FORTY-FIFTH GENERAL SERVICE CONFERENCE 2010

Committee Reports (All Committee reports were passed at the Plenary session with a two-thirds plus majority)

Committee No. 4

Would Conference consider and give guidance on the finance and publicising of Conventions?

Is the process of Convention organisation and accountability to the Fellowship clear for all?

This Committee recognises that Guideline 15 provides concise and comprehensive guidance on organising AA Conventions.

We would like to emphasise that Convention Committee members should report back to their Region or Intergroup with clear information of the processes they are following. This would help to ensure that Convention organisation and accountability to the Fellowship is clear to all (Guideline 15).

The Committee would like to draw attention to Conference recommendation of 1995 which reads:

“that the practice of inviting speakers from overseas and paying their expenses is in breach of Traditions 4 & 12.”

To prevent misrepresentation, events organised outside of the service structure cannot use the AA name or logo* or use the Confidential Directory as a mailing list.

This committee believes that the primary purpose of any convention is to carry the AA message to the alcoholic who still suffers.

*Copyright/Logo *Guidelines for AA GB)

Voting: Unanimous”

(extract from AA Service News – Summer 2010 – No. 143)

Comment: Apart from those “workshops” organised by the “speaker circuit” brigade (where you may with some facility be separated from your hard earned dough for the privilege of listening to mostly repackaged and recycled verbiage) the above may be of interest to Northdown Intergroup and to the notorious Road to Recovery Group, Plymouth. In the first case aacultwatch contacted (via York) this particular Intergroup to request an explanation as to why the Winchester Convention (apparently sponsored by this intergroup) was publicising by name two speakers from the US. The flier advertising the event bears the AA logo and gives every indication of being an AA convention. So far we've received no reply though the email was forwarded to them no later than the 15 June 2010. As for the RtoR group it's hardly surprising that they are paying no attention to AA guidelines – after all this is not an AA group – but their website (although not bearing the AA logo) nevertheless describes the group as being of Alcoholics Anonymous. Currently yet more brethren from the Pacific Group (and that's another looonnng story) are touting for business on their site. Whatever did happen to Tradition 12 with this group? Sorry..... forgot... this is NOT an AA group ….all is clear now!!

Cheerio

The Fellas