OIAA Chair Report

March 2024 Chair’s Report:  From where I serve….

And so, another month of service to our groups…

We are ready for our March Assembly on 16 March 23. Two items of new business are on the agenda:  the approval of our OIAA guidelines and the elevation of our Ad Hoc Communications committee for full standing committee status. You can find all information concerning the assembly here.

Guidelines Reviews:
We held two Q & A sessions with a PowerPoint presentation of the new guidelines on February 10th and 24th. We will hold a third one on March 9^th, 2024, at 2 pm ET, for an additional opportunity for you to come and ask questions before the assembly. The Guidelines and PowerPoint presentation is posted on the website for your convenience.    Let me know if you have any questions. And let me know asap if you will require interpretive services. chair@aa-intergroup.org

I must thank the Zoom Tech Crew who rose to the occasion with the events we had planned at the beginning of this panel. They also faced a change in leadership, resulting in the commitment of three members to be tri co-chairs. They supported four events in the first two months of the year. At their last commitment, our Guidelines review on 24 February, the team showed up at 5 am ET, 4 am CT, 3 am MT, and 2 am, PT.

At the assembly, our second order of new business is the motion to elevate the ad hoc Communications committee to full standing committee status. This was a committee created by the board a year ago, and the board has approved their committee charter as full standing committee. We are asking the memberships for their approval in a few weeks.

Here is a link to their charter  and to their webpage. 

 Let us know if you have any questions. OIAA.Board@aa-intergroup.org or Lesliee A, communications.chair@aa-intergroup.org.

Positions Filled and Open Positions:
We have filled three positions in the last month, alternate secretary, web servant, and archivist. We welcome Naterena P-C, Kerri K., and Paul M.  to the family.

We had two resignations this month, Laurie C. stepped down as alternate registrar and Terry N., as (Vancouver 2025) Convention Chair. We thank them gratefully for their service and wish them well.

Open Positions

• Trustee at Large- Information about that position can be found here.   Contact the OIAA.Board@aa-intergroup.org  for more information.
• 2025 Vancouver International Convention Chair-contact Nona C., vice.chair@aa-intergroup.org.
• Alternate Registrar-Contact Mary M., registrar@aa-intergroup.org.

The PAC could use some volunteer support. Here is what they do:

PAC or Policy and Admissions:  PAC is a foundational committee groups encounter when they first contact us to list.  The Registrar in the Tech Committee is the other. According to PAC’s board approved charter, they do the following:

• “PAC assists new groups in registering to list A.A. meetings/groups on the OIAA meeting directory:
• Reviews all new meeting submission forms for compliance in form completion, directory listing guideline compliance.
• PAC assists new member groups to list Intergroup representatives at time of registration.
• PAC assists meetings/groups regain their status to be relisted within the OIAA meeting directory or as Intergroup representatives if they have lapsed.
• PAC assists to resolve complaints and answer questions regarding OIAA directory listed meeting/groups that have been reported.
• PAC offers OIAA policy/guideline advisories to any interested parties.”

If you have any interest in doing this work, we could use your help. For more information, here is a link.

Planning for two Conventions:
We are in the process of planning two conventions:  Participation in the 2025 Vancouver International AA Convention (in-person), and our own 2024 OIAA Online International Convention (October 25-27.)  Two separate committees are doing this work, Convention (Vancouver) and the Unity Committee (Online).

 2025 Vancouver AA International Convention, July 3-6th
This past month our (Vancouver) Convention chair, Terry N., resigned, so we are looking for someone to replace her. We thank her for her service and wish her well. Jan BB, the alt chair will continue to share her experience with this convention with us, but she is chairing another committee as well at this time and cannot chair two committees. Nona and I stepped in to help.

Our Vice Chair, Nona C., sent this report from the (Vancouver 2025) Convention Committee:

2025 marks the 90^th anniversary of the founding of our Fellowship when one alcoholic shared his experience, strength, and hope with another member. Since 1950, we have met together every 5 years in a convention held in venues throughout out the US or Canada. In addition, the online intergroup was formed 30 years ago after manning a cyber-suite in the International Convention in San Diego.

Thank you for your 7th tradition contributions that allow your Intergroup to be recognized at this in-person event hosted every five years. This money has been budgeted as an accrual over the last several years and pays for the equipment we need to rent and other incidentals when we get to Vancouver. OIAA plans are to host an in person cyber-suite in Vancouver, Canada, July 3-6^th, 2025.

