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:

Saturday 10pm Traditions Meeting

INTRODUCTION:

1. Hi, my name is ____________________, a grateful Al-Anon member and your secretary for this meeting.

2. This meeting will at the stop at the top of hour for members to share telephone numbers.

3. 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.

And now, I would like to invite everyone to un-mute so that we can begin the meeting with 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 pg. 12)

(Chair should, directly following Serenity Prayer, do an immediate mass mute, *5, and start the welcome

THE WELCOME

We welcome you to this Saturday night Al-Anon meeting—"Obedience to the Unenforceable"---- which focuses on Al-Anon’s 12 Traditions and the practice of Al-Anon principles in all our affairs. As important as the steps, our traditions bind us together in a spirit of unity. They guide Al-Anon Family Groups not only in our relations to other groups, to Alcoholics Anonymous (AA), and to the public-at-large, but also in our relationships to one another within our own individual groups. The Traditions teach us healthy and balanced attitudes toward leadership, unity of purpose, anonymity, and equality. They teach us, too, about an informed group conscience through which Higher Power speaks, about attraction rather than promotion, and about problems associated not only with property, money, and prestige, but also with dominance. In all, the traditions provide frameworks in which to think about democracy in thought and action, about the value of mutual aid and autonomy, and about our common aim and primary spiritual purpose in our individual groups and in Al-Anon as a whole.

The Traditions are not rules, and no one has the authority to say, "You should not do this" or "you must do that." But seeking guidance from the Traditions has proven invaluable in protecting the health of our Al-Anon Family Groups. Indeed, when a group fails to observe or consult the Traditions, it risks the possibility of errors and conflict that could deprive many of finding the help and spiritual growth to be enjoyed in Al-Anon.

Adherence to the Traditions, often called “obedience to the unenforceable,” helps guide individual groups and ensures that Al-Anon’s message is carried undiluted, in meeting after meeting, year after year, all over the world. They guide us in making decisions that serve the group as a whole, and they protect the unique character and focus of the Al-Anon Fellowship as distinct from all others.

WE NOW NEED TWO VOLUNTEERS TO READ:

a. Al-Anon’s 12 Traditions

b. Al-Anon’s Concepts 3, 4, 5

INTRODUCTIONS:

Let’s now go around the globe and introduce our selves by first name only. We ask that members press *1 to un-mute in order to introduce themselves and then press start *1 again to re-mute so that we can have a clear line. That way, we can hear everybody saying hello. Hi, I’ll start. I am ____ (name), calling from (___State).

ANNOUNCEMENTS:

a. 7th Tradition: Al-Anon is fully self-supporting, declining outside contributions. Although we have no expenses related to this phone bridge, we invite you to send contributions to WSO and state that it is from the Phone Bridge or make donations at face-to-face meetings.

AFG Headquarters Inc.

1600 Corporate Landing Parkway

Virginia Beach VA 23454

Phone: 757-563-1600

Member information: www.al-anon.alateen.org/members

Password - welcome followed by AFG

b. Business meetings take place on the 4th Saturday of the month for up to five minutes directly following the announcements. If the group needs more time to carry out its business, we can (following a group conscience) opt to extend the business meeting (no more than 10 minutes—and so not exceed a total of 15 minutes).

c. In observance of Concept 4, which states that, “Participation is the Key to Harmony,” we ask that members share service opportunities.

d. And now we would like to welcome our newcomers. Do we have anyone on the line new to Al-Al-Anon or new to our phone bridge? We invite you to press *1 to un-mute so that we may greet you. (Chair welcomes newcomers.)

e. Do we have a volunteer — knowledgeable about the Al-Anon program and its literature (CAL) — who can stay after the meeting to greet newcomers and answer any questions. The newcomer greeter is asked to stay on the line for up to 25 minutes to respond to newcomers’ questions. If there are no questions, or once questions have been answered, newcomer greeters may, within the 25- minute period, and only if they so choose, stay on for fellowship and/or invite members to share who may not have had the opportunity to share during the meeting.

f. Are there any Al-Anon related announcements?

