the impetus to then create and share template versions of the digital packets.

We are grateful to be a part of this ripple effect and the technological Coming of Age of our fellowship. We invite collaboration with members of our fellowship to continue bringing to fruition more products and services that help us to carry the message of A.A. and meet alcoholics where they are at—digital, paper, hybrid, and beyond.

District Mapping, Area 27. While in the process of researching changes to district boundaries to update the District info on our website, we began collaborating with Code for Recovery on Area mapping project for a future addition to the Meeting Guide functionality, meetings and locations searchable by District. We have remapped district boundaries for Area 27 based on info currently available to us and are in the process of finalizing this Google-based map with our Area Registrar and other Area Central Offices. This embedded Google map and updated boundary descriptions will be included on our Central Office website, and likely also Area website, in the near future.
Area 27 District Map (in progress) https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=1dX2gaiyDOQDxs9dSP2eHIgoCOYmNS8w&usp=sharing

Louisiana Resale Certificate. Recently discovered that GNOSB did not have a Louisiana Resale Certificate on file with the state, so we have been paying sales tax unnecessarily on orders of products we sell at the office (books, pamphlets, chips, merchandise). We have since filed for and received that resale certificate that I will share with our vendors to save on sales tax per the resale tax exemption part of our 501c3 status.

Email Aliases. Created email aliases for Service Board positions, districts, and service committees to encourage and facilitate communication across the fellowship while protecting anonymity of individual members. Emails still funnel to [email protected], though we can then forward those emails to the intended Service Board member, DCM, committee chair, etc.

Proposed Motion: While an ad hoc committee reviews Big Deep South financials and determines whether and how much the 2023 and 2024 events will contribute to Central Office, Central Office requests to be treated as other vendors and service committee members.
Motion Verbiage: That operating costs for Big Deep South 2023 and 2024 events, which were paid for using the Central Office operating expenses bank account, be reimbursed by check from the Big Deep South bank account to the Central Office operating expenses bank account, made payable to the GNO Service Board, Inc. Central Office has and will provide receipts for these expenses, which currently total $2,821.40. Any further costs, or contributions to be made to Central Office, by Big Deep South will continue to be determined by the ad hoc subcommittee.

Central Office Gift Cards. Launching e-gift cards as another product offering and payment option through Square. Physical gift cards are in production and will be available in the weeks leading up to DAAY in the Park, when we hope to ramp up spreading the message about these gift cards and other new products and services available via Central Office in time for the holiday season.
E-Gift Cards: https://app.squareup.com/gift/MVC57AR8ACDFT/order