Why Service Gets Her Out of Her Own Head – Sandra W.

Thank you. Got to put on my glasses. Good morning. My name is Sandra Wilson. I am an alcoholic. Hi, Sandra. And first of all, I would like to thank all of the speakers, the delegates, Kelly, Pat, Leon, and Mark. It was great hearing you and sharing your experience of the conference. I remember my first experience at the conference as a conference member and a staff member was 2016. And right before the roll call, I was outside and I was talking to one of the staff members, Julio. Some of you may know him. And I began to get very full because all of a sudden it came upon me the responsibility and just how grateful I was to be given this responsibility. And I went up to Julio and my eyes were welling up. And I said, Julio, I just can't believe this. And he says, suck it up, sweetie. We're the host. So I did. I'm a paid staff member, one of the special workers. As mentioned in our eighth tradition. And I'm really grateful to be here. First of all, I'd like to thank Ruben and the entire planning committee for their loving invitation. And just for all the work. I've served on planning committees and I've chaired planning committees. And I know the work that goes into weekends such like these. And really did a bang-up job. Thank you, Robin. Thank you. I also want to thank. Thank you, Ellie, Anna, and Bob for sharing your stories. I identified with everyone. And I love hearing. I feel closer to anyone who shares their story. You know, I know that we're one. We come from different backgrounds. But when we're in the rooms, we're one person as far as I'm concerned. And thank you, Monica, the most perfect host. And you're probably too young, but I will call you my Pearl Mesa. You're really, really perfect and loving. And for me, any weekend starts out good if I get two baskets. Not one, but two baskets. And if you're full of food and chocolate and nuts and everything. So I felt like I arrived and I felt very welcomed. And, you know, really, really thank you. I'm here to give you a presentation on the GSO office. But as I was telling somebody else, I'm not a lecturer. I am a drunk. My name is Monica. I'm a professor. I'm a professor. My sobriety date is February 12, 1990. My home group is the Living Now Group in the east side of Manhattan, lower east side. And if you're ever in New York, please don't bring a lot of dollars to give out. I do not recommend that. But, you know, take the subway downtown to the Living Now Group. We'll be happy to have you there. It's funny. One of the ‑‑ we have moved different places. But one of the first places that our meeting space was in what's called the ‑‑ when it was a discotheque, it was the electric circus. So ‑‑ and that was one of our first meeting places. And Living Now is a lively, lively group. And back then, you could be sitting there and someone's throwing a chair or ‑‑ it was really ‑‑ and the mouse could be running across the floor. So it was not upscale. But I feel at home. I feel at home. The message of alcoholism is certainly spoken there. And we're heavily in service. I was telling a couple of members that right now, as a staff member, I keep it very low key in my home group. As a matter of fact, some members don't even know that I work at the GSO office. And that's important for me, to keep me humble. And also, if I speak at a business meeting, it doesn't inadvertently sound like I'm speaking for the office. So I think my last service position was I was announcing our sponsorship program. And before then, I was what they called a spiritual usher. And not the sheriff, but the spiritual usher. So it's nice. I love my home group. A little bit about how I got to GSO, how I got to AA. I'll say I picked up my first drink at ‑‑ I was 13 years old. And by the time I was 16. My mother was asking me to leave the house. So it was very, very quick. And part of my story is non‑confidence‑approved substances. And so I won't go into that too much. But I will say that I would take anything and everything just to get outside of myself. And when I think about when I was 16 years old and my mother asked me to leave the house, beginning of that year, I was actually a debutante. And I had a cotillion. So, you know, like most of us, you know, many contrasts and contradictions in my life. So on one hand, being a debutante, and on the other hand, drinking and shooting dope 90 miles an hour. So I know I belong here. I really know I belong here. And before I knew it, I was homeless. I was living in and out of a band. I was living in abandoned buildings. I was washing. There was a fire hydrant in front of one of the abandoned buildings I was living in. And I was washing and brushing my face and brushing my teeth in front of this fire hydrant. And the disease told me I was better than everyone else because at least I was brushing my teeth and washing my face. Nothing told me that there was something wrong with this picture. I know that my mother and my father did not raise me to be like that. I believe that I had the disease way before I was born. I believe that I had the