Saturday 10pm - Technical Information
For the Secretary/Chair to read before leading a phone bridge meeting
As the Secretary/Chair for this meeting you will be given a “leader code” that will give you more features on the key pad than other members.
Here is some information that will help before dialing into the meeting once you have been given the leader code.
1. Dial the phone number and then use the regular pin number followed by the # sign that everyone else uses.
2. There will be a voice prompt after entering the regular pin # that says “IF YOU ARE THE MODERATOR PLEASE PRESS 1.”
3. Follow the prompt and Press 1. The word “moderator” and “leader” mean the same thing.
4. The voice prompt will again say “PLEASE ENTER THE MODERATOR PIN (Leader Code) number FOLLOWED BY THE # SIGN”.
5. You will join the phone meeting muted after entering the leader code and # sign. Press *1 to unmute yourself and then introduce yourself as the Secretary/Chair of the meeting. Press *0 for a menu of all features.
Probably one of the most important services you can give as the Secretary/Chair is to have the highest sound quality on the phone bridge system. This means without background noise and weak sound quality. “Sound” is all we have for the phone meeting to work.
Background noise can be taken as disrespectful or interruptive while members are speaking. As a trusted servant you can guide the meeting without background noise or interruptions to the best of your ability.
Along with your own skills; here are a few tips and a few pieces of information to help you:
1. Technically the phone bridge system is built for “only” one person to be unmuted at a time. This of course would include, You (the Secretary/Chair) as well as the Timekeeper to stay muted by using the *1 keys. The timekeeper only unmutes to say “time”. The Secretary/Chair unmutes a few seconds before the member is done sharing to welcome the next share. You can remind the timekeeper to please stay muted except to say “time”. (Only one line unmuted at a time).
2. As the Secretary/Chair (with the leader code) you are encouraged to use the *5 to clear the line to address the noise. This ensures that members will be able to speak so their share can be heard. Then the member can press the *1 keys to continue sharing without the previous background noise. We call this “Cycling Through”. (Most of the time people forget to mute and don’t know they are not muted). This can be done by saying “Excuse the interruption, I’m going to clear the line” and then press *5 keys. You then could say, “Whoever was sharing please press *1 and begin again,” or “Whoever would now like to share please press *1 to unmute yourself.”
3. Some meetings have multiple readers. The extra unmuted lines will cause the reading to be heard by some but not by other members.
Here are some suggestions.
1. Organize the readers so they know the order they will be reading.
2. Then tell the rest of the readers to mute until a few seconds before it is their turn to read.
3. After each member reads remind them to mute again.
4. (AS A Rule of Thumb), just because you can hear does not mean that other members can. These phones meetings have global coverage. Not all phones have equal sound. Only one line unmuted at a time will keep a clear worldwide phone line for everyone during the meeting.
These 4 technical points can promote safety, warmth and recovery similar to face to face meetings. This was written to assist you to know and understand the phone bridge technical features.
Thank you for taking the time to read these suggestions. If you need help, just ask. Congratulations on doing service and beginning the flow that opens our heart to what it already knows---that we all need each other.
Sincerely,
Your Web Coordinator
The Meeting Format Starts Now
(This is the part you read out loud)
MEETING FORMAT:
Al-Anon Family Groups SATURDAY 10pm Traditions Meeting
INTRODUCTION: Welcome to the Saturday 10 PM Traditions Meeting
1) My name is ____________, a grateful member of Al-Anon and your chairperson for this meeting.
The Serenity Prayer:
Chairperson: Will you join me in a moment of silence, followed by the Serenity Prayer. Please press *1 to unmute.
God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.
(‘Al-Anon/Alateen Service Manual’, Page 10)
(Chairperson should, directly following The Serenity Prayer, do an immediate mass mute, *5, and then start with the reading of the Suggested Al-Anon Welcome)
READINGS:
Chairperson reads:
SUGGESTED AL-ANON WELCOME:
We welcome you to the "Obedience to the Unenforceable" Al-Anon Family Group and hope you will find in this fellowship the help and friendship we have been privileged to enjoy.
