June 17,2000

Pacific Region Delegates and friends in the fellowship.

Here we are at the start of a new year. Sounds a little strange in June doesn’t it? Well it is a new year for those of us who mark the General Service Conference as the end of our service year. It is hard for me to believe that I have passed the halfway point as trustee and am already into my third year.

I have just returned from the June AAWS board meeting where we welcomed our newest member Beth R. (Southwest Regional Trustee) to the board. GSO was buzzing with anticipation of the 2000 International Convention in Minneapolis.

My committee assignments this year on the AAWS board include Finance, Services, and Nominating which I will chair. I also have received my committee assignments on the General Service Board (Trustees’ committees). I will serve on the Correctional Facilities Committee and I will have the privilege to chair the Literature Committee.

AAWS Committees: Services Committee

The services committee met at 9:00 am and was chaired by Non-trustee Director, Ron G. Richard R., General Service Trustee was not able to make it due to flight cancellations because of bad weather in the New York and Chicago areas. Much of the meeting was taken up with a review and discussion of GSO Group Registration Procedures. We received a report from the ongoing Registration Sub-Committee and there was good discussion about registration procedures, and communication between GSO and the fellowship.

We received a report from Bill A. on GSO’s web site activity and on the newly reconfigured web site. If you haven’t had a chance, take a look at our site’s new look at www.aa.org. Activity was again over 100,000 "visits" for the month of May with a year to date daily average of 3,217 visits. If you look at the site you will see a new section entitled "Fellowship Services" which includes "Ten Frequently Asked Questions About AA Web Sites." Downloadable "New Group forms" and "Group Information Change forms." Also "Information about Self Support", and "Information on Regional and Special Forums." Coming soon there will be on-line registration forms for Regional and Special Forums. Just one of the many other upgrades of the site is the ability to transfer to Spanish or French at any place within the site rather than having to access Spanish or French sections only from the home page.

Publications

The Publications Committee is chaired by Non-Trustee Director Jan P. and met at 10:00 am. We received a report from Vinnie M., GSO Publications Director. Vinnie gave us some research on the cost for publishing CD formats of our videos and also the Big Book and 12 and 12. We received a report, which is attached to this, showing a combined total of 5.7% more book units sold for the first five months of this year as compared to the first five months of 1999, with AA’s purchasing 10% more books than in 1999 and non-AA book sales declining 6.8%, resulting in the 5.7% overall gain.

Vinnie reported that the Slovene 12 x 12 is being printed and after a long period of time a Chinese 12 x 12 may be nearing completion. The committee also recommended to the board $21,455.00 to clean up the existing translation of the 12 x 12 in Swahili and produce a master audio tape. Swahili is the national language of Kenya and other Eastern African countries.

Finance

The Finance committee met at 11:00 am and is chaired this year by Non-Trustee Director, John K. GSO Controller, Don M. presented the financial information through the end of May, a copy of which is attached. Net sales (gross sales less discounts) for the period were $3,984,233 which is $21,000 or about .5% greater than budget and $111,200, or 2.87% more than the same period last year. After deducting manufacturing costs, royalties, and shipping, the gross margin from literature was $2,618,648 which is $9,563 less than budgeted and $80,000 or 3.15% more than last year. Contributions for the period were $1,777,200 which is $92,254 or 5.48% greater than budgeted and $125,306 or 7.59% more than last year. As a result of the above total revenue was $4,039,992, which is $100,631 or 2.55% greater than budgeted and $221,081 or 5.79% more than last year.

On the expense side of the ledger, the total operating expenses through May were $3,568,868 which is $285,353 or 7.40% less than budgeted and $12,558 or .35% more than last year.

The bottom line is an excess of $471,124 which is $395,484 or 453% over the budget for this year, and $208,523 or 79.41% more than last year. All in all with publishing income right on budget, donations greater than budget and expenses below budget we are in a very positive position for the first five months of the year.

Nominating

The members of the Nominating Committee sat together at lunch and went over our schedule for the year. Many of you have received a vacancy announcement letter for a AAWS Non-Trustee Director to replace John K. who is rotating after the 2001 conference. If you know anyone who is interested here are some of the qualities we will be looking for: 1. Sound business or professional background in such areas as finance, management or communications, relevant to the work of the AA World Services Board. 2. Leadership qualities and the ability to work with others in a group conscience setting. 3. Activity in AA service. 4. A minimum of 7 years of sobriety in the AA program. 5. Ability to attend all regular meetings of the AA World Service Board (a total of 8 per year), quarterly meetings of trustees’ committees to which Corporate Board Directors are appointed, and the General Service Conference for one week each year. Additionally, Directors may be called upon to attend interim subcommittee or other meetings; and, occasionally, to represent AAWS at Regional Forums or other AA functions. We plan to review resumes in early September in order to schedule interviews, and therefore ask that completed resumes be submitted by August 31, 2000.

In addition the committee will be recommending a present or past AAWS Non-Trustee Director, to the Trustees’ Nominating Committee for the position of General Service Trustee to replace Richard R., who rotates after the 2001 conference. We will also recommend as Trustee Director, one of the two newly elected Regional Trustees to take my place when I rotate off the AAWS board after the 2001 conference.