disease way before I picked up the drink. And by the time I picked up the drink, I was off to the races. So I first heard the message in a detox. And the reason why I listened, because the person carrying the message was tall, light-skinned, and cute. And so I thought I just sat up front and I listened to what he had to say. And I remembered. And I always joke about this because I saddled up to him after the meeting and asked where he was from. And just to give you a picture of what I looked like at that time, I was about 90 pounds. I had abscesses all up and down my body. I was not a pretty sight. I was really, really worn down by the streets. And he actually came from a therapeutic community. And he told me where he was from. And he said, when do you get out? And I said. I told him. And he says, well, I'll come and I'll pick you up. And in my head, I was like, oh, yeah, I got you. But he did. He came. And he picked me up. And he brought me to this therapeutic community. And that took care of the non-conference-approved substances for me. At that time, I thought I still had a drink left in me. And I continued to drink until I came into these rooms on February 12, 1994, which I am forever grateful. And many things happened during the time that I've been here. But the one thing which my sponsor tells me, I don't believe the lie. And the lie is that a drink or a drug can make anything better. I know as long as you know, it was kept real simple for me in the beginning, that if you don't pick it up, you can't get drunk. And even when you don't feel like it, just take your butt to a meeting. Even if you don't feel like sharing, just take your butt to the meeting. And for me, my wife and I, we've been through a lot. We've been through a lot. We've been through a lot. And my sponsor would always tell me, make sure you have a service commitment. Because if my head tells me, well, I don't feel like making the meeting, it's too cold, it's too hot, it's raining, it's snowing, whatever, you know, I have a service commitment. And that service commitment will get me to the meeting. I remember being elected GSR, and I say elected very loosely because my sponsor pushed me up there and made sure that I stood for GSR. And I took it, and I was telling someone else. I was here this week, and I remember looking at my first service manual, and it's like, I'd rather see paint dry. I mean, it was like, and today, I love the service manual. You know, I love service. It always gets me out of me. In 2009, my Christmas day, my mother died. And at the same time, I was chair of a host committee, chairing a woman. And I was chairing a women's conference. And when my mother died, I was just, everything just went out of me. And for about a month or so, and then it dawned on me, it's like, I'm chair of this committee. I've got to get busy. And so service, once again, just helped me get out of me. And I know it was my mother's spirit that just pushed me through and just, you know, and I remember the Sunday night, the Sunday morning of that conference. And I just, you know, looked up, and I thought, oh, my God. I thanked her, you know, because I know it was through her, it was through you that I was able to do that. Service is really, really, really very important to me. So many, when I came in, and it's funny because I was surrounded, for me, I was surrounded by women in the beginning. And I made lots of women's meetings. And they would pick me up. They would, and not because I was the great I am. Because I was another drunk who needed help. Because they were there, they knew what I was going through. And it was so important for me to be able to have the place to share honestly and to get the good orderly direction. For me in the beginning, as a mother, I have a son, and I was racked, racked with guilt in the beginning. And I would share in meetings very often that whatever my son was going through at the time was my fault. It was because what I did in front of him. It was because of the life I lived. I lived out there before I became sober. And I remember I was in a women's meeting and I'm crying, I'm snotting, and just, you know, sharing about, you know, what's going on with my son. And she called me aside. She said, sweetie, as long as, you know, guilt is a very self-centered emotion. Because as long as you're in guilt, you're still just making it all about you. Well, I have to tell you, I was pissed off when she told me that at first. Because I wanted her, you know, poor mother. She said, poor me, poor me, poor me, a drink. But it's, I believe that it's true. But I still, I needed to take my son to therapy. And I can honestly say when I took him to therapy, I thought that they would fix him and it would mean that I was not that bad. And I remember, again, we went to the intake and they interviewed him, they interviewed me. And then she called me back in and she says, he doesn't need to go, but you do. And I share that because the women in, in the women's room, you know, they're not going to be able to go. They're not going to be able to go. They're not going to be