OIAA Board Meeting Minutes 14 February 2023

Attendees:

Jeff B., Secretary
Amy B., Unity Chair
Jan BB., PAC Chair
Paula D., CPC Chair
Melinda F., Alt. Technology Chair
Jane G., Chair
Jon H., PIC Chair
Mark M., Technology Chair
Susan R., Vice Chair
Brian R., Treasurer

Jane G., Chair, called the meeting to order at 5:03 pm EDT (2:03 pm PT). The meeting opened with the Serenity prayer. Jane introduced Melinda F. as the new Alternate Technology chair. Jane asked for anyone who is looking for an Alternate for their committee or position to let her know.

Committee Reports

Unity Committee – Amy B., Chair

Amy reported that the committee has had some new activity recently from people who attended the IGR Forum and that committee will be keeping their weekly format.
Amy reported that she has a list of the 66 GSOs around the world and a list of Intergroups that her committee will be reaching out to.
Provided a written report to the Chair
Amy is looking for Service manuals from other countries so please send them to her if you have any
The Committee will be making use of Google Workspace and will be migrating our current documents on Google drives to this workspace

Cooperation with the Professional Community Committee – Paula D., Chair

Paula reported that she has gotten plugged into the North American PI/CPC working group which will be a good resource for 12^th step work
Paula has been working with Tim C. from the San Francisco area who has emphasized that we should include
She has fielded some requests for pamphlets and book that has required her to find the resources necessary for these requests including reaching out to GSO
Paula has begun working with a woman who owns a rehab facility in Sun City, Arizona and wants to bring in an AA meeting. However, her legal team is not allowing online meetings because they claim it violates HIPPA requirements.
Working with Tim C., there is a new software package that delivers video content and Paula would like to have Tim demonstrate the software to us.
From her presentation at the IGR Forum, 5 people volunteered to work on the committee with 2 people in the UK.
Paula created a video that she would like to show us that explains the difference between open and closed meetings. There were some technical difficulties with showing the video.
Jeff asked whether Paula and Jon have reached out to the online Distracts in the US/Canada. He mentioned that A72 in Western Washington and A48 NE NY have online Districts and are doing committee work on their PI/CPC committees

Public Information Committee – Jon H., Chair

Jon thanked Mary for doing the PI presentation at the recent IGR Forum. He reported that there were 3 new volunteers for the Committee from attendees at the Forum bring the total number of Committee members to 12
Unfortunately, the only bi-lingual member from Mexico dropped off the committee.
95% of the requests received are in English with the bulk of the non-English being in Spanish and a few in French. For the first time, a few Arabic inquiries were received.
There are about 6 inquiries a day but January averaged 7 per day.
Jon reported that Mark and the Tech committee is helping with the migration to Google groups

Finance Committee – Spencer H., Chair

No report.

Technology Committee – Mark M., Chair/ Melinda F., Alt.

The Tech Committee has been growing “by leaps-and-bounds.” From 3 or 4 members last year, there are currently 23 members on the Committee.
As a results, the Tech committee will be divided into several categories:
1. Member Services – to support the Meeting directory
2. Safety Services – to provide support for keeping meetings safe
3. Event Support team – to provide support for IGR Forums, Assemblies and Workshops
4. Design Communication team for providing design services and flyer support
5. Archivist support
There will also be support for Cloud services for the Google Workspace migration and support for Google Workspace, emails an Google contacts
There is also support for the OIAA Website which is our main portal to the world. There is a new website coming which will launch in March.
The trend of groups asking to be removed from our Directory is reversing and additional meetings continue to be listed.
Mark stated that the committee is considering bringing in an expert to help with some of the more technical aspects of using Google Workspace
Jeff asked about of the 6,500 meetings how certain are we that these groups are still active. Mark felt that most of the groups are still active but that with Google Contacts we will allow us to identify a primary and secondary contact for each group. There will also have to be a process for handing groups that don’t respond.
Jeff also asked about whether the Committees will be able to define the layout and information on their Committee pages. Mark responded that his Committee will work with the other Committees to define their pages and that a common template will probably be available.
Jane mentioned that reaching out to groups will be important as we try to figure out how much participation we have from our international groups.
Jon mentioned that he continues to be nervous geographically. His concern is that his group, which is posted in several countries and has attendees from around the world, is truly international and he does not want the group even tied to North America. He is concerned that our outlook is largely North American-based and is not sufficiently global.

