General Service Representatives of District 19,
Greetings and I would like to start by saying thank you for serving the members of AA in your group.
I would like to make an appeal to all of you in regard to our open positions in the District. The first open position we need to fill is the Registrar. The Registrar is an Officer of the District and plays a vital role in ensuring the messages get to the AA that needs it. The registrar’s responsibilities include maintaining contact with the GSRs to ensure that their contact information is accurate. The Registrar will work closely with the District Secretary to ensure that the information received from Area – 11 is distributed to GSRs of the District by accurately maintaining the District Contact Database. Other duties are to make sure the changes of group name, meeting days, times, location, handicapped, accessibility status, and type of meeting (open or closed, discussion, step, big book, beginners, men’s etc.), and current GSR and alternate GSR names are reported to the Secretary for distribution of information to AA Groups in District 19. Also, and most importantly, provide to the DCM a list of groups not represented by a GSR. (This is done so DCMs can visit these groups to explain the benefits of having GSR representation.)
From my experience, this position is critical to the health of the AA District. The Registrar keeps the contact information current and that is critical to the communication line, both up and down. I would ask that you make an appeal to your Groups for someone that might be interested in doing AA Service. The minimum qualification for this position is a suggested minimum of one year of continuous sobriety and 2 years district service experience. The candidate cannot concurrently serve as DCM, another officer, or GSR. It is strongly suggested candidates have secretarial skills, and a working knowledge of computers as communication avenues are digital.
We also have four open Sub – Committee positions: Website, Alka-Line and Accessibilities. A brief explanation is below for each subcommittee:
Website: You will work with the State Website Chair to improve the Area 11 site and incorporate the District 19 Web Page into this effort. Candidate should have a good working knowledge of computers and Web Site Technical aspects.
Alka-Line: The Alka-Line is changing with the times. There is a movement to no longer produce a paper product, but an electronic copy with a Podcast to accompany it. The candidate should have a desire to help prepare the message of recovery in this manner, and work with others to overhaul the current Alka-Line.
Accessibilities: We define AA’s with accessibility needs as people who are blind or visually challenged, deaf or hearing at low levels, chronically ill, speak a different language from the majority of the district (other than English), homebound, and those belonging to remote communities, where it is difficult to carry the AA message because of language, culture, geography, or life conditions. The candidate will work with the Area – 11 Accessibilities Chair to improve the AA Meetings for those who fall into the categories above.
One more favor to ask if I may. During the GSR Discussion portion of the meeting, I would like each GSR to not just introduce themselves, but to bring a good news story or quick note from your group to the District Meeting. For example, you can say we at the X meeting had two newcomers last week, who have gotten sponsors and are now coming to the meeting. Or you can say we had a person return and is now making coffee for us. There are a million good stories that come from your meetings, and we should share those with the group. If you don’t have a story or highlight, you can say why you like being a GSR, or anything else you would like to share. This meeting is your meeting to get together, share our news, experience and hopes from your groups and for AA.
Once again, thank you for your service, and we will see all of you soon!
Sincerely,
Stephan V.
DCM, District 19, Area 11