able to go. And, and, and the rooms were telling me it begins and it ends with you. It begins and it ends with you. And I truly, truly believe that today. I have no control over what's going to happen around me. But I must believe that all of us have our, our own personal higher power. And I must believe that my job is to be the best person I can be just for today. You know, and I do that each morning. That's, that's what I ask for. The guidance to be the best person that I can be. Just for today. Some days it's better. Some days it's, it's, it's not so good. But it's, it's okay. Because I, I don't pick up a drink. I take my inventory. If I, if I need to make amends, I will make amends. And, and, and I keep it moving. I am so grateful to be standing here, a sober woman in Alcoholics Anonymous. And, and I take no credit. I, I, I thank you for that. So at, in 2011, I was working on a job that I thought that I would retire from. And it was a family office. And they decided to, it was the third generation. And they decided that they did not want the office to be that large. And they laid off a lot of us. And in the beginning, when I was first laid off, I, I was, you know, struck with fear. I have a mortgage at this time. You know, all, all the little things that sobriety can afford us. And, and I'm wondering, you know, what am I going to do? And I, luckily, you know, because of good sponsorship and, and my network, I didn't stay in that space that long. And so then I started thinking, well, you know, I've, I've always wanted to, I thought about at one time going to a master's, PhD program. Maybe I'll do that. Maybe, you know, just different things that were open. And at the, at that time, a friend of mine who was a staff member at GSO, she called me and she says, you know, I know that you're not working right now. And the general manager is looking for someone to help her out in this attempt position, perhaps six months. Would you be interested? So I said, yeah, sure. You know, I back up, backtrack a little bit. I had been to GSO a couple of times. My home group, we, we believe, especially when you're new, GSO is a great place to be. Especially when you're new, make that trip to GSO. See, see, because it's our GSO. It's not just the general service office. It belongs to all of us. So see what goes on there. So I had been there. I knew a couple of people there back in the day. And so I, I went there for the interview. It was a temp position. I said, sure, I could take it. And I got interviewed with the general manager at the time, who was Phyllis Holliday. And I got interviewed. And I got the job. But I have to tell you, and I was sharing this earlier this weekend, that when I got off the elevator, on one side I saw the Serenity Prayer in all the different languages. And on the other side, a circle and triangle. I knew that my high power had brought me there. It was through no, no movements of my own, I knew that this is where I'm supposed to be. And I started working for Phyllis. And after three months, she offered me the job on a permanent basis. So I worked with Phyllis. And I worked with Phyllis as her assistant. And I was, my last name is Wilson. And so my office was on one side of Phyllis. On the other side of Phyllis was the intellectual property manager. And her last name is Smith. So at that time, at that time Phyllis was surrounded by Wilson and Smith. So I think everything was in divine order. But I, I worked with Phyllis. And in, after I worked with her for about a year or so, there were a couple of times that staff positions were opened. And some of the staff members had encouraged me to, to apply. And I've learned by, by now that if it doesn't feel right inside of me, not to do it. I've, I've learned to touch, to, to trust my belly. And it just did not feel right to, you know, work with her. And it just didn't feel right to, you know, stop working for Phyllis and apply for a staff member. And I said, you know what, when Phyllis retires, if, if there's an opening, then I'll, I'll, I'll apply. And when she retired, there were two openings. So again, to me, divine intervention or, in any event, I put in my, my resume. And I, I was able to get an interview. And for those who don't know. To be interviewed for staff, it's a day-long process. You come in in the morning. And you're interviewed by every staff member. Then you go to lunch. And after lunch, you go in a room and you tell your story. And then after that, if you're able to, you meet with the general manager. So it's really a, a very long process. And, and I, it took months before I, I was told that, that I, I actually got a job. I got the position. And, and, you know, I was forever grateful to be able to, again, to work at, at, at our general service office in, in what I do. I remember my first day on the job, there was a card from one of the staff members. And, and it said, you know, welcome. And remember, we chose you. And a drunk like me, you weren't choosing me to do anything. You know, I didn't tell my entire story. But if, you know, just what little I did tell, you could