Sunday 8pm - 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
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The Meeting Format Starts Now
(This is the part you read out loud)
FORMAT:
The Sunday Night "How Al-Anon Works Steps and Traditions" Meeting
Chair reads: Hi, my name is _____________________, a grateful Al-Anon member and Chair for this meeting.
1. SUGGESTED AL-ANON WELCOME
We welcome you to the "How Al-Anon Works Steps and Traditions Meeting"; and we 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, have been lonely and frustrated, but in Al-Anon we are discovering 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 is helping many of us find solutions that lead to serenity. So much depends on our own attitudes, and as we begin 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. (Al-Anon/Alateen Service Manual pgs. 12-13)
2. And now, some information about the Phone Bridge: We ask that you:
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 you do not disable your 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 say “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 ensure 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 speakerphone 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 and member count--simply press * by itself.
3. Readings of our Steps, Traditions and selected Concepts
We now need volunteers to read from Al-Anon’s three legacies, our steps, traditions, and concepts. Can I get two volunteers--one to read
a. Our 12 Steps, which can be found on p. 381 of How Al-Anon Works
b. Another to read our 12 Traditions, which can be found on p. 382 of How
Al-Anon Works,
c. And another read Concepts 4 and 5, on p. 383, directly following the
Traditions. Thanks.
(Although How Al-Anon Works does not include introductory remarks for the Steps and Traditions, members are free to read the introductory remarks to the Steps and the Traditions if the text they are reading from includes them)
4. ANNOUNCEMENTS:
a. According to the 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 stating that it is from the Sunday Steps & Traditions Meeting WSO ID 30505252 or make donations at face-to-face meetings. Our business meetings will take place on the fourth Sunday of the month. Are there any (other) Al-Anon related announcements?
b. Do we have any newcomers today—to Al-Anon or to this phone bridge? We invite you to press *1 to un-mute yourself and introduce yourselves so we may greet you.
c. (If there are newcomers): Is someone willing to stay on the line after the meeting to greet our newcomers, answer questions about Al-Anon, and/or explain the phone etiquette? Also, after the meeting, people are welcome to stay on the line for fellowship until 25 minutes after the hour.
5. INTRODUCTIONS
We now go around the globe and introduce ourselves by first name only. And, if you want, please mention where you are from. Please press * 1 to un-mute to introduce yourselves, and then *1 again to re-mute so that we can have a clear line. Chair starts. Hi, I’m ____ (name), calling from ____ (state).
6. FORMAT AND READING:
Each week, we read a step from How Al-Anon Works. On the fourth Sunday of each month, we read the corresponding Tradition. (The calendar of readings can be found at the end of this document.)
After the reading is complete, we open for sharing.
Today we're on (Step__; or Tradition__). In the interest of bringing as many people to service, I ask that members read one or two paragraphs—and pass. People who usually don't read are warmly encouraged to participate. Tonight we’ll need (2, 3, or 4) readers (Chair determines how many readers). Can I get some volunteers? (Chair can start or go right to first reader.)
7. SHARES and Timekeeping:
Before sharing, we offer a gentle reminder that we speak from our own experience. In this Al-Anon meeting there is no crosstalk; and so we ask that you resist the desire to comment on or respond to another person's share. Also, we ask those who are members of other anonymous programs not to break their anonymity and to try to identify with the Al-Anon approach to the family illness. Ours is a different experience and calls for a different interpretation—one of which is suggested in How Al-Anon Works.
We have 3-minute shares; and, 10 minutes before closing, we open up the sharing especially to newcomers as well as regular members of the bridge who often don't get to share. We use this format as a way to ensure as much participation as possible. We begin to close the meeting at 3-4 minutes before the top of the hour.
Can we have a volunteer to be our timekeeper? For those who have never served as a timekeeper, please note that this position requires you to let the person sharing know when three minutes have passed by saying "Time." This is a very important service. Do we have a volunteer? __ Great. The timekeeper is invited, but not required, to go first.
SHARING BEGINS …and goes continuously until 10 minutes before the top of the hour.
It is now 10 minutes before the hour: and, in accordance with principles guiding our recovery and, in particular, the 4th concept, which reminds us that participation is the key to harmony, we now invite shares from newcomers and those who do not regularly share on the phone bridge. (Indicate # of people on bridge).
8. CLOSING (which begins 3-4 minutes before the top of the hour).
a) We now begin the closing. First, I'd like to thank everyone who did service: our timekeeper, our readers, all those who shared and all who dialed in to listen.
b) Now, in the spirit of reminding of us why we are here, the Chair reads a selection of Al-Anon literature, which appears on p. 269-70, in From Survival to Recovery.
"If we willingly surrender ourselves to the spiritual discipline of the Twelve Steps, our lives will be transformed…. Though we may never be perfect, continued spiritual progress will reveal to us our enormous potential. . . Our sight, once clouded and confused, will clear and we will be able to perceive reality and recognize truth. . . .We will begin to feel and come to know the vastness of our emotions, but we will not be slaves to them. . . With dignity we will stand for ourselves, but not against our fellows...