If you have never attended an International Convention of Alcoholics Anonymous, it is the incredible experience of meeting A.A. members throughout the world coming together to share experience, strength, and hope. The excitement of participating in the planning and offerings of the OIAA cyber-suit is not limited to those A.A. members in attendance at the International Convention. Join us in the planning!!

Your Convention Committee is currently seeking a committee chair. We are currently a committee of three, all of which have other OIAA commitments. The Chair will preferably have 5+ years of sobriety. We meet once a month as we continue to develop ideas and prepare to host members from around the globe. Attendance at the Vancouver International Convention is not required to participate in the convention planning committee. Ideally, the committee chair would.

The Convention Committee is also looking for a list of the in-person attendees to the 2025 Vancouver International Conference who are willing to man the cyber-suite. The suite will be closed during the main speaker meetings to allow attendance by the OIAA suite meet and greeters.

The committee currently meets on the third Sunday of the month. Our next meeting is March 17^th, 2024, and will be chaired by Jan BB your Convention Committee Alt Chair. 
12:00 pm ET
ID: 896 6153 1454
Code: Convention

As your Vice-Chair I will help field questions, comments, and concerns in the interim as we identify a volunteer willing to chair this committee. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity as committee chairs have a two-year term with a maximum of two terms. Send questions to vice.chair@aa-intergroup.org.

Additional information about the AA Vancouver International Convention can be found here.

OIAA Unity Committee sponsored 2024 International Online Convention, October 25, 26, 27

Our Unity Committee is chaired by Carlos D. This committee is supported by our new international trustee, Beth A. They are currently planning our 2024 OIAA International Online Conference.

Here is their progress on the planning:

• To date we are thrilled to have participation from groups in New Zealand, India, Iran, France, Spain, Portugal, Brazil, Canada, Mexico, Kenya, and the US.
• Due to the overwhelming response from our groups, time slots remain only on Friday October 25 and Sunday October 27. Saturday October 26th is completely booked!!
• A dedicated OIAA International Online Convention page will be created by our Communications and Tech Committees for the OIAA website.  This page will have regular updates and other information about the convention.
• We have also scheduled Q&A meetings to share ideas and to provide updates on the 2nd Saturday and 4th Sunday of each month from March to September. Thank you Alesia, Neva, Dawn and André from the Virtual Living Group and Melissa from the Sunrise group for suggesting this and for the wonderful sharing session on February 17th! Check the OIAA Calendar for more information.

Carlos D, Unity Committee Chair, and Beth A, International Trustee are both at your service!

What’s Next:
Finance:  Jennifer B chairs Finance. This committee created an independent subcommittee for a financial review, in response to membership requests for an assurance of our financial transparency and security. They have finished their report. The board will review it and we will present it to the assembly in June.

Committee Chairs’ Reports to the Membership:
Our bylaws suggest committee chairs report to the membership on an annual basis. I am planning that for our June assembly.

Third Tradition:

Finally, I have been thinking about the Third Tradition this month.  Our work as an intergroup is to provide a platform where A.A. groups can be listed. We need to listen to them and find out how we can serve their needs. We provide a platform so that you can save lives, so that members or members-to-be, can each decide if they want to be included. A.A. groups  and OIAA give each individual that space to decide.

I attended a group this month, when a homegroup member admitted she was drinking again. I felt her pain. It was a morning meeting, but I remember. And the other members did what we have all seen happen, they reached out their hands and said she could start her day again with their help. We know from the third tradition; it is only the desire to stop drinking that opens the door to inclusion. The glimmer of hope no larger than a mustard seed can bring us back from our lowest point into the bosom of our fellowship with its hope of recovery.

I hope each member can recover enough to be able to pass it on. It is a chance to find resurrection. Some will sponsor others, support their groups. Some will find their service niche beyond their groups. Some will find a way to give back to their families, society, or their Higher Power.

But it all starts with a welcome by a group. It starts with a little love, patience, tolerance, that sense of inclusion. OIAA provides that platform for you to open the door to belonging. Thank you for continuing to do that and for welcoming and including me as well.

Humbly and respectfully submitted:

Susan R
OIAA Chair
chair@aa-intergroup.org

I want to take a moment more to thank Melinda F. for her service to us. I was a deer in the headlights when I went to my first Zoom Crew Meeting before the first assembly I was to chair in June. And she said, “We have your back.” Thank you and I wish you well on your journey.