tell. I did tell, you could tell that I was not being invited places. And if I was, I wasn't being invited back. Anyway, a little bit about our office. Just, we are a 475 Riverside Drive. And we are between 119th and 120th. On the right side of us is Riverside Church. And on the left side of us is Reinhold Niebuhr. Niebuhr Plaza. Who's credited with writing the Serenity Prayer. So, I, I, I think that however it happened, that's where our office is. And, and, and to me, when I think about that, it just like hits me right here. And also, the community calls the building the God Box. Because there are many other organizations, all the organizations in that building, they're all non-profits. And they're either community organizations or some of them are religious organizations, some non-religious organizations. But they're all non-profit. And the building was financed by Rockefeller. So, there's so much history there. And there's nothing we planned. But that's where we are. And, and I think that that's cool. Again, as I started, I'm, I am a staff member. And I'm one of 12 staff members. And every day, our AA shared experience comes alive, comes alive through, through the 12 staff members. And for this part, I am going to read some because I don't want to forget anything. So, forgive me. The GSO staff assignments include staff coordinator, conference, nominating, international, public information, regional forums, group services, literature, cooperation, and professional community, treatment and accessibility, corrections, and communication services. And every two years, we change, we rotate. This particular year, this particular cycle, we're on for three years because we, we have a new general manager. And the other, the delegates and Mark refer to Greg. And he's great. He really is. But since he was new, he had recovered. And he requested that we stay on three years. So, we, instead of rotating this year, we, we will be rotating next year. But when we rotate, our offices don't belong to us. The office belongs to the assignment. And so, when we rotate, we just take our personal belongings and then go, we go to the office of our, our next assignment. And assignment rotation assures that each of us can cover one another's position and so that we don't get too entrenched. And if you're a drunk like me, you know, just like with service positions, we're not supposed to keep that too long because then it's my position, you know. And it's the same thing. We're, we're alcoholics. And, and they say it's the ultimate cross training and that it, it keeps us humble. I say somewhat so. And each of us serves as a secretary to the trustees conference and or corporate board. I'm on the literature assignment. So, I am secretary to the trustees committee on literature, the conference committee on literature. And I'm also secretary on AWS publishing. These roles provide wonderful opportunities to work with delegates, directors, and trustees and gain an understanding of their meetings and deliberations. As well as provide resources of experience and information to the committee members. And in accordance with concept for the right of participation, GSO staff or conference members. With a voice and a vote at the annual general service conference. And I talked about the general service conference, my experience a little bit before. And it's very, very interesting because as a staff member on the conference committee, my job is to allow the conference committee to do their work. And whatever I can do to facilitate that work. I do not have a voice or a vote in the conference committee. So, a staff member who since, you know, I've been a member of the conference committee, I've been a member of the conference committee. And I'm retired, gave me examples. She worked on a conference committee and helped them come to their recommendation that they were making to the conference. And when it came time to vote, she voted against it. And she said they all looked at her because they were so surprised. But it's, that's our right. As conference members, we can vote against the recommendation. But as a staff member, we are to allow the committee to do their work. So, I'm very, very grateful for that. And I think that's a very, for me, it's a very important distinction. It's not my job to sway the conference committee any one way. I should, if they're going off as far as procedures, my job to give them procedure or background. But whatever they come to within their own conscience, that's their own conscience. And I should allow that as a staff member. Contact with aid members are of vital importance to GSO staff. And I think that's a very important distinction. What I didn't give, I should have advised the GSO at that time. I think we will Иdo the D tails, I should have given more Eastern simply outside of Western because like Bishop said, 앞으로 мы Anan тому определит Catan. So, some of the recommendations are really orders to bekupshin that are not vaccinated. Step 6. Look at the немножко more scientific. Somewhere. conflict upsetting a unity in the group and very often yes very