AAWS Board

The board meeting was called to order at 1:00 by our General Manager Greg M. acting as temporary chairman. The minutes from our last meeting were approved and we then elected a slate of officers of AAWS Inc. Those elected were: Chairperson, Jacqueline J.; President, Greg M.; First Vice President, Jim C.; Second Vice President, Joanie M.; Treasurer, John K.; Assistant Treasurer, Donald M.; Secretary, Joe D.. Having completed the elections Greg turned the meeting over to our new Chairperson, Jackie J.

Jackie made a few opening remarks followed by discussion and approval of the 2001 meeting schedule. We then went into the managers report.

Greg welcomed our new director Beth R. and also our guest Lise P. who is the General Manager of Services Mondiaux des Alcooliques Anonymes, Inc. (SMAA). Greg reported that the staff had experienced a very positive and productive post-conference sharing session on the 50^th General Service Conference, and a schedule was developed to implement the advisory actions from the conference. Greg then asked Eva S. to give us a report on the highlights of her recent Eastern European trip. Eva told us of her visit to Minsk, Belarus for the Tenth anniversary of AA in Belarus. There were 7/800 members in attendance and lots of wonderful sharing. She also made stops in the Czech Republic, Hungary and France before returning to New York.

Greg reported that the Archives audio restoration project is proceeding on schedule and was expecting delivery of more master CD – R’s later this week. The computer networking project is also moving ahead on schedule with proposals and contracts to be finalized by the end of the month. There isn’t much new to report on the two German infringement cases. Both cases were judged in AA’s favor, both were appealed and are now in the German Appellate court.

Planning is well underway for the 16^th World Service Meeting which is held every two years and is scheduled for New York this October. 40 delegates from 28 countries are expected.

Greg then asked Valerie O. to give us an update on the 2000 International Convention. She said that registration numbers seem to be within budgeted projections and keeping pace with our experience in San Diego. It appears that all systems are "go." AA will present the 20 millionth copy of the Big Book to Alanon in recognition of their support of and cooperation with our fellowship. All trustees and directors have received their additional service assignments and are eagerly looking forward to this wonderful event. In addition to chairing the Pacific Region Meeting and the "Cyberspace Now" meeting I will be spending time Thursday afternoon at the AAWS/GSO information area. I also want to spend some time at the Pacific Region Hospitality Suite at the Regal Hotel. Hope to see all of you at some time in Minneapolis.

Staff Report

Corrections Desk: Adrienne reports that there has been an increase in the number of inmates on the Corrections Correspondence waiting list. Currently there are 40 men waiting to be linked with outside AA members (please spread the word). The revised pamphlet "It Sure Beats Sitting in a Cell" is expected to be available by the end of the year. I look forward to joining this committee.

Literature: Lois shared that the 25 new stories for the Fourth edition of the Big Book have been passed on to publications for editing, and the edited stories for the Black/African American, and the Time to Start Living pamphlets have been edited and sent back to their respective sub-committees for review. I am very excited about chairing the Trustees’ Literature Committee. We will have a very full plate this year and it is a rare opportunity to serve.

Public Information: Bill has mailed over 1200 media kits in conjunction with the International Convention. You can see an example of some of the media releases on our website at www.aa.org.

Treatment Facilities: During the course of the year Rick will request sharing from Treatment Facilities Committees on formats they use when making presentations or holding AA meetings in institutions.

Other Reports

The board then heard from Services, Publishing, and Finances which I detailed earlier in this report. We also received a report outlining reprint requests including requests to use the Twelve Steps and/or the Twelve Traditions for six new organizations. We also heard a short progress report from the Ad Hoc Committee on AAWS Bylaws.

A sharing session followed on clarification on the office policy of furnishing mailing labels/lists to the fellowship. The 1993 General Service Conference asked GSO to formulate a policy in this regard that would encompass the principle of anonymity. It appears that the policy previous to that had to do with "group" information being distributed outside of the service structure. It was decided to only distribute labels requested by delegates for groups in their area, however in some cases the new policy has been interpreted as covering other service entities. After a good discussion Greg will rewrite the policy and bring it back to the next board meeting for discussion and/or approval.

The board adjourned and reconvened for the annual general meeting of Services Mondiaux des Alcooliques Anonymes, Inc. (SMAA, Inc). All directors of AAWS are also directors of SMAA. We went through the technical aspects of the meeting along with election of officers, etc., and then heard a report from Lise P. the General Manager in Montreal. Since February there have been reprints of 12 different pieces of literature in French, along with two new pieces including "Bill’s Last Message" and "Dr. Bob’s Farewell Talk." A new catalogue and a new simplified order form have been prepared. Typesetting of the Souvenir Album/Daily Reflections for the International Convention is completed and translation and layout of the TF Handbook. We also received a financial report of the year to date and the actual costs are very close to the budgeted amounts.

The board adjourned and went into executive session for the next two hours. We then met at 5:45 for dinner and a social evening.

I am looking forward to this exciting year in service. I must say that it is a joy for me to be able to serve the fellowship as trustee and director. If you have any suggestions, comments, or questions please give me a call, email, or write me. I will be out of communication for the week following the convention but write or email me and I will answer as soon as I return home on July 10^th.

I sent my warmest AA love,