Sometimes slowly or haltingly, occasionally in great bursts of brilliance, those who work the Steps [and observe the Traditions] change and grow toward light, toward health, and toward their Higher Power." (From Survival to Recovery, 269-70)
c) And now I would like to invite members to call out the names of members whose telephone numbers they would like to have. We will request those numbers directly after the close of the meeting.
d) 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. (How Al-Anon Works pg. 380)
e) SERENITY PRAYER
And now, would all who care to, please press *1 to un-mute and join me in saying the Serenity Prayer (which can be found on p. 80 of How Al-Anon Works)
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 STATES: KEEP COMING BACK, IT WORKS IF YOU WORK IT.
9. Post-meeting details:
a) We now collect phone numbers
MEETING SCHEDULE
Meeting schedules can be accessed on the web at www.alanonphonemeetings.org Format changes can be emailed to alanonphonemeetings@yahoo.com. Any new meetings and format draft ideas can be brought to the Group Conscience Meeting on the 4th Saturday of the month at 1:30 EST.
All Eastern Time Zones on the number and pin 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
Does anyone want to announce just the phone number and pin for other Al-Anon Phone Meetings?
Chair passes off to the volunteer (say name) able/willing to serve as newcomer greeter. By way of signing off, Chair might wish to say that those wishing to participate in fellowship may stay on the line for until 25 minutes after the hour (or whenever the line closes).
MEETING IS NOW FORMALLY CLOSED
All Eastern Time Zones
Also available on the website on the information page
8:00am
Sunday, Early morning Rise & Shine Step Study
Saturday Early Morning Speaker Meeting
9:00am
Monday 3 Daily Meditation Books ODAT/Courage to Change/Hope for Today
Tuesday Step 1 How Al-Anon Works/12 and 12/ Paths to Recovery/ 3 Meditation Books
Wednesday Step 2 How Al-Anon Works/12 and 12/ Paths to Recovery/ 3 Meditation Books
Thursday Gratitude 3 Meditation Books
Friday Step 3 How Al-Anon Works/12 and 12/ Paths to Recovery/ 3 Meditation Books
11:00am
Sunday Step/Tradition/Concept/3 Mediations Paths to Recovery
12:00 Noon
Monday Day A Topic from the 3 Meditation Books
Tuesday Al-Anon 12 & 12
Wednesday From Survival to Recovery
Thursday Al-Anon’s 3 meditation Books
Friday Speaker Meeting
Saturday Hope for Today Meditation Book
2:00pm Sunday Paths to Recovery Book Study
4:00pm
Monday Beginners Meeting 3 Meditation Books/How Al-Anon Works/Beginners Pamphlet
Tuesday 10th Step How Al-Anon Works/12 and 12/ Paths to Recovery/ 3 Meditation Books
Wednesday 11th step Guided Mediation Paths to Recovery/ How Al-Anon Works/3 Med
Thursday Slogans How Al-Anon Works/3 Mediation Books
Friday 12th step
Saturday Opening our Hearts
Sunday Transforming our Losses
8:00pm
Monday From Survival to Recovery
Tuesday Topic discussion from 3 meditation books
Wednesday Beginner’s meeting How Al-Anon works
Thursday Step/Tradition/Concept/3 Mediations Paths to Recovery
Friday How Al-Anon Works
Saturday Speaker meeting
Sunday Steps and Traditions How Al-Anon works
10:00pm
Monday 4th Step WRITING Workshop Blue Print for Progress
Tuesday LGBTO Discovery Choices
Thursday 4th Step WRITING Workshop Blue Print for Progress
Saturday Traditions Meeting How Al-Anon Works/Paths to Recovery
12 midnight
Thursday 3 Daily Readers 3 Mediations Books
OCTOBER 2009
Oct 4: Step 10 Oct 11: Step 11 Oct 18: Step 12 Oct 25: Trad 8
NOVEMBER 2009
Nov 1: Step 1 Nov 8: Step 2 Nov 15: Step 3 Nov 22: Trad 11 Nov 29: Step 4
December 2009
Dec 6: Step 5 Dec 13: Step 6 Dec 20: Step 7 Dec 27: Trad 12
JANUARY 2010
Jan 3: Step 8 Jan 10: Step 9 Jan 17 step 10 Jan 24: Trad 1 Jan 31: Step 11
FEBRUARY 2010
Feb 7: Step 12 Feb 14: Step 1 Feb 21: Step 2 Feb 28: Trad 2
MARCH 2010
Mar 7: Step 3 Mar 14: Step 4 Mar 21: Step 5 Mar 28: Trad 3
APRIL 2010
Apr 4: Step 6 Apr 11: Step 7 Apr 18: Step 8 Apr 25: Trad 4
MAY 2010
May 2: Step 9 May 9: Step 10 May 16: Step 11 May 23: Trad 5 May 30: Step 12
JUNE 2010
June 6: Step 1 June 13: Step 2 June 20: Step 3 June 27: Trad 6
JULY 2010
July 4: Step 4 July 11: Step 5 July 18: Step 6 July 25: Trad 7
AUGUST 2010
Aug 1: Step 7 Aug 8: Step 8 Aug 15: Step 9 Aug 22: Trad 8 Aug 29: Step 10
