Please enjoy and share these highlights from our December 2020 Board meeting. It is important for the democracy of Al-Anon that our fellow members know what we are working on and we rely on our service structure for this to happen. Thank you for taking the time to be informed.

The Board approved the trial of an Electronic Messenger from December to May 2021, under the Chair of Renée S, to be sent to all interested New Zealand Al-Anon members. Previous sharings that haven’t been able to be published in the Messenger have now been made available to the Electronic Messenger Committee for possible publication. The virtual electronic Messenger will initially be sent to all subscribers of the Messenger, Area Delegates, the Board, GRs, NZAGSO where we have email addresses for. A membership page will be created to allow members to subscribe to the electronic Messenger.

The AA National Convention with Al-Anon Family Groups participation is to be held on 23-24 January 2021 by Zoom. Your Convention Committee has come up with an exciting program which in addition to the main meetings will have additional meetings running on other Zoom rooms to give attendees more choice. Alateen will have its own room and Alateen members wishing to participate in this meeting will need to register as Alateen on the AA Website. To register please go to the AA website https://aa.org.nz/aa-convention/

In the lead up to the Festive season, the Al-Anon Family Groups message of help and hope will be displayed within the ‘high foot traffic’ areas across six NZ cities. This time was chosen as we know that the holiday season can often be an exceptionally difficult time for those affected by someone else’s drinking. We are using the ‘girls in the bottle posters’ these posters are x8 and x16 times the A4 page size. Initially these posters will be displayed at Christchurch, Hamilton, Wellington, Dunedin and Nelson. Your feedback on this poster campaign, especially related ‘good news’ stories would be very much appreciated. This might include how newcomers (including 12 step phone callers) found out about our program; this will assist us in deciding whether to extend this campaign to other areas.

The Board was pleased to be joined by Paula B as Alateen Chair; this is an important initiative for the Board as we would like to see more Alateen meetings in New Zealand. Paula reminded us that Alateens are able to attend Al-Anon meetings and they should be welcomed. Paula is also encouraging all members to be approved as AMIAS’s.

The Board at present has the following vacancies: Central Regional Board Member, Southern Regional Board Member, Alternate Board Chair, Literature Chair, Editorial, IAGSM – 2nd Delegate and Archivist.

See pages 80-97 of the NZ Al-Anon – Alateen Service handbook 2020 for details on these roles.

• RBM: Nominations for Regional Board Members are to be in to the NZAGSO by 30 April 2021
• Archivist: NZAGSO is looking for an archivist to fill an essential but non-demanding role for the New Zealand fellowship. An understanding of archival considerations and digital storage
  methods would be ideal. The outgoing archivist will provide assistance as needed.

All members are encouraged to register to receive In the Loop at al-anon.org/emailme (News from your WSO).

In service

John B
General Secretary
NZAGSB