Well! It seems that the recovery "business" is thriving - following our article on the goings-on in South East London Intergroup (West) a member sent in some more info - the franchise "Emotional Sobriety" appears to have opened up shop elsewhere in the UK - Bournemouth and Croydon amongst others (see quote below). Apart from Wayne B (not to be confused with Little Wayne from the Road to Recovery Cult group Plymouth) and Tina, Bob D (who has also done a turn at the Plymouth R2R roadshow) also features behind this. Indeed it would appear that the R2R gang are busily strengthening links both with the Pacific Group (about which there is already considerable controversy but we'll leave that for another day) as well as the Primary Purpose outfit (French branch). Apart from Bob (Specific Group?? Las Vegas) the R2R cult group has hosted no lesser a personage than the venerable Clancy I (Pacific Group LA US). Indeed so amicable are relations in this respect that the R2R website now carries a link to AA Los Angeles Central Office (which is handy if you're at a bit of a loss on a Monday night and need a meeting in LA). But to get back to the Emotional Sobriety scam - at first sight there seems to be little in common between the fliers advertising the SELIG event and the one in Bournemouth. However our eagle eyed correspondent noted that in both instances cheques for registration are payable to Friends of Bill W. As far as we are aware this is not an AA account, nor one run by the local intergroup - in fact it has no connection with AA at all. No attempt was made by the organiser of this event to inform the local intergroup of what was going on (even as a matter of courtesy). When he was challenged on the matter a number of fairly feeble rationalisations were offered (far too nauseating to post here). The organiser himself hails from the Poole Sunday night group and claims no connection with the Road to Recovery group (that is apart from having an predilection for ignoring inconvenient Traditions and a similar taste in speakers). Additionally a correspondent from the US sent us further information on the Emotional Sobriety racket:
Quote:
"More on Wayne 'n' Tina
Tina seems to be a recent addition, replacing the aging 'TJ M.' of Chicago.
A quick and dirty search finds multiple versions of the same flyer, with various 'sponsoring' entities identified, e.g.:
Friends of the Big Book (Washington DC)
Pinellas Beginners Group (Clearwater Florida)
Essex Beginners Group (Leigh on Sea, Essex)
Oxford area AA's (Summertown, Oxford)
Friends of Step'n Ahead (Dundee, Scotland)
Akron Beginners Group (Akron, Ohio)
How many of these are real AA groups is not clear.
The W 'n' T organization have two websites:
http://www.stepnahead.com/
and the more recent,
http://www.emotionalsobriety101.com/
"The Big Book Lives On" is their most common head line, but they also refer to the following (note trademarks): Step'n Ahead at The Last Mile® (98% Success!) and Step'n Ahead into Emotional Sobriety®.
They sell workbooks and promote like mad.
Warn everyone, thanks"
It is worth nothing that the distinction between a speaker sharing at a meeting as an AA member or addressing an event to promote their "brand", is becoming increasingly blurred. Circuit speakers have been a feature for some time in the US (in breach of the Tradition relating to principles before personalities) and that unsavoury aspect of AA is now creeping into the UK (with CDs being offered for sale at some group venues). Generally AA workshops are open to all and there is no charge for admission. AA conventions may charge but this is done to cover the costs of accommodation and other accessory facilities, but should not charge AA members for access to any AA meeting held on the premises. Where charges are necessarily incurred for the use of facilities by AA members who are engaged in service activity it is generally the case that the service structure reimburses those members for any costs (this is done to ensure that no AA member is excluded from the possibility of participating in that structure due to financial constraints). In our view, and apart from those instances cited above, any event which charges admission is de facto NOT an AA gathering and should not be advertised at AA meetings, nor should their literature be displayed at AA meetings (contrary to the perverse guideline issued on this matter by the General Service Conference (What were they thinking! Or rather - Were they thinking at all!). We expect this trend to continue (for the foreseeable future) and would propose that the default position which might be adopted by the AA service structure is to treat any such events (ie. those that are not sponsored by an Intergroup, or where the group has not consulted with other groups as per Tradition Four) as non AA events and therefore not to be advertised within AA, and moreover that newer members should be notified of this. Furthermore we would propose that any new group set up should approach the relevant Intergroup or other groups in the locality prior to its formation and give a full account of its purposes, financing, affiliations etc - in other words establish its credentials as a genuine AA group. If it does so to the satisfaction of AA members then it may be admitted as an AA group together with inclusion in the local and national Where to Finds. If it fails to satisfy the membership of its credentials then the local groups may choose to exclude it. Additionally it may be the case that a group's continued participation in an Intergroup (and inclusion in the Where to Find) may be reviewed if it can be demonstrated to the local membership that its conduct is consistently and repeatedly in breach of AA traditions (not only in letter but in spirit) and that its conduct brings AA into serious disrepute (we would propose that such infractions include criminal activity, serious negligence - both of which may be actionable in law, together with that conduct which is in breach of human rights - freedom of association, freedom of religious (or not) worship, freedom of speech etc)These may be considered radical measures by some elements in the Fellowship but then doing nothing, as we have said before, is no longer an option.
