MONDAY 26th April 2010

I wake in Albuquerque, New Mexico. WSBC is held here once a year; Albuquerque being home to the OA World Service Office. Delegates from service bodies all around the world will come together this week to vote on motions that affect the fellowship, participate in workshops and get involved in various committee’s that will work together through the coming year.

Begin the day at a 7am OA breakfast meeting. Notice the similarities not the differences….you bring your own breakfast to eat during the meeting, and you speak when chosen at random, at a central podium. Not all meetings are run like this, but the room was set up as such, and it certainly challenged comfort zones so it seemed like a fitting beginning to a big week.

I spent the morning talking with people who had begun arriving, registered and began reading the 300 odd page conference document. This includes everything from detailed finances reports on the last year, to the text of new and revised literature brochures that will be voted on, and reports from the nine different Committee’s that have been at work through the year.

Evening Workshop on ‘Service, Traditions & Concepts’. Animated, entertaining and full of ideas. Disappointed not to receive a prize-had my eye on the pack of 7 hardware Tools, and failing that some playdoh, but a spatula did come in handy for ‘turning things over’ when the projector overheated and the backup projector managed to show all images upside down for 20min. Fortunately those running the show are out of the habit of taking themselves too seriously, it was a great reminder that you just can’t control everything!

TUESDAY 27th April 2010

Another great start to the day with a 7am OA meeting. Developing a curiosity about what people are bringing to the meeting to eat for breakfast….

Workshops today:
– ‘Look where we’ve been and where we are going’. Topical to say the least: Are face to face meetings becoming outdated? Why are numbers dropping at face to face meetings? How can we bring OA meetings into the 21st century? Can an electronic medium deliver fellowship? This session was crammed full of stats, I will be bringing home a recording to circulate so get in touch if you are interested.
- ‘Smiles of Service- We are not a glum lot!’ This was a panel sharing on how important humour has been in their recovery. Misunderstandings, tales of ego deflation, alligators & all spice – my notes are a bit short on this one because I spent it doubled up in my seat crying with laughter. This was recorded and will be available to buy, I would consider having it to hand to turn around any grey day.
- ‘Youth in OA: Is recovery hereditary?’ People who had come into the fellowship as a teen, or were parents of children attending meetings and working the steps shared their experience. Interesting to hear the queries that WSO receive on this topic for under 18’s or even under 10’s.
- ‘Parliamentary Procedure’ in preparation for the Business meetings (Thurs to Sat).

WEDNESDAY 28th April 2010

Yep, 7am OA breakfast meeting then into an 8am forum attended by all delegates – ‘How does Service serve us?’ The purpose was to generate discussion in small groups and collect feedback that will be posted on the oa.org site in 2 weeks. Go seek it out if any of these questions have crossed your mind lately: What to suggest to people when they resist taking up service? How can I encourage sponsorship? What to do when no-one takes responsibility for service at a meeting? What to do when members report they are too busy to do service? Session was punctuated by live performance by Region Chair’s in choir robes doing rap ensemble with OA Service themed lyrics! No recordings of this unfortunately…

The rest of the day was spent with heads down setting goals for the next year in our allocated committees. I am in 12 Step Within where Joanna(current OAGB Chair) as co-chair of this committee, presented a wonderful set of achievements for the past year, including the publication of a revised 12 Step Within handbook, now available from the literature service. I will be bringing a copy home to share.

Evening meal out with the other Region 9 delegates who are from Austria, Germany, Israel, Poland & Spain. Then back to the ranch for a Q&A session on the new and revised literature that will be voted on tomorrow. OA Brochures for example are reviewed every 7 years. Sometimes a few words will be changed or there will be a complete overhaul. The Q&A session is a chance to ask the literature committee very specific questions about wording, line by line. If a piece of literature is not voted through, then the committee will take feedback and work on a rewrite and resubmit it at a future conference. I wait to see what tomorrow’s business meeting will bring. More will be revealed.

I am over the jetlag at last, energised by the new but now familiar international faces I am spending my days with and genuinely excited at the prospect of the pernickety business of bylaw amendments and controversial debate to come tomorrow.

THURSDAY 29th April

Business conference began today. Total of 180 voting members, and I am excited to pass on that this includes two members representing the Virtual Service board. Officers reports were followed by questions for those nominating to be vote in as trustees on Friday. Full agenda of new literature, revised literature, business motions and bylaw changes. I’ll put more detail in my full report. How to convey the mood? 180 people following parliamentary procedure, for some delegates this is their 6th, 10th or 16th conference for others it is their first. This is the biggest group conscious of the fellowship and it is where we discuss and vote on issues that affect OA as a whole. The procedures are detailed and serious but not without humour. The events of the day were sobering, educational, humbling, reassuring and more. I think without having the 12 Traditions to fall back on, those words might be of a different flavour…it is difficult to not take the arguments personally. I’m looking forward to getting better at this!

I took my dinner to an OA meeting with topic ‘ Diverse Manifestations of the Disease’. OA welcomes anyone who wants to stop eating compulsively. For some of us that is overeating, for others it is a host of behaviours not directly described in the preamble we read at meetings. After the day of conference I really enjoyed hearing about how this fellowship can bring recovery to people in all sorts of varied situations around the world.

