R6 Chair Kimberly C asked on Friday for the conference to reconsider its decision of Thursday to consider major religious holidays in the scheduling of future conferences. Her rationale was that nonreligious people could feel as though they had been relegated to lesser status. Indeed, the second pro speaker said as much, quite emotionally. She…
One the last measures the conference considered was to add term limits for trustees. This was offered as a bylaw amendment: “Trustees shall be elected at the annual WorldService Business Conference for a period of threeyears. Trustees may be elected at any annual Conference in order to fill the remaining term created by a vacancy…
OA’s bylaws state a number of prerequisites for members to be eligible to serve on the board, such as seven years’ membership in the program and having attended at least two World Service Business Conferences. The point of an amendment heard this morning was to specify what sort of experience at the Region level was…
One set of proposals would have changed the Steps(!!) by removing references to “Him.” For example, Step 11 would have changed to read, “…to improve our conscious contact with God as we understood God….” I think it is fair to say that many delegates expected these proposals to be among the most controversial this week….
The chair’s first comment this morning included a parable about working together. She said she has sensed growing divisions among us, white vs. nonwhite, English speakers vs. non-English speakers, and American vs. non-American. She did not say so, but the comment may have been spurred by the vote on taking religious holidays into account when…
One 7th Tradition was taken Friday afternoon for the entire conference. Delegates donated $9,411 in USD, and $20 AUS. Based on the din that greeted the announcement, delegates were impressed by the figure.
Owing to rotation of service and other factors, 10 vacancies out of 17 positions existed on the Board of Trustees as delegates gathered for the conference. Six candidates stood for election, and all were elected. One of the vacancies materialized because Beth B., Region 6 trustee, reached the end of her term and chose not…
Two proposals addressed how and when the World Service Business Conference would meet, and the reference subcommittee combined them into a single motion. It would call for a two-year rotation in which one year would meet in person, and the other would meet via a videoconferencing platform. In the latter case, the Trustees would have…
“Abstinence is the action of refraining from compulsive eater and compulsive food behaviors while working toward or maintaining a healthy body weight.” Surely you’ve heard this before; it’s OA’s definition of abstinence. At the World Service Business Conference in Albuquerque, a delegate proposed removing the word “weight.” Plenty of delegates rose to speak for and…
Dan Sandweiss was hired about 8 months ago as OA’s managing director, which means today was his first opportunity to appear before the World Service Business Conference. He evinced great enthusiasm for OA’s mission, said he loves the work, and “you’ll have to kick me out” before he’ll ever leave the job. As one would…