very often we are frequently asked for the official GSO response or the variety of subjects and our answer is there is no official GSO response and perhaps one of you received one of our letters or emails we will say well on one hand some groups may approach it this way but on the other hand other groups would approach it another way and it's really up to your informed group conscience for me one of my favorite favorite pieces of literature when it comes to group problems problems is the group the home group pamphlet it is chock-full of information and I very very often you know I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to get it out of the way but I'm a very very happy person I'm a very happy person and I very often reference that pamphlet to members who who come I'm the southeast correspondent and I very often reference that pamphlet we also know we're in trouble when a phone call starts out like this I have 500 years of sobriety and I tell you and and I tell you I've never heard this before and again it's you know our loving cold mettles and other people that work as interf entwickelt we are a local education institute there is some bom photos but the field so forth whereas the wisdom and darkness of our the office. If you want, you could close your eyes or not. But imagine that you've taken the elevator up to the 11th floor. You've gotten to 475 Riverside Drive. You've already now stopped at the desk and gotten a pass. You tell them that you're going up to A and 11th floor. They well know who we are. You take a little left and a little right, and you get on the elevator, and the doors open, and when you turn around, you'll see Dr. Bob's last message, and you'll see Bill's last message. You'll see a circular reception area, and a gorgeous woman, big smile, and she'll say, welcome to your general service office. And you'll ask whether or not I could take a tour, and they will give you a tour. Usually the tours are one every hour. And you don't have to go to the elevator. You don't have to pre-schedule any tours unless you're a large group. If you're a large group, we ask that you call in advance and pre-schedule a tour. And you'll come to communication service, and communication services, the staff member on that assignment is Clement Kahn, and Clement is actually from this area. He's a St. Louis guy. So the communication staff member serves as the liaison for information about GSO's AA website, collecting feedback on design and design of the tour. And they'll come to you and they'll tell you, hey, we're here to design and contact for visitors to the website. He chairs GSO's website committee, collaborates with GSO's digital media manager to continually update and improve the site. Most recently, Clement has been coordinating the efforts on our newly designed webpage on the aa.org website, which now features such prominent buttons for contributions and a direct video link. And that process is continuing. Let me introduce you to Rick Walker. Many of you may know him. Rick is on the conference assignment. And as you know, each April, every year, approximately 135 conference members come together for a week to convene at the annual General Service Conference. And what I like to tell members, the General Service Conference is the closest thing we have to a group conscious for AA for the United States and Canada. The conference staff person is in touch with conference members yearly. And they're always on the phone. And they're always in touch with the conference members. And they're always in touch with the conference members yearly. And they're always in touch with the conference members yearly. And they're always in touch with conference members yearly. And they're also on the phone. At the end of each year round, sends out information and inquiries and response to queries and agenda suggestions. And as was mentioned, the final conference report is out. And digital version of that report has been posted to the dashboard. And if you didn't see it, here is the report. It's beautiful. And these flowers were actually at the on site. So this is a photograph of those flowers. Thanks. And the GSO is striving to provide background in English, French, and Spanish in keeping with the advisory action that resulted from a floor action. Say hello to Jeff Wine. I love that, a drunk with the last name Wine. And Jeff is the staff member of the CPC's assignment. This assignment is responsible for answering calls and letters from the non-AA professional community, such as doctors, nurses, lawyers, human resource directors, and anyone who wants information on AA or wants to know who we are and what we do. Each year, our CPC desk coordinates with local committees to exhibit at national conferences of professional organizations throughout the U.S. and Canada. Next weekend, the Area 38 CPC committee will be staffing a booth. This booth at the American Correctional Association's conference in St. Louis. Joining them will be one of our Class A trustees, Nancy McCarthy, who recently retired after 32 years in the corrections field. Speaking of