Minutes
Monthly EC Skype Meeting
Saturday, November 7, 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 the meeting, please contact acaeurope 5-10 minutes before the meeting starts.
Please notify the secretary at [email protected] with changes, additions, or motions for this meeting.
A. Call to Order: Please be sure that any background noises in your area are eliminated since the sounds make it difficult for participants to hear. When speaking, please say your name first. This will help us record your name with your input. Thank you.
1) Opened with the Serenity Prayer
2) Tradition Eleven: Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, T.V., films, and other public media.
B. Roll Call of European Countries: Majbrit, Denmark, WSO European Committee Chair;
Will, Germany, WSO EC Secretary;
Jeffrey, Prague, WSO EC Treasurer and Literature Committee
C. Establish Quorum
D. EC Members Reports: I will ask each European Country Representative to introduce themselves and tell us briefly how the groups I your country are doing. I will start, ….
Majbrit – Copenhagen, Denmark: She has received the Laundry List Workbook from the US. This has been fun to talk about after the meetings in Denmark, because they have been waiting for this with great anticipation. She did the workbook with some of her sponsees instead of the sixth step after it was presented at the ABC in Copenhagen in 2013. The book is a lot more in-depth, with more questions and explanations. It’s a great tool for integrating and taking a step back. This has been a big thing in Denmark. There are currently 45 meetings in Denmark, and they have just ordered literature from the US. The meetings are growing. Participants are coming in. They have a set format, so no matter where you go the meeting will be the same. The first weekday of the month is the traditions, then the promises, then a topic, then speakers. Every fifth Friday, they talk about service. People elsewhere in Denmark do the same thing. They have also implemented the WSO approved literature and the old literature before the official translation is on its way out. The WSO Board is also trying to finish work on the proposals coming in from different countries, from almost 20 proposals for the groups to decide what should be on the agenda at the ABC. Phyllis, the editor of the Comline, is asking for non-English speaking countries to send in articles for the Comline. If you send it in along with an English translation, it can be considered for inclusion. Or if there are events, WSO approved, they could also come in the Comline.
Will – Munich, Germany: There are two meetings, an open discussion on Thursdays and a step-working meeting on Saturdays. The groups are growing, somewhere between 10-20 people, depending on the day and the meeting. An IG has also been established, with nearly 5 people showing up. They’re focusing on how to support other German groups with translations and how to get Public Information out in English. They are also looking into the possibility of a website for Munich, to start local and maybe expand to more groups.
Jeffrey – Prague, Czech Republic: There seems to be some interest raised that there could be other people who might be interested in attending a meeting on a different day or time (the meeting is currently midday on Friday). So the group is looking into starting a meeting during the week in the evening. They are going to ask around to see if there is more interest for this. There is also a Czech meeting on Friday evenings. At some point, the English group would like to contact the Czech group about any interest in Czech literature, etc.
Kadri Liisa – Talin, Estonia: There are four meetings in Talin, three Estonian and one English. New people are coming sometimes, and they are trying to translate the material in their groups. Their group is really small, so the translation does in fact take a long time, but it would be good to have something in their own language. November 2nd was the 13-year anniversary for the groups there.
E. Guests Introductions: Guests, at this point we would like to invite all of our guests to introduce themselves by first name only and perhaps telling us which country you are calling from. Guests, please introduce yourselves:
After the introductions/reports: We respectfully ask that guests hold their comments until the end of our meeting. Only European Committeerepresentatives (you may want to relax this rule at the beginning) may talk while we have discussions. We ask everyone to mute their Skype if you are not speaking. If someone needs to talk further, they may do so after the close of the meeting.
F. Minutes: Motion to approve the October 3, 2015 Teleconference Minutes seconded and approved
G. Committee Reports: I will ask the Committee to give their reports. (5 minutes each). If no one is serving in these roles, you can note this on the record that you have “no trusted servant and no report.”
- EC Chair, Majbrit
- EC Treasurer, Jeffrey
- EC Secretary, Will
- EC Literature Committee, Jeffrey
- EC Members and Public Service Committee,
- EC Hospitals & Institutions Committee,
- EC Intergroup Liaison Committee,
- EC Website/Database Committee,
- EC 2016 ABC Committee,
H. Old Business:
- Establishing a Region
Two IGs would need to make a proposal to form a region. At the moment, there have been no updates in this regard. The EC can help facilitate this by bringing people together who may want to form a region.
- Shipping ACA Literature
So many IGs have used this book seeding program for IGs where they get a 30% discount. It is a bit difficult to do all this through the webpage, so if an IG orders it is not getting through on the webpage. They are looking into fixing that. There is also a huge stock of books in the office with little room to maneuver and actually ship the books. The board is currently looking into other ways of fulfillment, for instance with Amazon. November was discussed as being the month when the fulfilment could begin with Amazon, but that has not been verified. The EC will look into other ways of fulfillment. The board will also need to decide if the Laundry List Workbook will be sent to “lights-on” meetings in Europe which have received a starter kit.
- Translating ACA Literature
The board has discussed very thoroughly how to approach this. Most would think that it would be nice to have a machine translation turned over to the fellowship to edit and work on. A Danish document was about 96% correct with a translation company in the US, but it was costly. More specific information will be available at the next EC call. A test run of pamphlets were translated into different languages as well, so the fellowship can review those on the website once they have been posted to the websites.
- How Intergroups can stay in touch with the EC, the WSO, and the fellowship as a whole
No new information here.
I. New Business:
- Develop a vision for the EC over the next few years to be shared at the ABC 2016 in Florida.
Tabled for the next EC call
Information on the monthly ACA WSO Teleconference.
Access number for the WSO 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
Announcements: The following EC Skype Meeting is scheduled for Saturday, December 5, 2015 at 14:00 p.m. CET.
The motion to adjoin the meeting was seconded.
The meeting was closed with the Serenity Prayer.