We who live, or have lived, with the problem of alcoholism understand as perhaps few others can. We, too, were lonely and frustrated, but in Al-Anon we discover that no situation is really hopeless and that it is possible for us to find contentment, and even happiness, whether the alcoholic is still drinking or not.
We urge you to try our program. It has helped many of us find solutions that lead to serenity. So much depends on our own attitudes, and as we learn to place our problem in its true perspective, we find it loses its power to dominate our thoughts and our lives.
The family situation is bound to improve as we apply the Al-Anon ideas. Without such spiritual help, living with an alcoholic is too much for most of us. Our thinking becomes distorted by trying to force solutions, and we become irritable and unreasonable without knowing it.
The Al-Anon program is based on the Twelve Steps (adapted from Alcoholics Anonymous), which we try, little by little, one day at a time, to apply to our lives, along with our slogans and the Serenity Prayer. The loving interchange of help among members and daily reading of Al-Anon literature thus make us ready to receive the priceless gift of serenity.
Anonymity is an important principle of the Al-Anon program. Everything that is said here, in the group meeting and member-to-member, must be held in confidence. Only in this way can we feel free to say what is in our minds and hearts, for this is how we help one another in Al-Anon.
We ask that members of other anonymous fellowships to remain anonymous and focus on the Al-Anon program. (‘Al-Anon/Alateen Service Manual’, Page 11)
2) PHONE ETIQUETTE:
a. Prior to joining the meeting, we ask members to temporarily disable their call waiting by dialing *70 before calling the number to the phone bridge (example *70-1-712-432-8733). If a member does not disable their call waiting, we may hear your conversation or beeping.
b. When you dial in, you will start the conference being muted.
c. Stay muted at all times unless you are sharing. You can un-mute by pressing your *1 keys. You will hear a voice saying “you are now un-muted”. Some phones do not have a long enough beep for the muting and un-muting to happen. You may have to press *1 several times for this function to work. When the voice comes on, you will know that the *1 keys have worked.
d. We ask members to use the *1 keys to mute even if they have a mute function on their individual phones. The *1 keys ensures the greatest sound strength for the entire phone line and provides the greatest service to all members of the phone bridge during the meeting.
e. Please do not use a speaker phone for sharing or we will all hear an echo. Some speaker phones will not mute even when pressing your *1 keys.
f. To hear a menu of all the features--such as volume control or member count--simply press * by itself.
3) This meeting will stop at the top of hour for members to share their telephone numbers.
4) All meeting schedules will be read after the close of the meeting after phone numbers are given out.
Ask volunteer to read:
a. Suggested Al-Anon Preamble to the Twelve Steps
b. Twelve Steps
c. Twelve Traditions and the One Concept of the Month
5) INTRODUCTIONS:
Let’s go around the globe and introduce ourselves. And if you’re new to Al-Anon please identify yourself so we can welcome you. Please press *1 to unmute.
Hi, I’m ______(Name)_____ from (_______State___)
6) ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Chairperson reads:
6a) Our Seventh Tradition states we are self-supporting through our own voluntary contributions. Although we have no dues, fees, or expenses related to this phone bridge, we ask that you send your contributions to the World Service Office and state that it is from Saturday Night’s ‘Obedience to the Unenforceable’ Meeting. Our World Service Office ID number is 30533272. Or, make donations at your face-to-face meetings.
6b) Do we have a volunteer who will stay on the line after the meeting to greet newcomers, answer questions about Al-Anon, or to explain the phone etiquette?
6c) Meeting schedules will be read after the meeting closes and after telephone numbers are given.
6d) Meeting schedule can be obtained at www.alanonphonemeetings.org
6e) Business meetings take place on the 4th Saturday of the month following the close of the meeting.
7) Are there any other Al-Anon related announcements?
THE PROGRAM: (Each month we focus on the corresponding tradition)
Readings: Depending on the length of the reading in ‘Al-Anon’s Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions’ and/or in ‘Paths to Recovery’:
Chairperson asks:
Do we have (3, 4, 5, etc.) volunteers on the line who have the book and who can help us out with our reading today? Thank you. Members are asked to read in the order they volunteered and to continue on until the reading is complete.
