March 17th, 2024

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. Because of time limitations, we will not have oral committee reports, but will instead receive your reports electronically to place in the minutes. Please make sure they are sent to Karen by next Friday so we can get the minutes out in time.On February 7th, we held the Committee Chair’s workshop where our officers discussed various topics and suggestions to help our committee chairs better function and develop their committee. My fellow officers and I presented six topics and I feel it went very well. I was disappointed, to be honest, with the attendance. We recorded the session, and it will be posted shortly on our website under the Chairperson’s corner. If you are a chair, alternate chair, thinking of standing to be a chair, or just interested in committee work, we strongly encourage you to view it. The District 9 officers held a meeting on Sunday March 10th, where we discussed a variety of topics. Due to personal reasons, our GSR Coordinator will be unable to attend the District Meetings for the next several months and the officers will cover them until she returns. Next month, however, we decided to hold a joint GSR/DCM workshop rather than the two fully separate workshops normally held. GSRs should report at the usual time of noon and then after a short GSR discussion, we then will bring the ACMs and DCMs and give the GSRs the opportunity to see our DCMs in action. DCMs should report at 1:00 pm in the room in the building next door where the GSRs normally meet. We also discussed our desire to hold more support your services events and we will start with the addition (or return) of a Spaghetti Dinner sometime in September. Think about whether you would be interested in serving at this event, and we will need to start by finding a location and a trusted servant to chair it. I also attended the Area 15 Chairs call on Thursday March 14 and our Area Chair asked us to bring several matters to you. First, our delegate will be leading two additional online virtual Conference agenda review sessions ahead of the April assembly: • On Sunday, March 24, they will hold the final zoom review of items for Conference committees on International Conventions/Regional Forums and Finance; and • On Tuesday, March 26, our delegate will offer a wrap-up session where any items already discussed at prior reviews can be brought back for further questions and conversation. “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.” March 17 th ,2024 District 9 Panel 73 Business Meeting Page 2 of 7 • The information for these sessions can be found on the Area 15 Website under the link “Everything You Need to Know About the 74th General Service Conference.” The Conference review process at Area 15 will be different this year with the following changes: • Our Delegate, Cary, is working from a shortened list of agenda items; they will not be reviewing every item. • On Saturday from 4-6 p.m., they will be reviewing agenda items for Conference committees for which we have corresponding committees in our districts and our area: Literature, Public Information, Grapevine/LaVina, etc. After the business meeting on Sunday, they will be reviewing agenda items for Conference committees for which we do not have corresponding committees in our districts and our area: Agenda, Policy/Admissions, etc. • Cary will open the mic for questions or comments on any item on the Conference agenda following review items on Sunday. We have the ballroom until 6 p.m., and she is committed to staying as long as people want to come to the mic. Finally, there will be something fresh and creative for the GSR and DCM sharing sessions at the April assembly. They will be raising the wall between the GSR sharing and the DCM sharing so all of these trusted servants can attend and participate simultaneously in a presentation on how a proposed agenda item travels from a single A.A. member to the home group, the district, the area, and ultimately to the General Service Conference and back to the top of the triangle. Everybody can attend, and a very entertaining presentation is planned. As you can see from the agenda, we have one motions, being brought by the District Treasurer which will be voted on today. We will also hold the election for Gratitude Dinner Chair. 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.