corrections, we'll now meet Diana Lewis. Diana Lewis is one of our newer staff members. She comes from California, and she's on the corrections assignment. And anything having to do with correctional facilities is handled from this assignment. To give you an example. More than 600 letters are received monthly at the GSO corrections desk. So that's an awful lot of correspondence. Along with requests for help and sharing of AA experience, strength, and hope. Many inmates express their gratitude. Someone mentioned it this weekend that in November, it's actually November 10th through the 12th, Area 38 Eastern Missouri will host the first ever national conference. And we're going to be hosting that. So, we're going to be hosting that. And we're going to be hosting that. And we're going to be hosting that. The National Corrections Conference, National Corrections Conference. And Nancy McCarthy, again, will be panelist at this conference. So that's very exciting news because it's the first ever. And thank you for, I want to tell you a little story. Every Wednesday, staff members get together and we have a meeting and we share what's going on in our assignments. Sometimes we may have a particular problem that we share the teaching finished. shared experience from other staff members. So this meeting is really important. And Diana had shared she had just gone to a group anniversary in a prison upstate New York, and this AA group, they were celebrating, I think, either 30 or 35 years, and it was, again, an AA group of inmates. This group, they have a GSR, and they work, of course, with another group outside. But what really, really struck us for their anniversary was catered, and the inmates insisted that they wanted to pay for all the food. And if you know anything about what inmates make in prison, and they were so conscious of that self-support that they wanted to pay for all the catering. And for me, that just really touched. It touched me. Sometimes we, you know, we balk about putting more than a dollar in a basket, and here are inmates, and they're so mindful of this tradition. I thought it was a wonderful story. Group services, Racy is Racy Joseph. Many of you know her. And this assignment oversees service material, revisions, and updates to AA guidelines and contents of kids sent out to AA groups. Racy serves as a liaison. She is a liaison with GSO's records department, as well as a liaison to local intergroups and central offices. She also serves as secretary to the General Service Conference Committee on Report and Charter. The international assignment is Mary Cummins. This staff member in this assignment serves as liaison to AA members and groups outside of the United States and Canada. Currently, AA has a presence in approximately 176 countries. Mary recently shared at a staff meeting, that she had her first contact with an AA group in Afghanistan, which that is not military. Yeah. And this group apparently started two years ago, and they now have over 200 members. Yeah. I thought that was incredible. Every two years, the international assignment coordinates the World Service meeting for countries that have an established service structure. The meeting is for sharing experience, strength, and hope at an international level. Thank you. The meeting location rotates every two years, alternating out of New York. And currently, they're focused on preparations for the zonal meetings, where our two trustees at large represent U.S. and Canada and Costa Rica in October, and the ESM where they'll attend as observers. Also, preparation are underway for the 25th World Service meeting that will take place in South Africa in October 2018. The nominating assignment is Julio Espaillat. And the staff member in this assignment assists the trustees committees as they fulfill their responsibilities to see that all vacancies on the General Service Board, AA World Services, and AA Grapevine Board are properly filled with members of the greatest possible competence, stability, and industry. And as was mentioned, Julio is also the coordinator for the 2020 International Convention, which will be held July 2nd through the 5th. Dude, dit's the input. The multi-universities and hayesp Ste This is another formal training programme we will offer in the fall. There will be virtual session with��을.com My name, Julio Espaillat, Guadagno of the interchange Ri De yesterday, March 8th 2020 Turon, the international police report gathering이� ineffective Public information is Clay Rittenhouse, Marc mentioned him. Yes, Clay is very, very busy because all inquiries regarding that issue are sent to Clay's desk. When they come to my assignment, and I forward it, I always say, sorry, Clay, Sorry, Clay. And I, you know, forwarded to him, but I'm happy not to have to answer those questions. This assignment shares information about Alcoholics Anonymous with all levels of media, television, radio, newspapers, and magazines by communicating directly with media professionals and helping local PI committees with similar efforts. Anonymity breaks at the public level are addressed by this