Steppers Committee – Mary M., Chair

No Report.

Policy & Admissions Committee – Jan BB., Chair

Jan reported that she has a new committee member that she will start training.
In January, there were 45 meeting listings
Jan reported that the Safety workshop was very well received and it has given members more information about keeping their meetings safe.
Still looking for new members but there are no special skills required

Approval of Board Minutes – Jeff B., Secretary

In January, the approval of the December Board minutes from 12/13/2022 was postponed to today’s Board meeting in order to give the Board members an opportunity to properly review them. No comments or corrections were offered. A motion was made by Susan R., and seconded by Brian R. to accept the December Board minutes. The minutes were approved unanimously.

The Board minutes from the January (1/10/23) Board meeting were sent out but most Board members did not have an opportunity to review them. Motion was made by Susan R. to postpone the approval of the minutes of the January (1/10/23) Board meeting until next month. The motion was seconded by Jane G. and passed unanimously.

Treasurers Report – Brian R., Treasurer

Brian discussed several issues which are affecting the administrative aspects of our Finances including:
- The organization need a physical mailing address that does not change when a new Secretary takes office
- The Banking account, which is currently Chicago-based, has been difficult to work with
- Over concern that our next Treasurer might not have a deep accounting background, this year’s budget was approved with the anticipation of hiring a professional bookkeeper.
A Traveling mailbox was implemented where a mail service receives the mail, scans the mail and send it to us electronically. The actual physical mail can be sent to us on request. This address is also used for sending checks to us and the images that are scanned are being used to deposit the funds directly into our bank account.
Brain stated that we will be using a new Bank, Mercury which is not actually a bank but a FinTech company backed by a US bank. This makes changing signers very easy when the Officers change. A payments approval process was also put in place and logins to Mercury require 2FA (2-Factor Authentication) through an application. Mercury also allows for virtual Credit cards for single use tied to a specific vendor like Zoom or Google Workspace. This has been a game changer for the organization.
A bookkeeper, Lori, has been hired. Lori runs a small single proprietor company, Run Your Wealth, and is familiar with non-profits. She will take care of our bookkeeping, create the necessary financial reports and take care of our taxes.
Jon mentioned that on PIC when asked about contributing to OIAA, the committee refers the person to our website but they have been letting people know that we don’t need the money now. Brian stated that this will be discussed at the next Finance meeting and some form of communication to the membership will need to be made.

Chair Report – Jane G.

Jane reported that the Guidelines ad hoc committee is moving forward and has made one pass through the Guidelines. The committee will be reviewing the Bylaws to ensure that the Guidelines are in synch with the Bylaws.
The Guidelines committee is developing a template for the Committees so that each committee can develop its own charter (committee guidelines).
Jane made a list of call for volunteers which is posted on the website
Jane stated that a draft of the agenda and script for the March Assembly has been provided and that she is working with a committee to finalize the script. The March Assembly is going to be an Informational Assembly where we highlight the changes to the website and other Technology changes.
There are several Board policies which need to be put in place including:
- A Whistleblower policy
- A Conflict-of-Interest policy
- A Records Retention/Destruction policy

The templates for these documents, which may require customization, will be made
available soon.

A member of the Unity committee has requested funds to travel to Congressos in Colombia where she lives. Jane has forwarded that request to the Finance committee for approval.
Jeff mentioned that he has prepared the budget for the attendance at ICOAA which will be a request for $3,500, or $1,750 per person.

Creation of a Communication Committee – Jane G.

