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A Service of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee
Suggested Guidelines
Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee
These Suggested Guidelines emerged as the Member Contacts from SHARE [formerly CAFG], Awakenings, Key To Harmony and Saturday Night Butterflies worked on the Computer Committee planning of OLA for the 1998 Al-Anon International at Salt Lake City. They were adopted April 15, 1998 and are a model for an Online Al-Anon Information Service (now the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee). Other OLA Meetings are invited to participate. Please contact the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee.
Membership:
Al-Anon/Alateen online meetings who choose to become part of the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee by selecting a representative, and when possible, an alternate representative, who participate in Online Al-Anon Outreach activities. It is understood that each meeting seeking participation abides by Al-Anon's Traditions and is open to any Al-Anon member. Any Al-Anon member of an participating meeting may attend committee meetings with voice but not vote.
Purposes:
1. To aid the online Al-Anon email and chat meetings it serves in their common purpose of carrying the Al-Anon message to families and friends of alcoholics via the Internet.2. To facilitate cooperation within the online community and the World Service Conference (WSC) and the World Service Office (WSO) of the Al-Anon Family Groups (AFG).
3. To provide a forum for discussion of OLA meeting concerns as they relate to the unique challenge of meetings on the Internet; in light of the 12 Traditions and 12 Concepts of Service; and the policies established by the World Service Conference and International Al-Anon General Services Meeting.
4. As a Public Outreach service for the meetings it serves and Al-Anon as a whole:
a. To establish and maintain an Online Al-Anon Outreach website for the publication and distribution of a meeting list of email and chat Al-Anon/Alateen meetings listed/registered at WSO or affiliated with an Al-Anon General Service Office outside the US or Canada.5. To maintain both a postal and an email address for listing at the World Service Office. [Current Mailing Address - CMA]b. To obtain and maintain a domain name for OLA-IS.
c. To provide for Al-Anon/Alateen meetings listed at WSO the ability to choose to have their own pages on the OLA-IS website or to choose to be linked to their own pages from the website. Participation indicates willingness to abide by the policies of Al-Anon as a whole.
d. To facilitate the ability of friends and families of alcoholics to find the OLA-IS website by submitting its address to various search engines and directories.
6. To establish a bank account for receipt of 7th Tradition contributions from the OLA meetings it serves. Contributions are voluntary and are not a condition for membership.
7. May publish a newsletter of its activities for OLA-IS members to distribute to their meeting.
Finances:
The Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee is supported by the online meetings it serves. In keeping with Tradition 7, contributions cannot be accepted from outside the fellowship. OLA meetings and/or their members may make contributions to OLA-IS. Contributions should be sent to the OLA-IS Treasurer. The contribution should be made out to "OLA-IS", and should include the name and WSO ID number of the OLA meeting of the contributor.
OLA-IS Representatives/Alternates:
a. Selected by OLA meetings according to their own established meeting procedures.b. Notifies OLA-IS Chairperson and Secretary of selection and of meeting's intention to participate.
c. Participates in the activities of OLA-IS and reports back to the meeting.
d. Assists with announcing opportunities for 7th Tradition contributions from the Meeting so that OLA-IS may be self-supporting by the meetings it serves.
e. Notifies Chair of OLA-IS Webpage Committee when meeting is listed at WSO along with the assigned ID#.
f. Notifies Chair of OLA-IS Webpage Committee of the meeting's intent to create its own webpage as part of OLA-IS, or to be linked from the OLA-IS page. Includes the name and email address of the webmaster.
Leadership:
The leadership of OLA-IS is selected from among the representatives and alternates from the participating meetings. In addition, any interested Al-Anon member or past representative or alternate to OLA-IS may be asked to serve as an officer, committee chair or committee member.
OLA-IS Trusted Servant Committee:
The selected Trusted Servants, including the Chairperson, Alternate Chairperson, Secretary, Treasurer; Chairs of all Standing committees; and immediate past leaders, shall serve as a leadership sub-committee and present recommendations to the full OLA-IS for affirmation or not.
Voting:
a. Each meeting shall have one vote.b. A recommendation shall be declared as affirmed when: those representatives participating in the vote have substantial unanimity as described in Concept 12, Warranty 3.
Chairperson:
Is affirmed by the participants for a three year term. Has Al-Anon service experience beyond the Al-Anon Family Group level.
a. Is liaison with WSO and other OLA meetings.b. Calls for and posts agenda items brought forward by OLA-IS committee chairs and/or OLA-IS representatives not less than twice a year.
c. With assistance of other Trusted Servants, poses questions for decision and records vote [or delegates this task].
d. Makes announcements as necessary.
e. Identifies new OLA-IS committees as needed and asks for volunteers.
f. Invites new OLA meeting(s) to join OLA-IS.
g. Performs other tasks as necessary for OLA-IS functioning.
Alternate Chairperson:
Serves for a three year term.
a. Assists elected Chairperson and performs tasks in absence of the Chair.
Secretary:
a. Maintains and archives list of participating OLA meetings and their representatives and alternates.b. Maintains current email address list of representatives, leadership, committee chairs and committee members.
c. Maintains and archives a record of all decisions made by OLA-IS and Trusted Servant Committee.
d. Sends to new participants in OLA-IS a summary of past decisions and OLA-IS Guidelines.
e. Notifies WSO of CMA for OLA-IS [Snail, email, and website].
Treasurer:
a. Maintains a bank account for OLA-IS.b. Receives 7th Tradition contributions and makes payment for expenses of OLA-IS and its Trusted Servants for expenses incurred performing Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee tasks.
c. Reports monthly to Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee contributions from participating meetings, expenses, and balance.
Standing Committees:
All chairs of standing committees shall be selected from among participants in Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee.
a. Web Site
i. Responsible for the maintenance and changes to the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee Web site in accordance with Purpose #4.ii. Maintains contact with WSO to assure new meetings listed at WSO are, if willing, added to the webpage. Notifies all Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee participants when this change is made.
iii. May delegate editorial responsibility for the actual maintenance of the page(s) to an individual with the expertise in HTML writing and editing.
iv. Assures that at least two other persons have the password to the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee site.
v. Assists Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee participating meetings with their website as asked.
vi. May include, on committee, the webmaster from any Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee meeting having a website connected from the Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee page.
vii. Makes recommendations to chair and other officers re further internet services Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee may offer to the meetings it serves.
viii. Keeps Treasurer advised of costs for maintaining domain/website.
Back to Top b. Newsletter
i. As needed, prepares a newsletter of OLA-activities for its members to distribute to the meetings which support Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee.ii May send to Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee webmaster for inclusion on link from Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee so that all interested may be informed.
Back to Top
i. Maintains archives of relevant historical information about Online Al-Anon Outreach Committee and its participating meetings for future reference purposes and inclusion in WSO Archives.