August Chair’s Report to the Membership

Announcements

• Service Opportunity – Alternate Secretary: OIAA is seeking an Alternate Secretary. If you have an interest in service and would like to learn more about this position, please contact secretary@aa-intergroup.org.
• Service Opportunity – Public Information Committee: The Public Information Committee (PIC) is seeking a Chair and members willing to carry the message through public information service. Training is provided. Contact Mary M. for more information.

Unity News

• Unity Committee Meeting Schedule: Effective immediately, the Unity Committee will meet once each month, on the second Saturday at 2:00 p.m. ET for up to 90 minutes. The next meeting will be held Saturday, September 12, 2026.
• Unity IGR Workshop: The August IGR Workshop will be held as scheduled on Sunday, August 16, at 12:30 p.m. ET. Beginning in September, the workshop will move to the second Saturday of each month at 12:30 p.m. ET.
• Congratulations: Please join me in congratulating Lurdes M. on her election as Unity Liaison Lead. Lurdes will work with Unity’s Liaison Representatives to strengthen connections with OIAA member groups.
• Unity Service Opportunities: Unity is seeking an OIAA 2027 Convention Chair Shadow (preparing to serve as the 2027 Convention Chair) and a Creatives & Communications Coordinator. Unity is especially interested in hearing from bilingual and multilingual members. If you are interested in either position, please contact Jen H. at chair.unity@aa-intergroup.org.
• Interpretation: Interpretation is available for Unity events and workshops upon advance request. Please contact Jen H. at chair.unity@aa-intergroup.org.

Upcoming

September Quarterly Assembly: Our next Quarterly Assembly will be held on the last Saturday in September at 2:00 p.m. ET. The agenda, links to supporting documents, and Zoom information will be posted approximately 30 days in advance. Watch for the Assembly banner on the OIAA home page.

From Where I Serve

Last month I wrote about what our committees do.

This month I find myself thinking about how they are doing it.

As Chair, I have the privilege of attending committee meetings, Board meetings, planning sessions, workshops, and many of the conversations that happen quietly behind the scenes.

Over the past several months I have noticed something changing throughout OIAA.

There is more laughter.

People genuinely enjoy serving together.

Committee members are reaching across committee lines to share ideas, solve problems, and lend a hand whenever another committee needs help. More and more I hear the question,

“How can I help?”

Perhaps what has encouraged me most is seeing more members ask how they can become part of that work.

That gives me hope.

The Third Annual Service Expo

Last Saturday we held OIAA’s Third Annual Service Expo.

The idea was simple.

Open the doors to our committees and invite our members inside.

For ninety minutes members moved from room to room, meeting trusted servants, asking questions, and discovering the many different ways OIAA carries the message. Some visited the 12 Steppers. Others explored Technology, Communications, Unity, CPC, Finance, PAC, PIC, and the Convention Committee. Members joined us from around the world, each bringing their own experience, strength, and hope.

What stayed with me wasn’t the schedule.

It was the conversations.

I watched committee members welcome visitors with enthusiasm. I heard laughter. I watched trusted servants introducing members to one another, answering questions, and helping people imagine themselves in service.

If even a handful of members left thinking,

“Maybe there is a place for me…”

then the afternoon was a success.

Because there is.

Unexpected Successes

After the Service Expo, I asked our committee chairs a simple question:

“What were your unexpected successes?”

The answers were inspiring.

One chair spoke about the lightness and welcoming atmosphere of the event.

Another celebrated a member expressing interest in joining the committee.

Others described visitors taking information back to their home groups, new relationships forming, and Spanish-speaking members feeling welcomed and included.

One of my own unexpected successes happened in the 12 Steppers breakout room.

A Spanish-speaking visitor joined us, but there wasn’t an interpreter assigned to our room. Rather than ending the conversation, we turned on Zoom’s captions and translation features.

With patience.

With goodwill.

With everyone’s willingness to communicate…

understanding happened.

I found myself thinking another Not Perfect Award was in order.

Truthfully, after this month’s experiences, I may need the whole case I told everyone I ordered.

