Intergroup Meeting – Proposed Minutes
Wednesday, January 5th, 2022, 7-8:30 PM

Intergroup coordinates services which individual groups in San Francisco and Marin cannot provide. We bring these services, as well as service opportunities, to our Member Groups. Our Intergroup observes the intent and spirit of A.A.’s Twelve Traditions and Twelve Concepts for World Service, as well as A.A.’s Three Legacies of Recovery, Unity, and Service.

7:00   Getting Started

  1. Open with the Serenity Prayer
  2. Call to order. Statement of Purpose
  3. Review the minutes and agenda
  4. Roll Call
    1. 55 groups represented: 35 from San Francisco, 20 from Marin

  1. New IGRs, Visitors, AA Anniversaries
    1. New IGRs: Charlie G – Serendipity in the Garden; Lexi M – Bernal New Day; Giselle – Keep it Simple Sister; Flip – High Noon Thurs; Danny – PAX; Kate P – Leaky Cauldron; Karen W 
    2. Visitors: Jackie B district chair for SFGS
    3. Anniversaries: Isae – 29 yrs, Claudia – 20 yrs, Alex B – 18 yrs, Lexi M – 2 yrs, Charlie – 3 yrs, Rob – 18 yrs! HBD everyone!!!!
  2. Approval of agenda (housekeeping item)
  1. Motion to approve: Isae W; Second: John R
  1. Approval of last month’s Intergroup Meeting minutes (housekeeping item)
  2. Motion to approve: Tom H; Second: Karen G

7:05   Officer Reports

  1. Board Chair – Charlie
    1. Welcome our new Executive Director – Christina G
    2. Christina: super excited to be here and is on day 3 of the job; thanks to board for guidance; thanks so much to Maury for answering all questions, as well as Marcus for keeping Central Office going 24/7; sober for 24 years, live in west marin but will come in to Central Office at least 2x week; worked in non-profits for 20 years at various environmental, cultural, healthcare non-profits; masters in org leadership; hope to be transparent with the work and in the position, how do we best serve the still suffering alcoholic; thank you! Email [email protected]
    3. Update on new website integration
      1. New website is live! Thank you to everyone involved. May be some glitches to work out still, give a bit of time to fix these first (a week or so) and then please email [email protected] for any glaring bugs you come across
      2. Major thanks to the Tech Committee for helping with this integration
      3. Aware of calendar issue already (update: later on during the meeting, Drew advised the calendar issue had been fixed)
    4. Volunteer for new Recording Secretary – email went out with a description, this is a 1 year term, position includes recording minutes editing, sent out monthly
      1. Flip C volunteered for Recording Secretary position, will follow up
    5. Buzz Editor position also open
      1. Michelle W interested in Buzz position, will follow up
  2. Treasurer – Jim B
    1. Group Contributions: $14,841 > $2643 over budget for Nov; $155,297 > $26,085 under budget YTD
    2. Individual Contributions: $14,791 > $7336 over budget for Nov; $93,235 > $13,879 over budget YTD
    3. Overall surplus / deficit: $3556 surplus > $10,670 over budget expected for Nov; $7720 deficit > $13,879 over budget YTD
    4. Unrestricted Cash: $34,622 equal to approx 1.6x monthly operating expenses
    5. Financial rating for Nov 2021 is “Good”
    6. Faithful Fivers: 9 additional members in Nov (up to 289), total and avg contributions are up. Go to aasfmarin.org to become a faithful fiver! Small contributions matter!
    7. John R – is the budget for 2022 worked on yet? Taking into account projections based on shelter in place? 
      1. Jim: yes it is currently being worked on, waiting for Dec #s but will have preliminary for next month; yes interesting to think about projections based on what has happened during the pandemic, 2021 numbers will at the very least provide a starting point
    8. Kathleen – balance sheet, last number right hand side 190,121 in red ink, that represents a drop in unrestricted cash?
      1. Jim: I will look into it and get back to you personally on that – I don’t have the print out on me currently and don’t want to misspeak!
      2. Alan: 140k of that was the bequest being returned
    9. Tom – part of the reason we did well is because of Gratitude Month? Bequests from last month reflected?
      1. Jim: from a contribution standpoint yes, but also expenses across the board were lower; and yes, the bequests are listed under individual contributions

