Gifts of the Program

COVID-19, Update #7: Gifts of the Program 

Below, please find information on:

• Complimentary access to the AA Grapevine and recordings from the 2019 AA History Symposium
• Additions for your Online Meeting Format
  • Zoom Rooms
• Getting a Group Conscience
• Digital Contribution Platforms
• Service Opportunities: Teleservice and HelpChat
• Remote Meeting Schedule Version 2.0!!! 
• Literature needs?

Details:

A special message from the AA Grapevine:  Due to the current changing health situation, many AA meetings across the U.S. and Canada are finding it safer to close. To help members during this time, we are giving everyone free access to most of our 2020 Grapevine and La Viña issues. Please share with your fellows.

Additionally, the wonderful members who bring you the annual AA History Symposium have made recordings from last year’s event available free of charge! Click here to stream presentations from the Fifth (V) Symposium on A.A. History, held in the Bay Area, and including the theatrical performance from Saturday night’s banquet. Password is thebroadhighway.

We have posted an FAQ for locals as well suggestions for updating your meeting format to make online meetings run more smoothly. We hope they help. 

We are collaborating with New York Intergroup to make Zoom Rooms available to host groups for free. Each room will be able to accommodate up to 1,000 participants per meeting and we can secure anonymity and privacy settings for all. Stay tuned for details!

Meanwhile, check in with your group for a group conscience about using this service. If you want to learn more about getting a group conscience – and really? What better time to do so than during a Shelter-in-Place pandemic?! – check out Best Practices, Third Legacy Voting and How To Start an Online Meeting on Zoom developed by the Austin ICYPAA bid committee.

We have curated information on various Digital Contribution Platforms to help your group determine how you might practice the Seventh Tradition using a digital basket. If you have questions, comments or concerns, please email [email protected] – we are here to help!

With Central Office closing, the San Francisco and Marin Telesevice Committees have taken over the phone lines 24/7. Each committee is hosting a remote orientation this week. There is a one-year sobriety requirement to volunteer for SF Teleservice and a six-month sobriety requirement to volunteer for Marin Teleservice. Orientation details can be found in Upcoming Events. We ask each Teleservice volunteer to read The Buzz and our COVID-19 updates and to stay current with the information on aasfmarin.org as we are continually posting new content and making updates. HelpChat, the online chat tool, will also be holding an orientation this week. Details will be posted on aasfmarin.org and sent out in the next update.   

And finally, what you have all been waiting for! Version 2.0 of the Remote Meeting Schedule is NOW LIVE! While we are still tweaking search and sort features, and request you kindly hold off with suggestions until we’ve had more time to work on it, you can now easily search by day and time as well as see the geographic origin of each meeting. Further, each meeting has a page on aasfmarin.org that allows you to:

• Display your Digital Basket Information
• Upload your Meeting Format
• Upload an Image of your Physical Meeting Location

We are looking into best practices for security with regard to displaying collection information. We request your continued patience and cooperation and if you have expertise in this area, please let us know. We highly recommend gathering an informed group conscience before you submit digital platform information or upload your meeting format or image and request that your Intergroup Rep, General Service Rep or current Secretary be the one to send these submissions. 

A note to the meetings already listed: please email us a PDF or TXT of your Meeting Format and an image if you would like to use one. 

Your Special Workers are continuing to work from both home and the office. If you need literature, we will consider opening the online store back up and shipping it to you or having set pick up hours. Please email us at [email protected] so we can assess the need. More will be revealed.

So stay tuned and please, for the love of a good internet connection, share this information with your social media communities and encourage our members to subscribe to The Buzz.

All decisions will be re-evaluated as the situation changes; we are doing our best and appreciate your support and understanding. Your AA Central Office