Adult Children of Alcoholics--World Service Organization

P.O. Box 3216     Torrance, California, 90510      (310) 534-1815

ACA WSO TELECONFERENCE MINUTES

April 12, 2014

A. Called to Order: The regular meeting of the Board of Trustees of ACA WSO was called to order at 2:01 p.m. EST by Larry A., Chairman, and opened with The Serenity Prayer.

Step Four was read by the Chairman

B. Roll Call of Board Members:Larry A., Chair, and Literature Committee Chairperson; Joan B., Vice Chair and Hospital and Institutions Committee Chair; Mary Jo L., Treasurer; Karen R, Secretary; Vonnie G., MPS Chair and Trustee; Allen C., Finance Committee Member and Trustee; Majbrit M., European Committee Chair and Trustee; Ines Z, Spanish Liaison and Spanish Translations Committee Chair and Trustee

C. Quorum established

           

D. Guest Introductions: Guests who chose to introduce themselves at this time included (number of TC meetings attended shown in parenthesis if announced):Mona, Chicago IL (since Jan 2011), John, Santa Barbara, CA (5), Mary Etta, CT (1st), Laura, Orange County, CA, Susan, NY (6), Griff (calling from China, 1st TC), Susan, CO (4), Martin, (on Treasurer committee, from the UK, many TC attendances for 2 years).

E. Approval of Minutes: A motion was made and the minutes of the March 8, 2014 teleconference meeting were approved as posted. (Karen)

F. Committee Reports:

            1. Treasurer, Mary Jo L.,: Our Treasurer is recovering from a broken wrist and was assisted by Martin in giving our financial report. Overall, with thanks to the distribution center, our financial outlook is exceeding our expectations for this time of year. Certain monies are earmarked for future expenditures. The full Treasurer Report is on the Repository.

          2. Literature Report, Larry A.:   The audio book project is nearing completion; Ines reports of active participation in the ABC proposals by the Spanish speaking groups due to the efforts in Translations, and John M in California states success and participation of 14-15 folks joining the Google group regarding the establishing of Intergroup guidelines; A full Literature Committee report can be found on the Repository.

          3. Distribution Office, Gloria D.: Efforts continue to keep the meeting lists and contact information updated with 31new meetings reported. In general, sales seem to be up. The fullDistribution Office report may be found on the Repository.

          4. ACA Members and Public Service (MPS) Committee, Vonnie G.:  There has been a lot of activity with MPS this month and some assistance to help reduce shipping costs for groups in Australia and established connections with several Intergroups. The full MPS Committee Report is found on the Repository.

          5. Hospitals and Institutions Committee, Joan B.: It is always encouraging to hear the gratitude from some of the incarcerated recipients of the BRB. The full H & I report can be found on the Repository.

          6. Website/Database, Scott R., (report given by Larry A): Website reconstruction continues, working now with new meeting interfaces and shopping cart resolutions. Full website/database report may be found on the Repository.

          7. European Activity Report, (Majbrit M.):    The European Committee reports some difficulty with groups ' efforts at changing information such as POC, on our website; also states concern of misuse of ACA logo and information from a site in Denmark. The full report is found on the Repository.

          8. 2014 ABC, Joan B.: As time nears, there are 40 people registered to attend the ABC. Transportation from the airport to the meeting site and hotels during the conference was discussed. Full 2014 ABC Report can be found on the Repository.

          9. Executive Committee Report, (Joan B.): The Executive Committee met per teleconference to discuss ideas of incorporating office management in the future and what implications and qualifications might be required. Full report may be found on the Repository.

G. Old Business: none brought forward

H. New Business:

         Motion #1. To approve the budget for the 2014 ABC to be held in Deerfield, IL the weekend of April 25th at $3,700. (Joan)

Motion Carried (unanimous)

         Motion 2: To approve an additional $7,500-$10,000 for the website development. (Larry)

Motion Carried (unanimous)

         Motion #3: That the Board approve the expenditure of $400 to pay WSO's layout consultant to lay out the Finnish 12-Step Workbook. (Larry)

Motion Carried (unanimous)

         Motion #4: To validate for the record the Board's specific concurrence to approve the expenditure of $1,900 for the purchase of Welcome Chips and Recovery Chips to replenish our supplies. (Mary Jo)

Motion Carried (unanimous)

         Motion #5: That the Board approve a reduction in the price of the Tri-fold Assortment from $2.90 to $2.70  (Mary Jo)

Motion Carried (unanimous)

         Motion #6: That the Board approve packaging the individual "12 Concepts of Service" and the "Suggested Commitment to Service" together as a single unit until our current supplies are depleted, since the Board has voted to combine them into one tri-fold. (Mary Jo)

Motion Carried (unanimous)

         Motion #7: To validate on the record the Board's specific concurrence to remove web addresses off of our meetings listings and to not allow meetings to include a web address within the body of their listing for new registrations. (Vonnie)

Motion Carried (unanimous)

           

Guest Comments:      

     Pete announced the beginnings of some new phone meetings.              

     Martin (UK) asked and expressed hope that the results and recommendations of the Social Media working group (formed at last year's ABC) would not be forgotten and would be reported and included on the agenda for the 2014 ABC-- those recommendations being to possibly change the wording in the Traditions to insure that anonymity is preserved on social media.

     Mary Etta (CT) thanked the WSO Board for their service and suggested looking for ideas/guidelines to implement and address safety in meetings applicable to telephone meetings as their situation was different than face-to-face meetings.

     John (CA) said there is a need to have the BRB/Workbook download available in MP3 format.

     Mona (IL) expressed concern about some flyers for an "adult child" workshop being passed to an ACA group, but the workshop ended up being from another 12-Step fellowship. There were many similarities regarding topics, and the "look" and the website link address has letters that could be deceptive, making people believe it is ACA WSO sponsored rather than sponsored by the other 12-Step fellowship. She also expressed hopes to see the 2014 ABC Agenda on the Repository soon.

Announcements:  The 2014 Annual Business Conference (ABC) is right around the corner, being held April 25-27, 2014 at the campus of Trinity International University in Deerfield, IL just outside of Chicago. Information is on the Repository.

The next ACA WSO Board Teleconference is scheduled for May 10, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. EST.

Adjournment: The motion to adjourn was made and 2nd. The meeting was adjourned at 3:15 p.m. EST and closed with the Serenity Prayer.

Minutes respectfully submitted by; Karen Ragan, ACA/WSO Board of Trustees, Secretary