assignment through close work with the local area delegate. There are also many inquiries every year from elementary school students to college students who are writing papers on AA, and we try to provide them with information. And if you don't know, if you haven't been on the website recently, the PSA I Have Hope is now available in all three languages on our website. Regional forums, as Steve Smith, the staff member on this assignment, helps coordinate the regional forums and supports local forums. The regional forums are weekend-long events designed. They are designed to improve communications at all levels of the fellowship and the opportunity to meet other AA members, members of the General Service Board and staff, and directors from the General Service Office and Grapevine. The forums are a meeting place to ask questions and spark new ideas to help the AA message of hope to the still-suffering alcoholic. Four regional forums are held each year, and the forums rotate among the eight regions of the United States and Canada so that each region can host a forum. Every other year. And in 2016, over 1,800 members attended forums, including 1,077 first-timers, and that's awesome. You know, you never want to preach to the choir. You always want new blood. And for me, that's one thing, too. I love seeing all the young people here at this conference this weekend. That's great. The remainder, the scheduled forum scheduled for the remainder of 2017, September is in West Central and South Dakota. October, the Southwest Regional Forum will be held in San Antonio. And the closeout the year, the East Central Regional Forum, will be held in November 17th to 19th in Springfield. And I hope you all make it and spread the word. And the numbers that Mark mentioned that I may have and I don't have, you can get at that regional forum because the treasurer of the General Service Board gives all the information that you need. Thank you. Thank you. Wonderful, wonderful, wonderful presentation with respect to our finances. So that's not an incentive to attend. I don't know what is. Staff Coordinator is Eva Sanchez. The responsibilities of staff coordinator include chairing the weekly staff meeting that I referenced and handling bequests made to AA. The staff coordinator is responsible to make sure that the staff assignments are covered without interruptions when staff are away from the office for training. The staff coordinator is responsible for the office for travel, vacation, et cetera. Also, the staff coordinator serves as director on the Board of AA World Services. As Assistant Secretary to General Service Board, the staff coordinator helps organize the board's agendas, minutes, rosters, and more. Treatment and Accessibility's assignment is Patrick Claymore. Patrick is also one of the newest members who came aboard from Texas, as a matter of fact. And he's a past staff, Patrick is a staff, a past delegate. The staff member in the Treatment and Accessibility assignments has two areas of service and support. GSO cooperates and shares experience with members on treatment committees. While AA is not affiliated with any alcoholism treatment facility or other treatment setting, local AA communities bring AA meetings and literature into treatment settings. AA strives to make the AA message receivable to every alcoholism community. While there are no special alcoholics, there are alcoholics whose circumstances present particular barriers for receiving the AA message. These may include blindness, deafness, and many less apparent challenges. Recently, and this was, you know, there's a phrase that my sponsor would say, you know, I'd rather see a sermon than hear one. And, you know, in the past, I've been in the service for a long time. And I've been in what I call really walking the talk. Recently, a new appointed committee member, Brianna Gee, has begun service on the Trustees Committee on the CPC Treatment and Accessibilities. And Bri has some excellent professional experience to bring to the committee related to overcoming accessibility barriers. Bri happens to be blind herself. And I just think that that's awesome when we talk about that we want AA to be open to all members, that when it comes to service, we want, certainly, AA to be open to all members. That when it comes to service, we want AA to be open to all members. We want service to be accessible to all members. I, you know, and I met Bri at the last weekend. And she's young and she's energetic. And she's really, really a great member. And I know that she's going to bring a lot to that committee. Also, I mentioned this. I attended the, you had a workshop, Veterans in AA, which I don't think any of us left there with a dry eye. And I was there. And right now the GSO is requesting shared experience from two different perspectives related to AA and the armed services. How is your committee and or local members carrying AA message within the context of military life to alcoholics who are veterans and active duty members of the armed services. Also, if you are an AA member who is also a veteran or active duty