Jane proposed the creation of a Communication committee as an ad hoc committee that would serve several purposes. This committee would be responsible for the script for the Assembly, communicating that the Assembly is being held, creating a survey for the Assembly and engaging translation services. This committee would also create a new Group orientation video
Brian asked whether there was someone who was interested in chairing this committee. Jane mentioned that she met with someone who was interested.
Jeff asked why this committee would be created as an ad hoc committee as opposed to a standing committee. Jane responded that there is a lot of information yet to be discovered which will need to be investigated before the function and scope of the committee can be defined.
Jeff B. made a motion to create an ad hoc Communication committee which was seconded by Susan R. There was no further discussion on the motion and the Board members present voted unanimously to approve this motion.
Jane stated that she will take charge of the Communication committee and will be handing the chairing of the Guidelines ad hoc committee to our Vice chair, Susan R., who has agreed to chair the committee going forward.

Proposal to Make the Grapevine, La Viña and Magazine working group an OIAA ad hoc committee – Jeff B., Secretary

Jeff described the mission of the purpose of the Grapevine, La Vina and Magazine working group that was started to help online groups obtain magazine reps and to provide resources for those reps including short, ASL-interpreted videos. He point out that the mission of this working group is similar to the PIC and CPC committees and that the mission aligns well with OIAA’s mission. The resources of OIAA would be very beneficial to the working group.
A motion was made by Susan R. and seconded by Brian R. to create an ad hoc Grapevine, La Vina and Magazine committee. There was no additional discussion and the Board voted unanimously to approve the motion.
Mark requested that the creation of any new ad hoc committees be done prior to the Board meeting so that sufficient time could be given to considering a new committee.

Convention Committee Chair Approval

With the approaching International Convention committee in 2025, the Board felt that it was time to reactivate the Convention committee which would coordinate the activities of a hospitality room for OIAA at the International Convention in Vancouver in 2025.
Jeff has spoken with Terry N., a Canadian from Toronto, and is a member of the Global Eyeopener group about chairing that committee. Terry has experience with International Conventions and has had experience with hospitality rooms at these Conventions.
Jan mentioned that she has attended the International Conventions in the past and stated that it takes two years to plan the event. Jan volunteered her expertise from being involved in the past International Conventions to be part of the committee.
Mark made a motion to approve Terry N. as the chair for the Convention committee. The motion was seconded by Brian R. and the Board voted unanimously to approve the motion.

Service Resume – Susan R., Vice-chair

Since Susan was appointed as the Vice-chair she did not have the opportunity to provide her service resume which she will be doing now
Susan’s sobriety date is 12/7/1987 and her Home Group is in New Ark, Delaware. She stated that she has a recovery and a service sponsor and sponsors others. Susan served in a number of different General Service positions including Area Delegate, Panel 66, from A12 Delaware, serving on the Corrections committee.

The Board meeting adjourned at 6:45 pm EST (3:45 pm PT) and was closed with the Declaration of Unity.

Motions Summary

The following motions were voted on and approved by the Board at this meeting:

A motion was made by Susan R., and seconded by Brian R. to accept the December Board minutes. The minutes were approved unanimously.
Motion was made by Susan R. to postpone the approval of the minutes of the January (1/10/23) Board meeting until next month. The motion was seconded by Jane G. and passed unanimously.
Jeff B. made a motion to create an ad hoc Communication committee which was seconded by Susan R. There was no further discussion on the motion and the Board members present voted unanimously to approve this motion.
A motion was made by Susan R. and seconded by Brian R. to create an ad hoc Grapevine, La Vina and Magazine committee. There was no additional discussion and the Board voted unanimously to approve the motion.
Mark made a motion to approve Terry N. as the chair for the Convention committee. The motion was seconded by Brian R. and the Board voted unanimously to approve the motion.

Humbly submitted,
Jeff Bernknopf
OIAA Secretary

April Forum 27th April 2024

OIAA Board Meeting Minutes 14 February 2023