Agenda
Monthly EC Skype Meeting
Saturday, August 1, 2015
14:00 p.m. CET
Skype access information: The meeting was held under the Skype name acaeurope. If you would like to take part in future meetings, please contact acaeurope 5-10 minutes before the meeting starts.
Please notify the secretary at [email protected] with changes or additions to these Minutes.
A. Call to Order:
1) Opened with the Serenity Prayer
B. Roll Call of European Countries: Majbrit, Denmark, WSO European Chair;
Will, Munich, Germany, WSO European Committee Secretary;
Martin, UK, WSO Trustee;
Raymond, ACA UK Chair;
Ferenc, Hungary;
Alex, Skype UK Rep;
Dennis, Moscow, Russia;
Jeffrey, Prague, Czech Republic.
C. A Quorum Was Established
D. EC Members Reports:
Munich, Germany – Will: Currently there are two meetings in Munich. We have been discussing the possibility of establishing an Intergroup but are not yet sure if we should start with an IG for Munich or all of Germany. In Germany, some groups are in English and some are in German, so we will need to decide how to set up the structure.
Hungary – Ferenc. Hungary has a lot of meetings at the moment.
Prague, Czech Republic – Jeffrey: Prague has one group in English but is hoping to find more members from the local AA meeting. A group or two in Czech seem to be getting established as well.
UK – Raymond: Currently there are 25 groups in the UK, and they are doing quite well. The fellowship is applying for the Intergroup to become a charity to help with tax issues and selling books.
Denmark – Majbrit: Currently there are 44 meetings in Denmark. The fellowship is growing quickly. We have established an Intergroup but not yet registered it on the ACA WSO webpage. Everything is in working order and all posts are filled. Everything is good. Majbrit has stepped down from service in Denmark to focus on WSO Board service and service in Europe.
Moscow, Russia - Dennis: Two members from Moscow will plan to go to Helsinki. We invited one ACA member from California to Russia. He has been in St. Petersburg and now is going to Yaroslavl. After that in Moscow there will be two speaker meetings and a workshop. On 3rd of October Moscow Intergroup will invite all ACAs to 4th Annual ACA Convention in Moscow. Contact: [email protected] One ACA member from Turkey will plan to go to Moscow as well.
Skype Meetings – Alex: the Skype meetings are a bit of a sensation at the moment. The Sunday night meeting is registered on the ACA WSO webpage. Members typically join the Sunday meeting and then find out about the other Skype meetings available.
E. Minutes: Motion to approve the July 4, 2015 Teleconference Minutes
Seconded and approved
F. Committee Reports:
- EC Chair, Majbrit
A lot of growth in Europe – people are moving forward with their translations. She has been talking with the board and with Larry on the topic of fulfilment through Amazon. We are on the verge of getting fulfilment through Amazon, and there have been a lot of balls in the air to solve the problem of high shipping fees.
Having been in the distribution center in the US for the last week, she has been able to see why the shipping fees on the webpage are not correct. She thinks it’s important that the USPS shipping fees get shown. The boxes chosen for the webpage are often exchanged for boxes that are smaller and lighter. If it’s a foreign fulfilment, they choose a double-walled box. Almost every package is repackaged from the original size that the customer has ordered. That’s why we don’t have a standard prize on the shipping. She helped fill an order, and they had a box from USPS. In that box, the shipping would have cost 20 dollars more than if we had used a normal box, not the USPS box. There has been a discussion of using similar, specially made boxes like other 12-step fellowships to help make the process more efficient. This has yet to be decided.
We would still need a fulfilment center in Europe somewhere, which is a big priority of hers. It will take some time, because there is a lot to be investigated and discussed where the best location could be. This has been a big part of her work this month – to learn as much as she could from the distribution center, so she doesn’t have to reinvent the wheel once there is a distribution center in Europe. The current situation is that the shipping costs by country to country. If people need books, they should be ordering books two months ahead. Otherwise we’re not sure it will cross the Atlantic on time.
In the future, Intergroups will be able to get a 30% discount on shipments. There will still need to be a special code for Intergroups to enter on the websites. This could be a bit problematic, but hopefully we will get it done very soon. There are a lot of things that need to be put in place for this to happen, in particular getting a new, larger distribution center. There is unfortunately no room for expansion at the current location.
