District 4 – Virtual District Meeting
March 14, 2023
6:30 p.m.
Mtg. ID: 863 7353 3658
Password: 230403
Chair, Ann, called the meeting to order at 6:32 with the Declaration of Unity.
Present: Ann, Katie, Stephen, Nancy, David, Andrew, Mike, Genie, Sue B., Pat, Amy.
Reading of the minutes was waived.
Reports:
1. DCM Report: Sue B.
Assembly Seed Money – I haven’t spoken further with District 1 about hosting an upcoming Assembly. I will do that upon my return.
The Delegate has distributed a summary of the final Agenda Items. The summary is available at area50wny.org, under the Delegate’s Page. The password to access the protected files which contain confidential material is – area50. This page will be continuously updated. I suggest that you review the summary before the April 1 Preconference for yourself and also with your homegroup. Also, if you would like to participate at the Pre-Conference Assembly, contact me or Denise.
12th Annual Archives breakfast is April 29, 2023. Tickets are $22.00 and will only be available by pre-sale. Contact Joe V at (716) 465-9327 with any questions.
If you attended NERAASA, please submit all of you receipts to Nancy G, the current District 4 Treasurer for reimbursement.
The District continues to seek 100% participation by the groups in its district. Look for friends in non-participating groups and encourage them to stand for GSR.
NYSIW – July 28 – 20, 2023. James C, Chair of the Workshop, is looking for volunteers to help with the event. Please contact James at (716) 587-2903 or
James.J.Conley@gmail.com if you would like to work on this important event.
Place of Worship and Law Enforcement Committees have received pamphlet racks and tear off sheets for distribution throughout the district. The Law Enforcement Pamphlet racks have been distributed.
We have been informed that Two Trustees have resigned from the General Service Board unexpectedly in the last 6 weeks. As a District Member, I think it is imperative to understand what this means for our Area and for AA as a whole. Home groups should be informed when making a donation to GSO. There isn’t much information regarding the resignations at this time. In the spirit of transparency, I am hopeful that we will learn more in the coming weeks. Would we like the Delegate to come to our April District meeting to provide us with information about these resignations and how they affect AA as a whole, not only in the USA and Canada but also the other 62 General Service Offices around the world that rely on New York’s direction? Please send me any questions that you or your group have and I will get them to Denise.
In love of service,
Sue B, DCM
2. Treasurer Report: Nancy
- Treasury Balance is $1107.78 We have contributed $450.00 to Ann/PIC for the Google Ads Campaign.
- NERAASA attendees are eligible to receive reimbursement for travel expenses.
- Nancy is still working out thank you’s to contributing groups.
3. Accessibility report: NONE
4. Archives Committee report: Joe B.
- We attended the Cataract Convention in Niagara Falls over the weekend setting Up Thursday night the night before the convention.
- We attended with our new WNY Area 50 Archives shirts with our new logo Which appears on our shirts and on our office letterhead.
- The image of the logo is an exact duplicate where the first AA meeting was held in Buffalo and Davidson Avenue in the Kensington section of the city of Buffalo.
- See attached
- Archives breakfast is Saturday, April 29, tickets are available for $22 please also see attached.”
5. CPC Report: Dave N.
- Committee is working to link up with rehabs and hospitals.
- Looking forward to getting into more facilities and making contact.
- Committee meets monthly.
6. PIC Report: Anne
- Ann reminded us that the committee meets monthly, last Wed 4 ppl were present.
- Working at funding the Google Ad Campaign
- Ann will be attending the DCMC meeting March 15 to ask for more support
- The committee has attended a few wellness fairs. The fair at the Buffalo Academy for the Performing Arts was a great success and showed a lot of interest in what we have to offer.
- As aways, the committee needs volunteers to continue this great work.
7. Web chair Report: Genie
Webchair Report
- Made a small formatting change to blog post page to improve appearance and functionality- reinstated the sidebar. Also added a “search” feature. Removed an inactive calendar widget.
- Added a Privacy Policy page, cited Tradition Twelve along with applicable suggested content
- Added a blog post with a link to New Frontiers
- Created a Share Your Story page with comment box (still glitchy, trying to resolve)
- Created a “Wordle” Word Art graphic for top of page which includes the Twelve Steps and “Alcoholics Anonymous.”
- Contacted GSO to receive permission, then linked Grapevine/La Vina webpage to our page to provide examples of personal stories. Added their disclaimer on the page.
- Re-ordered the categories on the “Backyard” page so they make more sense.
- Created a gmail account so that digital information can be more easily shared with DCM and others who need access, and ultimately transferred to the next Web Chair. The account address is district4update@gmail.com
- Created a Google spreadsheet titled “Pamphlet Distribution” to track distribution of fliers, tear-off sheets and racks.
- Linked Spreadsheet to “Our Backyard” page. Upon initial attempt, you may get a message denying access. Simply request access and provide your name/homegroup so that I can allow you to edit the sheet. Once it’s shared with you, there should be no problem logging in to use it.
- Added a blog post with February 2023 Meeting Minutes
- Added a blog post with GSO announcement about increase in literature prices
- Added a blog post with March 2023 Agenda
I’d like to briefly discuss the possibility of purchasing an upgrade to the WPForms plugin app. We have the free version now, but the free version does not allow for accessing backups of forms. We could use the Basic version ($49 annually) to add a “contact us” feature on our page and/or to create surveys.
If we were to upgrade the the “Pro” version, it includes, among other things, an add-on to collect Paypal payments, along Newsletter formatting, (which I remember someone mentioning at a previous meeting). The Pro version is currently on sale for $199 annually.
I’m including links to the informational and pricing pages below:
I’ve reached out to the Area Webchair to find out whether the Area may already have a license key for the product or if not, whether they’d be willing to purchase it. As of 3/12 at noon, I’m waiting to hear back from Justin.
Respectfully submitted,
Genie E, Area 50 District 4 Webchair
8. Place of Worship distribution Sub-Committee Report-Katie
- Out of 5 places visited, 4 agreed to display our literature. Church of the Advent, Church of Nativity, Deerhurst Presbyterian and St. Paul’s. Kenmore Alliance Church has their own faith-based treatment program.
- The committee will continue to visit local places of worship and hand out literature.
9. NERAASA report – Andrew
- Andrew arrived at NERAASA on Thursday and found the weekend t be very informative and interesting. The panels were valuable, and the roundtables were informative as well.
- As a first-time attendee it seems it would be helpful for our trusted servants to have more information abut what to expect when attending conferences like this.
- It would also be valuable to have some time for all Area 50 servants to meet up during the event to fellowship and shar e experience.
- It was suggested that we hold a workshop/day of learning to help inform new attendees about what to expect when attending events like this.
Old Business:
It is time to consider new servants to fill service positions in our next panel. We can discuss more toward the end of the year.
New Business:
NEXT General Assembly:
April 1, 10am – 2pm
921 Union Street
Olean, NY 14760
Meeting closed at 8:13 with the Responsibility Declaration.
Respectfully submitted by Secretary, Amy H.
