Hosting an International Convention
The SA ICC walks an intergroup through the process of hosting an international convention that opens a channel for spiritual growth unique only found in service.
The opportunity to attend an international convention can lead to a recovery experience that will last for years to come. We listen to the experience, strength, and hope from many of our oldtimers. We make new and lasting friendships with members from around the world. We give our time in service by leading a meeting or volunteering in registration or the fellowship room. This is an experience we won’t want to miss.
But what about the experience of those who have facilitated this event? In my years on the SA International Conventions Committee (ICC), I have found that this can be the most spiritual experience of all. It only takes six people to get things moving, and before you know it, others join in, and a planning committee comes to fruition. Meetings are held, ideas are shared, and everyone is given the opportunity to practice the program principles they have been learning about. Each meeting is guided by the SA Traditions. The Concepts of Service bring about a group conscience as the convention comes together.
You are not alone! The ICC works closely with each convention. Our database contains decades of information from previous conventions that have shared what worked and what didn’t work. This gives the local committee the time to add its own personal flavor to the event.
International conventions are facilitated by local intergroups. One does not need to be a professional event planner. All that is required is a heart and passion for that special type of recovery that deepens through conventions.
The SA ICC holds a quarterly informational meeting on Zoom. There you will find ICC members, past and current convention planners, and others, like yourself, who are looking for more information. You are invited to attend this meeting and discover if your Higher Power is asking you to facilitate a future International Convention. To receive the Zoom information for this meeting, please contact Daniel K at danielk.sa.service@gmail.com. You may also contact the SA International Central Office at saico@sa.org.
Tom K, ICC
Letting Professionals Know about SA
This member shares how to form an S-I-P committee for your intergroup.
The main purpose of the Support for Institutions and Professionals (SIP) Committee is to contact professionals and institutions that deal with people who are afflicted with sex addiction. Typically, we function as a subcommittee of the intergroup with two or three SA members. Our primary role is to inform the various SA meetings in the intergroup of SIP’s existence and its purpose. We have a brochure available on the SA website, sa.org, called “SA As a Resource for the Health and Helping Professional.”
In the Southeast region, we have had a committee for over 10 years that has worked in various ways to contact institutions and professionals. We have one open SA meeting, which is held weekly at an institute of mental health, where students and health professionals can attend an SA meeting and learn about our Program.
We have run open meetings at SA international conventions with SA, S-Anon, and S-Ateen representatives. Mental health professionals were invited to attend. A video was shown, and individual representatives from each group gave a five-minute presentation. At some events, a mental health professional would give a presentation. At one SA meeting, we invited a Certified Sexual Addiction Therapist (CSAT) to come and be the featured speaker.
We have held several Zoom meetings where SA and S-Anon representatives speak and share their experiences. Then, the professionals can ask questions. We have found that the most successful way to contact professionals is by invitation from SA and S-Anon members who are currently patients of theirs. Also, some Catholic parish priests have referred members to SA. Although we have had some success sending brochures to hospitals and prisons, our experience is that personal contact is a more effective way to have health professionals attend our meetings.
Another source of starting SA programs is when a group of prisoners creates an SA meeting in prison with the involvement of the chaplain or social worker. We also have groups in South Carolina, Idaho, and Northern Georgia, where members of SA can visit prison meetings.
Paul Z, SIP Subcommittee