- EC Treasurer, position currently open
- EC Secretary, Will
This month, Will mostly focused on how to best get the information on the EC Skype call out to all interested members of the fellowship. The agenda for this month’s call went out to a list of European members one week in advance. The agenda was also posted to the Repository on the ACA WSO webpage a few days before the call. If any members would like to be added to the distribution list, please forward the contact information to [email protected] Although he is not an official representative from Germany, Will also responded to a few inquiries on setting up Lights On meetings in Düsseldorf and Stuttgart. Overall, he is happy that the fellowship is getting the information it needs to be a part of the EC.
- EC Literature Committee, position currently open
- EC Members and Public Service Committee, position currently open
- EC Hospitals & Institutions Committee, position currently open
- EC Intergroup Liaison Committee, position currently open
- EC Website/Database Committee, position currently open
- EC 2015 ABC Committee, position currently open
G. Old Business:
- Establishing a Region
Denmark will have its Intergroup meeting while the European Committee is in Helsinki. Denmark has registered as an IG, but it does not yet have a Board or a Chair. This would be necessary before officially raising the topic of creating a Region. The UK has voted to be one of the two IGs to create a region. The UK will put it out there in Helsinki to any other IG which may be interested in forming a region.
- Committee finances
Majbrit has been talking to Mary Jo. A budget has not yet been established, but Majbrit (EC Chair) will receive a credit card for MPS work to simplify the process of sending out newcomer starter kits etc. The Chair currently has approx. $250 for expenses. Starter kits are not included in this budget. We will also talk in Helsinki about this in more detail. Majbrit has not been able to reach the Finns about Literature for the Helsinki meeting. It would cost too much to bring the literature over from the US to Finland. The Chair will bring her own leaflets and booklets. The UK may be able to bring some basic literature as well.
- European Meeting in Helsinki
Martin and Will (EC Secretary) will be arriving on Friday and are booked into the hotel the Conference recommended. Majbrit (EC Chair) will arrive on Thursday. This will be a good opportunity for the EC to catch up beforehand. The WSO is paying for the hotel. The business meeting will take place on Saturday. The EC is meant to be a liason between meetings and the WSO. A European Region would then become a separate entity.
- Shipping ACA literature
Open Comment/Request from ACA Helpline Representative: would it be possible to have a sentence on the website clearly stating that the shipping rates are not correct? This has been going on for over a year, and particularly for the newcomer checking out the website for the first time, this is a very problematic bug. As such, the helpline representative would strongly urge the Board to look into a simple solution for this issue.
EC Chair: The Board is definitely looking into this and can speak to the Webmaster about putting up a general statement on the site. The Chair would be happy to forward an email describing the situation in more detail to the Board. [email protected]
- How to most effectively contact an Intergroup to inform them on how to set up a region OR, call into the European meeting:
The topic was tabled for the next meeting.
H. New Business:
Guest Comments:
European Committee: Many thanks to Majbrit, our chair, for all the work she does on World Service and on the European Committee. For all members of the fellowship, please encourage people at all levels of the service structure to step up and get involved in service. We need help in so many different areas. The Board is currently down to five people, for instance. Every second Saturday of the month there is the World Service Call at 20:00 CET. You can call in as a visitor and as a guest listener. After being on a few calls, you may get an idea of what you can help with. The dial-in details are as follows:.
Access number for the Teleconference: 712-432-0075, Pin 427266#. Press *6 to mute or un-mute.
You can also attend the Teleconference using your computer. For more information, please visit https://www.acawso.org/teleconferences/78-wso-board/162-teleconference-flash-phone
The Helsinki meeting is being held from August 28-30 at Stadia ammattioppilaitos, +00700+Helsinki/@60.2495293,25.0164979,17z/data=%25213m1%25214b1%25214m2%25213m1%25211s0x46920861a532e337:0x4b7a79e5a944b04f">Vilppulantie 14 (in the neighborhood of Malmi, Helsinki)
Announcements: The next EC Skype Meeting is scheduled for September 5, 2015 at 14:00 p.m. CET.
A motion to close the call with the Serenity Prayer was seconded.