7:30   Intergroup Committee Reports (up to 2 minutes/report)

  1. Tech Committee – Alex B
    1. Chair position is open! Moving out of state at the end of the month, thanks to all
    2. Mtg is on the 1st Monday of every month at 6p on Zoom (except this month is on 1/10)
    3. Keep updating your meetings online! Ad hoc scheduler is still in progress
    4. Email [email protected] for questions
  2. The Point – John B
    1. The January issue is posted online @ aasfmarin.org
    2. Word documents, audio files, artwork all accepted
    3. Ideas for February – 2nd step, tradition, concept, anything AA-related email to [email protected] 
    4. Business meeting on 2nd saturday of month via zoom at noon – next one is this Saturday 1/8
    5. Sound engineer has been found! Thank you
  3. Sunshine Club – Kate K
    1. No in person meetings at this time due to COVID, volunteers still making phone calls to isolated AA members
    2. Email [email protected] for info, to request a meeting, or to volunteer
    3. IGRs can make announcements at meetings that Sunshine Club exists as a service available to home-bound members!
  4. Ad-Hoc Inventory Committee – Chip G
    1. IG inventory 2/5/22 a meeting place has been rented, facility has equipment for a hybrid meeting – subject to change if conditions warrant – potential to move to online
    2. 1/19/22 online meeting on zoom
    3. Inventory questions sent out to IGRs, just so you can think about them – considering the very IG specific content, group conscience at your individual meetings is not quite necessary but of course you are still welcome to do so 
  5. Archives Committee – Mike 
    1. Meets 3rd Sunday of the month in person. Hybrid zoom meeting is open at 12pm
    2. Service positions available! Collect group histories, member stories, catalog, organize, create and recreate visual displays
  6. Public Relations – Peter M
    1. Planning Diversity/Inclusion Town Hall for later Spring 2022 hopefully (discussions with Fellowship Committee)
    2. Calling Card produced and is being distributed at meetings
    3. Committee still needs support with outreach to local media outlets
    4. Pamphlet for those with housing challenges in recovery in distribution soon
    5. Email [email protected] for info and to get involved!
    6. Next mtg 1/10 @ 7pm (orientation at 630)
  7. Chris F: question for sobriety requirements for these volunteer positions? Possible to add to slides?

7:45   Service Committee Liaison Reports (up to 2 minutes/report)

  1. SF General Service – Alison T
    1. PRAASA, Agenda Topics, General Service Conference
    2. General Service website has a calendar and a glossary check it out sfgeneralservice.org/calendar 
    3. Ask for new GSRs to go check out the website! 
    4. Plain language big book, graphic novel, changes to Living Sober
    5. Grapevine and La Vina service rep positions are available
  2. Marin Teleservice – Jill
    1. 1/25 all service positions are turning over
    2. Please announce that Marin Teleservice is looking for new faces to fill commitments – 6 months sobriety requirement
  3. SF Bridging the Gap – Phil S
    1. Connects alcoholics leaving institutions to get them to meetings on the outside
    2. New Pamphlet and new service manual and we have a new co chair! We are looking to increase engagement with the fellowship
  4. General Service – Molly M
    1. GSR Workshop – demystifying general service
      1. Sunday 1/23 12-130p anyone with a desire to learn about General Service is welcomed tho directed to Marin GSRs
    2. Agenda Topics Season is here!
      1. List of topics to be discussed and groups marin and sf are looking for group consciences and report that to delegate 

