Minutes from the OIAA 18 March 2023 Assembly

The Assembly was opened by the Chair, Jane G, with the Serenity Prayer. Jane welcomed all the attendees.

A Quorum count was taken and it was determined that there were 58 voting members present. According to our Bylaws, the number of voting members must be greater than 25% of the most recent survey of IGRs (182) which is currently 46. With a Quorum established, the Assembly could conduct business today if necessary.

Approval of the December 3rd Assembly Minutes

The Assembly minutes from the December 3rd Assembly were presented to the attendees for review
There were several questions and corrections to the minutes
A motion was made to accept the December 3rd Assembly minutes by Jeanine
and was seconded by Betty Ann. The minutes were approved unanimously.

Chair Report – Jane G., OIAA Chair

Jane provided her Chair report.
In her report, Jane pointed out that OIAA is undergoing significant changes and provided some historical background
She explained that we will have a Treasurer’s report, a Technology report and an open sharing session.
Jane G. mentioned that following the approval of the Bylaws in September, 2022, which was necessary to restore our non-profit status, several issues have arisen with the Bylaws that were passed and several motions are being sent to the Board for consideration. Rather than make these changes piece-meal, a Bylaws Revision ad hoc committee will probably be required.
Jane asked the IGRs to read the monthly chair reports for February and March that she distributed

Treasurer’s Report – Brian R., OIAA Treasurer

Brian first mentioned that the Finance committee is looking for additional volunteers if you are interested, please contact the Treasurer at treasurer@aa-intergroup.org.
Brian reviewed his OIAA Treasurer Update presentation with the attendees.
A copy of Brian’s presentation can be downloaded from the March Assembly Information page on the OIAA website (aa-intergroup.org//march-assembly-2023/)
Brian mentioned that we now have an Alternate Treasurer, Jennifer B.
Questions for the Treasurer
- Q: There were several abbreviations, TIAA and NAATW, that were unfamiliar
  - A: TIAA is the “Technology in AA” organization and NAATW is the “National AA Technology Workshop.”
- Q: I’ve had difficulty making a contribution to OIAA from Japan
  - A: This should not be an issue as Japan is not a restricted country. Brian will investigate.
- Q: Are the payments to the entities over our Prudent reserve yearly payments
  - A: Yes, they are.
- Q: What expenses does OIAA have regularly?
  - A:OIAA’sexpensesfortheyeararedefinedinourannualBudget
    which was approved fir 2023 in December. There is also a process for unbudgeted expenses.
- Q: Where can one find the budgets for each Committee?
  - A: There is currently no budgeting process at the Committee level although there has been discussion of preparing the Budget in that way.
- Q: What % of an OIAA groups funds over prudent reserve should be sent to OIAA as an intergroup?
  - A: Each group is independent and should make this decision based on their own group conscience based on which service entity they believe needs the money the most.

Technology Report – Mark M., Technology Chair

Mark reviewed his OIAA Technology report with the attendees.
A copy of Mark’s presentation can be downloaded from the March Assembly
Information page on the OIAA website
Mark mentioned that when he took over the Technology committee was 5 people and has now grown to 35 to 40 members. These members are now being organized into 3 areas of service: Member services, Cloud services and Web services.
Any questions for the Technology committee can be sent to questions@aa-intergroup.org
Questions for the Technology Chair
- - Q: The website statistics that you mentioned were not in the PowerPoint presentation. Could they be added?
    - A:Yes…they will be added
  - Q: How does the number of meetings in our Director, approx. 6,600, compare to those in the Meeting Guide app
    - A: Mark was not sure
  - Q: How are the meetings listed in the Directory vetted to make sure that they are still active?
    - A: We don’t currently. With an upgrade to the technology and the implementation of a simple verification process, we will be in a better position to verify these meetings.
- Q: When the new website is ready will there be a lag when it goes live or will the website be down?
  - A: The implementation of the new website will be seamless with no down time
- Q: The footer on the new website has a number of abbreviations. Can these be expanded?
  - A: The Website team will take a look but there is not much screen real estate to work with
- Q: Will the Events section be replaced by the Google Calendar in the new website?
  - A:Yes
- Q: Is there a way to submit Member stories?
  - A: Not currently but there will be on the new website

Sharing Session

We are global group and are having difficulty getting a GSR because we don’t know what District to join.
Is there any thought of having OIAA meetings integrated into the GSO Meeting Guide apps? We don’t connect to their Directory so you’ll have to look at that yourself. We will be investigating this possibility.
Do we have a policy on Conference approved literature? We don’t have a policy but each group is autonomous.
Is there a specific place where an IGR can go to ask questions? The IGR Hotlist on the website provides excellent information for IGRs.

Motions Summary

A motion was made to accept the December 3rd Assembly minutes by Jeanine and was seconded by Betty Ann. The minutes were approved unanimously.

Humbly Submitted,
Jeff Bernknopf
OIAA Secretary

OIAA Assembly 16 December 2023