The Not Perfect Award has become my reminder that our goal isn’t flawless service.

It’s faithful service.

When something doesn’t go according to plan, our trusted servants don’t spend much time asking,

“Who made the mistake?”

Instead they ask,

“How do we carry the message now?”

Earlier this year, before interpreters were regularly available for CPC meetings, Chair Leila reached for her phone and used AI translation so Spanish-speaking members could fully participate until a better solution could be put into place.

Neither solution was perfect.

Both carried the message.

The week after the Service Expo, many of us gathered for the quarterly Technology Safety Workshop to learn more about AI in Zoom.

My takeaway was simple: AI can be a useful tool for business meetings, but recovery meetings call us to give careful thought to anonymity, privacy, and confidentiality before adopting new technology.

Perhaps that is one of the unexpected successes I have been seeing throughout OIAA.

Curiosity instead of fear.

Learning instead of reacting.

Service before technology.

Quiet Progress

Not all progress is dramatic.

Much of it happens quietly.

Our Ad Hoc Guidelines Committee, chaired by Vice Chair Jan B.B., continues meeting monthly. Rather than rewriting the entire Guidelines, the committee is carefully reviewing them, clarifying areas where experience has shown improvements would be helpful. As sections are completed, they are reviewed by the Board, shared with the membership, discussed in workshops, and ultimately will come before an Assembly for approval.

The Technology Committee is also preparing for the future.

Like every service position in OIAA, the Technology Chair rotates. Rather than waiting until December, the committee is documenting systems, procedures, and institutional knowledge so the next trusted servant can step into the role with confidence.

At least eight Technology Committee members will attend the National AA Technology Workshop in September, bringing back new ideas and shared experience to strengthen OIAA’s service to alcoholics around the world.

Unity also continues preparing for our November Online International Convention. We are grateful that more groups volunteered to participate than there were program spaces available. Groups have now received either confirmation or placement on a waiting list, and registration information will be available soon.

Finally, if your group is a voting member of OIAA and you have not yet completed the Membership Survey sent on July 16, please do so. Establishing a quorum at our Assemblies is one of the ways our member groups participate in OIAA’s group conscience.

I Have Been Thinking About Tradition Eight…

“Alcoholics Anonymous should remain forever nonprofessional, but our service centers may employ special workers.”

This month I found myself reflecting on the distinction Tradition Eight makes.

Throughout Alcoholics Anonymous, our service offices often employ staff to help provide the services our Fellowship depends upon. We call these individuals Tradition Eight Special Workers. They are hired because of their skills and experience, receive compensation appropriate to the work they perform, and may or may not be members of Alcoholics Anonymous.

But that isn’t what has occupied my thoughts this month.

I have been thinking about our volunteers.

They don’t receive a paycheck.

Many bring a lifetime of professional experience—as accountants, translators, teachers, technology professionals, writers, administrators, health care workers, interpreters, and countless other professions. They freely place those skills in service of Alcoholics Anonymous.

Our 12 Steppers answer cries for help because someone once answered theirs.

Technology volunteers spend hours behind the scenes because someone once made it possible for them to find an online meeting.

Committee members answer inquiries, welcome new groups, translate conversations, plan conventions, maintain websites, update meeting listings, and quietly perform hundreds of acts of service that most members will never see.

Not because it is their profession.

Because it is their gratitude.

Their reward is not financial.

Their reward is the spiritual privilege of helping another alcoholic.

Perhaps that is what I have been witnessing these past several months.

Grateful alcoholics paying forward what was so freely given to us.

Responsibility…

worn like a loose garment.

Taken seriously.

But not so tightly that we become afraid to try something new.

Not so tightly that we cannot laugh when something doesn’t go quite as planned.

Not so tightly that we forget that we are trusted servants—

not perfect servants.

Somewhere along the way…

I realized I have been enjoying myself.

And perhaps that is one more unexpected gift of service.

Gratefully submitted,

Susan R.
Chair
Online Intergroup of Alcoholics Anonymous