Finally we display the Bournemouth flier with personal details blanked out (as usual) but in the light of the above we are reconsidering this policy. Given that these are non AA functions there seems to be no good reason why we should not include those details (and in full in future); it would seem to us that if a member has chosen to break their own anonymity in support of a non AA event then we are no longer under any moral obligation to do otherwise.
Cheers
The Fellas
Quote:
"More on Wayne 'n' Tina
Tina seems to be a recent addition, replacing the aging 'TJ M.' of Chicago.
A quick and dirty search finds multiple versions of the same flyer, with various 'sponsoring' entities identified, e.g.:
Friends of the Big Book (Washington DC)
Pinellas Beginners Group (Clearwater Florida)
Essex Beginners Group (Leigh on Sea, Essex)
Oxford area AA's (Summertown, Oxford)
Friends of Step'n Ahead (Dundee, Scotland)
Akron Beginners Group (Akron, Ohio)
How many of these are real AA groups is not clear.
The W 'n' T organization have two websites:
http://www.stepnahead.com/
and the more recent,
http://www.emotionalsobriety101.com/
"The Big Book Lives On" is their most common head line, but they also refer to the following (note trademarks): Step'n Ahead at The Last Mile® (98% Success!) and Step'n Ahead into Emotional Sobriety®.
They sell workbooks and promote like mad.
Warn everyone, thanks"
It is worth nothing that the distinction between a speaker sharing at a meeting as an AA member or addressing an event to promote their "brand", is becoming increasingly blurred. Circuit speakers have been a feature for some time in the US (in breach of the Tradition relating to principles before personalities) and that unsavoury aspect of AA is now creeping into the UK (with CDs being offered for sale at some group venues). Generally AA workshops are open to all and there is no charge for admission. AA conventions may charge but this is done to cover the costs of accommodation and other accessory facilities, but should not charge AA members for access to any AA meeting held on the premises. Where charges are necessarily incurred for the use of facilities by AA members who are engaged in service activity it is generally the case that the service structure reimburses those members for any costs (this is done to ensure that no AA member is excluded from the possibility of participating in that structure due to financial constraints). In our view, and apart from those instances cited above, any event which charges admission is de facto NOT an AA gathering and should not be advertised at AA meetings, nor should their literature be displayed at AA meetings (contrary to the perverse guideline issued on this matter by the General Service Conference (What were they thinking! Or rather - Were they thinking at all!). We expect this trend to continue (for the foreseeable future) and would propose that the default position which might be adopted by the AA service structure is to treat any such events (ie. those that are not sponsored by an Intergroup, or where the group has not consulted with other groups as per Tradition Four) as non AA events and therefore not to be advertised within AA, and moreover that newer members should be notified of this. Furthermore we would propose that any new group set up should approach the relevant Intergroup or other groups in the locality prior to its formation and give a full account of its purposes, financing, affiliations etc - in other words establish its credentials as a genuine AA group. If it does so to the satisfaction of AA members then it may be admitted as an AA group together with inclusion in the local and national Where to Finds. If it fails to satisfy the membership of its credentials then the local groups may choose to exclude it. Additionally it may be the case that a group's continued participation in an Intergroup (and inclusion in the Where to Find) may be reviewed if it can be demonstrated to the local membership that its conduct is consistently and repeatedly in breach of AA traditions (not only in letter but in spirit) and that its conduct brings AA into serious disrepute (we would propose that such infractions include criminal activity, serious negligence - both of which may be actionable in law, together with that conduct which is in breach of human rights - freedom of association, freedom of religious (or not) worship, freedom of speech etc)These may be considered radical measures by some elements in the Fellowship but then doing nothing, as we have said before, is no longer an option.
Finally we display the Bournemouth flier with personal details blanked out (as usual) but in the light of the above we are reconsidering this policy. Given that these are non AA functions there seems to be no good reason why we should not include those details (and in full in future); it would seem to us that if a member has chosen to break their own anonymity in support of a non AA event then we are no longer under any moral obligation to do otherwise.
Cheers
The Fellas
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