Week 1: ‘Al-Anon’s Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions’:
Tradition Reading and Thinking It Over
Week 2: ‘Paths To Recovery’:
Tradition Reading
Week 3: ‘Paths to Recovery’:
Members Share Experience Strength & Hope
Week 4: ‘Paths to Recovery’: Tradition Questions:
Preceded by a brief reading of opening 1, 2, or 3 paragraphs from ‘Paths to Recovery’ overview of the Tradition itself. (Chairperson determines how many paragraphs to be read in order kick off the questions).
Week 5: Two Readings on the Tradition of the month (4x/year):
Two members are invited to volunteer to read a page on the Tradition from one of our three daily readers and/or from one of the following pamphlets: ‘Al-Anon’s Twelve Steps & Twelve Traditions’ or ‘Al-Anon’s Twelve Traditions - Illustrated.’
8) Chairperson thanks the readers.
9) Before we open the meeting for three-minute shares, do we have a volunteer to be our spiritual timekeeper?
10) The meeting is now open.
11) CLOSING (begins 5 minutes before the top of the hour, but first invites phone number requests)
Chairperson asks: We now invite you to call out names of members whose telephone numbers you would like to have, and we shall try to collect that information after the meeting closes.
READINGS:
Chairperson reads:
Suggested Al-Anon Closing:
In closing, I would like to say that the opinions expressed here were strictly those of the person who gave them. Take what you liked and leave the rest.
The things you heard were spoken in confidence and should be treated as confidential. Keep them within the walls of this room and the confines of your mind.
A few special words to those of you who haven’t been with us long: Whatever your problems, there are those among us who have had them, too. If you try to keep an open mind, you will find help. You will come to realize that there is no situation too difficult to be bettered and no unhappiness too great to be lessened.
We aren’t perfect. The welcome we give you may not show the warmth we have in our hearts for you. After a while, you’ll discover that though you may not like all of us, you’ll love us in a very special way – the same way we already love you.
Talk to each other, reason things out with someone else, but let there be no gossip or criticism of one another. Instead, let the understanding, love, and peace of the program grow in you one day at a time. (‘Al-Anon/Alateen Service Manual’, Page 24).
12) Names & Telephone Numbers:
Chairperson asks for members to call out names of individuals they want telephone numbers for and ask those members to stay on the line after the Al-Anon Declaration and give out their phone numbers
Al-Anon Declaration:
Chairperson asks: Will all who care to, join me in closing with the Al-Anon Declaration, followed by The Serenity Prayer. (Al-Anon Declaration can be found in the preface of ‘Paths to Recovery’, Page ix). Please press *1 to unmute.
Let It Begin With Me
When anyone, anywhere, reaches out for help,
let the hand of Al-Anon and Alateen
always be there, and -- Let It Begin With Me.
(‘Al-Anon/Alateen Service Manual’, Page 24)
The Serenity Prayer:
God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change,
Courage to change the things I can,
And wisdom to know the difference.
(‘Al-Anon/Alateen Service Manual’, Page10)
14) Hello is _____________ still on the line. Would you like to give out your number?
Meeting schedule and phone bridge information can be accessed on the web at www.alanonphonemeetings.org.
Read Phone Bridge Meeting Schedule
All Eastern Time zone, same pin and phone # as you dialed in for this meeting
8am Saturday and Sunday
9am Weekdays (Monday ----- Friday)
11am Sunday
Noon Monday ----- Saturday
2pm Sunday
4pm 7 days a week
8pm 7 days a week
10pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday
12 midnight Thursday
Send your contributions to the World Service Office and state that it is from Saturday Night’s ‘Obedience to the Unenforceable’ Meeting. Our World Service Office ID number is 30533272.
AFG Headquarters Inc.
1600 Corporate Landing Parkway
Virginia Beach VA 23454
Phone: 757-563-1600
WSO ID # 30533272
Member information: www.al-anon.alateen.org/members
Password - welcome followed by AFG
Chairperson states: This meeting is now formally closed.
Chairperson turns the meeting over to the newcomer greeter after the meeting closes.