7:55   Old Business

  1. N/A

7:56   New Business

  1. Potential for 2022 events?
    1. Alan: thinking about getting involved with events – 75th anniversary of Central Office like Peter mentioned; other ideas: people who got sober on Zoom and have never been to a in-person meeting
    2. Get in contact with Fellowship Committee with any ideas you have
    3. Nikki: Town Halls sharing best practices – are there ways virtually that we can bring the fellowship together as we navigate things which keep changing, workshops, etc.
    4. Michelle: Tools game, get into teams of 4 and use the tools (make a call, go to a meeting)
    5. Tanya (in the chat): a talent show we just did for the daily women’s meeting!
    6. Melissa: talking about how COVID has affected sobriety, the loneliness – many people are interested and concerned about all this a hot topic for anybody who is a writer who would want to collect stories focused on topics impact of COVID, good and bad
    7. Jackie: not IGR but visiting and have ideas based on what we do in General Service- how about a trusted servant workshop? That could work well on zoom; business meeting workshop? Etc.
    8. Molly: not an IGR but I’m in General Service, thinking about getting back to in person and what it used to look like – in terms of Zoom just trying to embrace what works even though it’s different from what we’re used to; perspective shifts
    9. Nikki: [email protected] reach out about these ideas and more!
  2. Scott B: service commitments table to encourage people to get involved – other service committees that are available outside the meeting

8:25   What’s On Your Mind

  1. Molly: difference b/w the Buzz and Point?
    1. Nikki: Buzz is weekly newsletter about upcoming events, service opportunities for the fellowship in SF/Marin
    2. John: Point historically used to also have that information before our transition online, Point continues to house the experience, strength, and hope of members via publishing stories, essays, etc. – hyper local version of the grapevine
  2. Jackie: AA History Symposium – scholarships for newcomers or anyone who is not able to afford ticket
  3. Isae: new beginnings, very excited to welcome Christina, new website, really excited about the inventory work we are going to be doing in Feb; what’s working and where we can improve, encourage all to check out the inventory questions
  4. Danny: working with others, step work, how do we bring the message to the newcomer and engage the steps, contextualize them and emphasize the book; any cool new ideas about working with newcomers?
  5. Alex B: era of zoom, the concept of a 12th step call on zoom is very interesting
  6. Flip: there’s 12th step workshops on zoom that i’ve been to they’ve been pretty popular
  7. Nikki: I see no more hands up, do we have any objections to ending the meeting early? (No objections – consensus to end the meeting early)

8:24   Targeted Message

  1. Spread the word about Sunshine Club
  2. Buy literature through Central Office
  3. Become a Faithful Fiver
  4. Subscribe to the Buzz!

Adjourn with the Responsibility Statement

Next Intergroup Meeting is Wednesday, February 2nd, 2022. Our monthly meeting will continue to be held online per local guidelines from the health department until further notice. Please email [email protected] with any questions.

 

January 2022 Intergroup Meeting Treasurer’s Narrative 

Figures for Month Ending November 30, 2021

CONTRIBUTIONS:

Group Contributions for the month were $14,841 which was over budget (or “better than expected”) by $2,643. 

Group Contributions year to date were $155,297 which were $26,085 under budget (“worse than expected”)

Individual Contributions for the month were $14,791 which were over budget (or “better than expected”) by  $7,336. 

Individual Contributions year to date were $93,235 which were $13,879 over budget (or better than expected)

Individual contributions are no longer making up for the unexpected reduction in group contributions 

SURPLUS or DEFICIT:

IFAA experienced a surplus (or profit) of $3,556 for the month. We budgeted (or anticipated) a loss of <$7,114> so we operated $10,670 better than expected.  

Year to date our deficit (total revenue minus total expenses) was <$7,720>. While this may seem poor, we were expecting and had budgeted a total loss by this time of year of <$34K> so our year to date November deficit was $26,474 better than expected.

TREASURY MATTERS:

Unrestricted Cash (in addition to 6 Mo. Prudent Reserve) was $34,622 or 1.6 months of expenditures.

Quarterly bill for outside services was paid in November, as well as 3 payroll periods causing sharper than expected reduction in unrestricted cash.

 

OVERALL RATING: Good (meeting our budget, profitable for the month)

 

FINANCIAL RATING SYSTEM 

EXCELLENT:  We exceeded our budget.  Our income was greater than our expenses for the month and we have more than two months’ worth of operating expenses in unrestricted cash balances.  

GOOD: We are meeting our budget.  Our net income for the month, or for the YTD, was slightly greater than our expenses and we’d have approximately 1.5 – 2 months of operating expenses in unrestricted cash balances.

FAIR: We are not meeting our budget.  Our expenses were greater than our income for the month and year to date, so our unrestricted cash balance would be somewhere between 1 and 1.5x our operating expenses. 

POOR: We are not meeting our budget and our unrestricted cash balances fell below one month of operating expenses.

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