February 18th, 2024

February 18th, 2024

Chairperson Report (Steve B. 954-560-1880) chairperson@district9aa.org Good afternoon, everybody, I am an alcoholic, member of the East Naples Men’s Group, my sobriety date is November 28, 2008, and my name is Steve B. I am humbled by this responsibility but thank everyone for the support I receive from all of you. My activity as chair over the last month has consisted of various online meetings which I will discuss. However, on January 31st, I had a phone call with Donna W., the Area Chair. Donna has taken the time to meet by phone with as many district chairs as possible to discuss ideas for the Chairs meetings, discuss ideas for the Area and get our opinions on how the Area can better serve the districts. Included were discussions about the possibility of Area 15 private social media, changes in the meeting formats for some of the district trusted servants at the assemblies and starting a meeting for district secretaries in between assemblies. Also discussed was the possible creation of an area guidebook and workshops. One important request from Donna was for each district chair to make sure they are listed as the chair by the corresponding area committee. This is especially important for those chairs who did not start their service at the beginning of a panel. Committee chairs, if you are not receiving emails from your corresponding area committee chair, contact them at the email listed on the Area website to make certain you are properly listed. On February 8, I attended the area sharing session for district chairs and alternate chairs, held via Zoom. On that call Donna brought to our attention the changes to the area website where they have added a prominent link “Everything you need to know about the 74th General Service Conference.” There you will find the Final Agenda Items, the Background Material once they are posted, and the dates for virtual meetings where all the Agenda Items will be discussed. There will be five such virtual meetings in March, each covering different agenda items. We were also informed that unlike in previous years, the “conforming items”, that is items that correspond to the standing committees such as literature, Grapevine, PI/CPC, etc., will be presented at the Assembly on Saturday, rather than Sunday. The April Assembly Agenda is now available and was sent out this week. On February 11, we held our District 9 Officer’s meeting which meant we missed the first quarter of the Super Bowl which I didn’t mind since I am still brooding over the Dolphin’s disastrous foray into the post season. The matters we discussed include: • the Ad Hoc Committee for Re-sub-districting, which Milinda will update you on, • calculating the contributions to Area 15 and the General Service Board which was delayed due to end of the year circumstances which we are nearing completion on, and “This information is for General Service District 9 and Group members, and as such are confidential documents; Distribution is limited to members. Placement of this material in a location accessible to the public, including aspects of the internet, such as Websites available to the public, may breach the confidentiality of the material and the anonymity of members, since it may contain members’ full names, addresses or phone numbers.” February 18th ,2024 District 9 Panel 73 Business Meeting Page 2 of 6 • a motion being brought by the Treasurer regarding Assembly reimbursement which has been withdrawn. Also, as a reminder, the Committee Chairs workshop will be held by zoom on February 29th. We would like the greatest possible attendance, including experienced chairs so we can all share our experience and ideas. I am therefore strongly encouraging chair participation, and anyone interested in Committee work is invited to attend as well. The Zoom information will be sent out shortly. Finally, we expect the background on the 74th General Service Conference Committees to be out by the March meeting, I will be contacting standing Committee Chairs to present the items listed under their committees, as well as others of you to present the non-conforming items such as Agenda, Report and Charter, etc. Because this will take significant time to cover all the items, and we have one motion for vote, we are asking all committee chairs next month to waive their oral reports and send their written reports for inclusion in the March minutes. Thank you all for your service, and if you have any questions, comments or yes, even complaints, I can be contacted at districtchairperson@district9.aa or called at (954) 648-4961. In love and service, Steve B.