I then spent the evening with the Reference committee. It will take time to explain what this is, but I will anyway. Other GB delegates before me did, and that is why I now go along as an interested witness. In the room are committee members, say 16 people, each with a passion for amending bylaws (Kate representing South East England IG has a seat here this year) and a gallery of visitors who can make a comment at specific times, but have no vote. It is the gallery’s privilege to witness the committee discuss and vote on whether the proposed motions should be re-worded, or substituted so that it best describes the intent of the author. They then make a recommendation to the conference the following day. (Kate may just read these last two sentences and have about 5 suggestions on how to reword it). These people can spend a long time debating a word. Along the way you get to meet the author of the motion, ask questions and hear about derivations of words, how people sponsor others, issues affecting other groups, and experience from delegates who have been attending this conference for the last 20 years. We discussed 2 very hotly contested topics, and I have to take a deep breath to not get all fired up as I write this. Each was discussed in detail, articulate pros and cons with suggested amendments aplenty. Final verdict for those still standing at 10pm was to leave both items alone and let the conference floor discuss and vote tomorrow. Serenity prayer and all to bed. Sleep? Well I’ll see how others found the break when we meet again to discuss new motions at 7am tomorrow morning. More Serenity prayer i think..!

FRIDAY 30th April

Joined the gallery at the Reference Committee at 7am. The long hours that the Reference Committee spend discussing motions and changes, fall to whenever the Business Conference is not in session. Sessions are early mornings before 8.30am, lunchtimes and evenings. There are some perks. Members of the committee (Kate) qualify to push in line at the queue for the buffet at the hotel, and become eligible to have other delegates deliver coffees, food & drinks. The Gallery (me) are there in a voluntary capacity, so we fend for ourselves.

Discussion less controversial this morning. I am anxious about how things will fall out during the conference over a particular issue that has developed to really divide people. I’ll put the nitty gritty details in my report to follow.

Now, stop and consider this….if you had the chance to witness or participate WSBC here in Albuquerque, via the web, would you be interested? Do you think this breaks any of the Traditions? Do you think it upholds any of the Traditions? Are the compromises and the risks worth it to expand the audience or representation of service bodies at Conference? Delegates were shown a demo, and asked questions on this before submitting comments in writing for the Board of Trustees to consider in the coming year. Does what you think count? Absolutely. Inverted pyramid. This topic may be coming to your OA meeting if a motion is submitted for next year’s Conference.

The commitment of Literature Committee this past year is commendable – working through the year they have revised or re-written 7 pamphlets which have been considered by the delegates. Those that passed the vote will now go on to be published. (‘Questions and Answers’, ‘Sponsoring through the 12 Steps’, ‘Tools of Recovery’, ‘To the Family’, ‘To the Teen’, ‘Welcome Back’)

Motions. Debate. Voting. Elections. I am very stiff despite my daily trips to the gym in the morning, the sitting is taking its toll. I welcome the chance to socialise with others this evening, go for a walk, and then like a homing pigeon return for some more Reference Committee. They were busy considering last minute motions submitted at the Conference, under ‘Emergency New Business’. The reference committee will make a recommendation to the conference tomorrow : ‘We think this is Emergency Business’, or ‘We think this can wait till next year, take it to your Intergroup.’

Off to bed via the ‘Boutique’. Again. More on this tomorrow. It is the fundraising market place for OA service bodies. Creative crafty stuff for sale with a recovery theme.

SATURDAY 1st May

‘The Boutique’ -is a room open all day every day with various fundraising things for sale on a recovery theme- God boxes, Step 4 notebooks, book covers, fabric bags, gift cards, cards for your wallet, recovery slogan bracelets, jewelry, ’serenity’ hats, drink canisters, key rings, pens, banners, bookmarks…I have been really inspired by other people’s creativity. My efforts will be coming to a convention near you.

Start with a 7am OA breakfast meeting, where two members today celebrate abstinence birthdays of 17 years and 22 years. Business begins at 8.30am and we work through each of the remaining motions. The pros and cons for each, particularly where there is controversy, generate food for thought. The 9th tool of recovery has been passed, and will be identified in the literature as ‘Action Plan’. You may have discussed this in your meeting under the guise of exercise, but the maker of the motion is keen that it is seen as a much broader than just exercise. I will cover this in more detail in my report. Upon request from the floor, the vote was done by secret ballot, and the result was very close. Cards for Rozanne were circulated through the conference for all to sign.

Lunch with fellows, sitting at a table (ie. not in a meeting). Delightful to share in the conversation over a meal. Following lunch I went to the trustees meeting as a visitor. This is a short session where the ‘new’ trustees who were elected yesterday and those continuing (it is a three year term) elect the new officer positions for the coming year. This focuses the attention on our traditions and the idea of rotating service. It was really encouraging to witness this in action, people rotating out of service and new people stepping into the role. I have picked up a phrase here, ‘don’t get rusty in your service- keep rotating’.

On to Committee meetings, where we reaffirmed our goals for the coming year. I am looking forward to staying in touch with this committee through the year as we all work our program and report to different Intergroups and service bodies in different Regions all around the world.

We celebrated the end of the 2010 Conference with a dinner in the Main Ballroom of the hotel, with trustees dressing up and presenting awards with a Hollywood theme, followed by a dance. As with last year, I notice that formation dancing is really popular. One minute people are grooving about how every they please, then with the change of song, everyone has assembled into a tight pack and a synchronised aerobic routine is taking place. I can only stand back and stare in wonder, because everyone seems to know the moves.

To close, I head to a late night OA meeting. With many of us leaving on early flights, this is a chance to wind down before departing.

If you’re interested in joining us at other OA service events, OAGB National Assembly will be held in Glasgow on the weekend of 8-10th October and Region 9 Assembly will be held in Iceland this year on 20-22nd October.

The next OAGB Board Meeting will be Saturday 26th June 10 – 4pm in London. Visitors are most welcome. You may stay for some or all of the meeting. Visitors have a voice, but no vote. This is your fellowship, there is no they, there is only ‘we’. Funnily enough, the Board Members were not born into the Board, we once went to our first meeting, and we also were once new to service. Start your service somewhere, come join us.