Old News Archive

  • In physical meetings, a binder would contain a cheat sheet for the secretary, as well as optional readings (like Newcomers’ Welcome and Crosstalk Statement) chosen by the group conscience. To facilitate rotation of service, I will post this documents, as I have done for the Evergreen Step and Monday Courage to Change meetings. To view those examples, click on the (blue) day of the week on the line for that meeting in the “List of All Local Zoom Meetings” on the meetings page.
  • The Friday Noon Mt Vernon meeting is sharing its list of Slogans, gathered from the indices of Conference Approved Literature.
  • Is your group still using the Old Newcomers’ Welcome that WSO withdrew in 2004? (See p. 348 of Many Voices, One Journey, B-31) That reading, like crosstalk statements, is not copyrighted by the Al-Anon World Service Office (WSO). These readings fall within each group’s autonomy, our Fourth Tradition. Consider practicing the fourth Concept by calling a group conscience!
  • How safe is your Zoom meeting for newcomers?
  • The WSO’s Al-Anon App is here and includes Alateen information as well.
  • The WSO has a blog where anyone can post. (As much disease as recovery…)
  • A wonderful article by a beloved member of our AIS was published in the April Forum, Al-Anon’s monthly magazine. You can also read it here!

  • Zoom has gotten strict about accounts being used by more than one person, and this can be a problem as we practice rotation of service. Members who have volunteered to host a meeting they didn’t start may suddenly find themselves blocked from that role – and if the Waiting Room is enabled, unable to let anyone else in, either. There is a solution: the “Host Key,” a password that allows anyone to be the Zoom host for that meeting. As host, they can enable the waiting room (if that’s the group conscience), as well as rename, mute, and (heaven forbid) remove participants. Caryn M has generously submitted these handy step-by-step instructions, so that the person who initially set up the meeting doesn’t have to be there every week. Update July 15: if there is no host present (account owner or keeper of the host key), Zoom may shut down the meeting after 40 minutes. Your warning is a little timer counting down. Today we were able to restart the meeting immediately, but whether to allow that is also entirely up to Zoom…Whatever happens, please send meeting updates to baltoais.webmaster@gmail.com