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Committee No. 4

Committee No. 4

Question 1.     

Would Conference consider making AA pamphlets available online?  If so, would Conference consider making such materials available not just to view but to save, distribute, and print?

Background

A large body of materials is available to view, save, distribute, and print, from the USA AA website (http://www.aa.org/).

Currently, a very small number of AA pamphlets are available online from the Alcoholics Anonymous Great Britain website (https://www.alcoholics-anonymous.org.uk/), for example the pamphlet 'Is AA for you?'

Most pamphlets are available from GSO by mail order only.

When AA literature is to be used in public information and liaison work, physical pamphlets must therefore be ordered. Some of the materials are provided free of charge; others are not.

The drawbacks of this are as follows:

  • Significant postage costs
  • The implementation of physical mailshots of literature is very time-consuming for serving officers.
  • Recipient organisations cannot then easily distribute the information internally.

The advantages of the proposed measure would be as follows:

  • The work of public information and liaison officers would be greatly facilitated.
  • The AA message could reach more organisations, more individuals within those organisations, and more individual still-suffering alcoholics.

 

The only disadvantage might be the loss of net contribution from literature sales to outside organisations or individual members of AA.

In order to limit the loss of revenue, one option might be to extend this offer only to those pamphlets used routinely in public information work, e.g.:

  • All items under the heading 'For Professional and Business People' in the 'Price List & Order Form 2014/15'
  • 'A Brief Guide To AA'
  • Items aimed at specific groups of (potential) AA members (e.g. 'Younger People in AA (GB)', 'AA and the Armed Services)', etc.

 

 Question 2.

Would the Fellowship consider to what extent Conference truly represents 'the practical means by which the Group conscience in AA GB can express itself in matters that concern the Fellowship as a whole'?   

 

Background

The Role and Function of Conference

AA Structure Handbook for Great Britain

Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age, page 217-218:

"On their first day, the delegates inspected our Headquarters, got acquainted with the service staff, and shook hands with the Trustees. In the evening there was a briefing session under the name of "What's on your mind?" We answered questions of every description. The delegates began to feel at home. Seeing their quick understanding and confidence, our spirits rose. We all sensed that something momentous was happening; this was a historic moment.
One strenuous session followed another. The delegates inspected A.A.'s finances and listened to reports from the Board of Trustees and from all of the services. There was warm but cordial debate on many questions of A.A. policy. The Trustees submitted several of their own serious problems for the opinion of the Conference. With real dispatch the delegates handled several tough puzzlers about which we at Headquarters were in doubt. Though their advice was sometimes contrary to our own views, we saw they were frequently right. They were proving as never before that A.A.'s Tradition Two was correct. Our group conscience could safely act as the sole authority and sure guide for Alcoholics Anonymous. As the delegates returned home, they carried this deep conviction with them."