Meeting’s Reading Schedule (Each month we focus on the corresponding tradition)

Week 1: Al-Anon 12 Steps & 12 Traditions: Traditions Reading & 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 overview of the Tradition itself. Chair 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: "The 12 Steps and 12 Traditions" or "The Twelve Traditions Illustrated." Chair thanks the readers…

***We shall use an accelerated schedule for the first five Traditions. [SHOULD ANYONE ASK: The schedule until June 2009 shall proceed as follows: Tradition 1 (2/21, 2/28, 3/7), Tradition 2 (3/14, 3/21, 3/28), Tradition 3 (4/4, 4/11, 4/18), Tradition 4 (4/25, 5/2, 5/9), Tradition 5 (5/16, 5/23, 5/30)]. By June 2009, and beginning with Tradition 6, we shall be spend a full month on each of the remaining traditions. In 2010, we shall continue our study with our meeting’s regular reading schedule, with each month devoted to a single tradition].

The Reading: Depending on the length of the reading in The Twelve and Twelve and/or in Paths, chairs asks: do we have (3, 4, 5, etc.) volunteers on the line who have the book and who can help 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.

Sharing, Meeting Safety, and Timekeeping

In Al-Anon, we offer a gentle reminder that we speak from our own experience and ours is derived from living with the effects of alcoholism. We ask those who are members of other anonymous programs not to break their anonymity and try to identify with the Al-Anon approach to the family illness. Ours is a different experience and calls for a different interpretation. By group conscience, and for the safety of our members, we do not speak over one another and there is no crosstalk in this meeting, which means that we do not comment or respond in any way to another person's share. In Al-Anon, we speak from the “I” perspective and we do not give advice. We also ask that members leave outside the (virtual) room all other fellowships and outside affiliations—be they political, professional, religious, philosophical, etc.

We have 3-minute timed shares. Do we have a volunteer to be our spiritual timekeeper? The spiritual timekeeper shall inform members when three minutes have passed by gently saying “time”. Members are asked to acknowledge the spiritual timekeeper by saying ”thank you” or “I heard that,” and begin wrapping up the share. Timekeepers are asked to stay muted at all times except to announce “time”.

CLOSING (begins 5 minutes before the top of the hour, but first invites phone number requests)

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.

CLOSING STATEMENT STARTS HERE

Our fellowship's history tells us that individual recovery is as intimately bound to the Twelve Traditions as it is to the Twelve Steps, and it is in our best interest to make them an important part of our lives. We, who have found serenity and a better way of life through recovery in Al-Anon, turn to the Traditions for guidance because we want that opportunity for recovery to continue to be available to us and to those who come after us. We have learned that the health of our groups is essential to our recovery, and we believe that the loving application of the Traditions can solve almost any group problem. We need only contribute honestly our personal experience, strength and hope; listen to each other openly, courteously, and respectfully; refer to the Traditions for guidance; and rely on an informed group conscience on all matters and decisions relating to the group and to Al-Anon as a whole.

Our Traditions remind us that we are a fellowship of equals, in which no voice is set over another. And so the opinions expressed here were strictly those of the persons who gave them. Take what you like and leave the rest. The things you heard were spoken in confidence and should be treated as confidential. Tradition 12 states "Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our traditions, ever-reminding us to place principles above personalities” as we work, live, and grow together in our fellowship. What you hear here, when you leave here, let it stay here.

Will all who care to join in the closing with the Al-Anon Declaration followed by the Serenity Prayer.

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.

(Paths To Recovery, page IX and Al-Anon/Alateen Service Manual pg.24)

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 pg. 12)

CHAIR SAYS:

Keep coming back, it works if you work it, so work it, you’re worth it.

Exchange Telephone Numbers: Invite members to share telephone numbers that have been requested, if they so choose.

Meeting schedule and phone bridge information can be accessed on the web at www.alanonphonemeetings.org. Format changes, determined by the group conscience of each autonomous meeting, can be emailed to alanonphonemeetings@yahoo.com. As per group conscience, proposals for new meetings and format drafts ideas can be brought to the Group Conscience Meeting on the 4^th Saturday of every month at 1:30 EST.

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 and Saturday
12 midnight         Thursday

Secretary turns the meeting over to the newcomer greeter for approximately 25 minutes after the meetings closes.

Meeting formally closes.