member of the armed services, how AA message was effectively carried to you. Within the context of military life, what barriers, if any, did you face in receiving the AA message? Please share any additional information you believe would be helpful. I have, as I mentioned, Patrick Claymore is the staff member on this assignment. If you want to get in touch with Patrick, please see me at the end of this meeting. I have his business cards. Next is literature assignment, and that's me. As I told you, I serve as secretary to the Trustees Conference Literature Committee and the AA Publishing Committee, and I coordinate the logistics of background and subcommittee work related to the development of revision of conference-approved literature. Proposed work is thoroughly reviewed by the conference, and it takes approximately two years or more for anything to be finalized, and that's because of confidentiality. The conference meets once a year. So when we talk about conference-approved, we're really talking about that process, that all the works that, and it will say this is conference-approved literature. Now, what it does not mean, it does not mean that conference disapproves of other literature. It just means that we know that this conference-approved literature has gone through this process. We are sure that this particular piece of literature is about AA, written by AA, and sticks today. We're not going to be able to take away AA's message as we know it. We take no, we have no opinion on if a member wants to use something that's not published by us. But groups, it's suggested that groups use conference-approved literature, only not to confuse the newcomer as to what AA is and what AA is not. And some suggestions is if a group is going to use conference-approved literature and non-conference-approved literature to keep them separate, again, not to confuse them. So not to confuse the newcomer as to what is AA literature and what is not AA literature. Current projects include the update to the pamphlets, AA for the Woman, Young People in AA, Too Young, AA and the Gay, Lesbian, Alcoholic, the Twelve Traditions Illustrated, and Inside AA. Additionally, we're developing literature for alcoholics with mental health issues and those who sponsor them. An interesting story about that particular piece, when we talk about an expressed need from the fellowship, when the call out went, a call out went for stories for AA for the Woman, AA Gay, Lesbian pamphlet, and AA for alcoholics that have mental health issues and those who sponsor them. And we received three times as many stories back from members for developing literature for alcoholics who have mental health issues and those who sponsor them. So for me, that told me that this is something that the fellowship really wants and they really, really need. Also on this assignment, I coordinate the GSO newsletter Box 459, which is sent to all groups. And I know we have lots of GSRs in this group, so you get that. But as a member, if you want a free digital subscription to Box 459, please go on aa.org, and you can sign up and you can get a free digital subscription. As Mark mentioned, in addition to the literature assignment, I've been named alternate coordinator of the 2020 International College of Law. So convention, what an order. And because I'll also be coordinating the 2025 in Vancouver, but my first responsibility right now, I'm coordinating the effort for the site selection for the 2030 International Convention. By conference advisory action, it's requested that that process start seven years ahead. So. I will be doing that. Other than that, I'll be polishing my nails. All the GSO staff assignments and their services, which I've described, are well supported by employees from the support services and staff assistant departments. When I mentioned that we rotate staff, the staff assistants do not. So it's really cool because you may be new on a new assignment, but you'll have a new assignment. And you'll have a staff assistant who has the institutional knowledge, who's been on that assignment for years. So that's that I think that that's really important. It's very cool. I said that to some people here and I'll now say it to all. You have an open invitation to visit the GSO office. You know the address. We're open from 845 to 445 Monday through Friday. I look to also we have a wonderful archive. So when you come in, you take a tour. The office visit the archives. Grapevine is also on the same floor. You visit Grapevine. It's really, really a great experience. And if you arrive on a Friday, you might plan to attend the 11 o'clock a open meeting that we have every Friday. You never know who you may meet there. And as staff, we we take turns on chairing that meeting. And it's really, really cool because it's a meeting that Bill started. We have a seat saved just for you. Hopefully you've enjoyed this presentation. I've I've whetted your appetite to come visit your office in person. I can't tell you how immensely grateful I am to be here to be able to serve you. And thank you again for the loving invitation.