Highlights from the Oklahoma City January ’97 Conference
The following information comes from the meetings of the SA Board of Trustees, the General Delegate Assembly, and the SA Business Meeting (called “SA Today” at the conference; audio tape of the same name available from Glenn K Audio Tapes):
The SA General Delegate Assembly elected the first four non-sexaholic members of the Board of Trustees at its Oklahoma City business meeting. The non-sexaholic members can provide a different perspective on SA operations, and are a legacy from AA passed to our fellowship.
SA’s non-sexaholic trustees are:
- Fr. Emmerich Vogt
- Frank Cardona
- Don Arnold
- Michael Alvarez
(See “Meet the New Trustees”)
If you know of anyone else who would qualify as a future non-sexaholic trustee, please inform the Nominations Committee via SAICO. Criteria for non-sexaholic trustees can be found in the March 1996 Essay.
The following Committee reports were presented at the “SA Today” meeting:
Bylaws
The General Delegate Assembly approved the bylaws of Sexaholics Anonymous, Incorporated. Since SA is now incorporated in the State of Tennessee, SA is legally required to have bylaws which govern the operations of the Board of Trustees and the General Delegate Assembly. Copies of the bylaws are available from SAICO by request.
Literature
The pamphlet “Practical Guidelines for Group Recovery” is available from SAICO. Cost is $1.00 each. This piece will be placed on the order form.
Jess L. described the primary function of new literature as twofold:
(1) to meet needs that are currently lacking, and
(2) provide a diverse expression of voices for needs that are being or have been met.
The four primary needs that the Literature Committee is trying to fulfill are:
- Group inventory guidelines;
- Standard letter for the professional community, e.g. for therapists and clergy;
- Guidance for SA telephone “hotlines”;
- Guidelines for prison service.
Groups or intergroups which have any existing literature on these four topics are asked to send a copy to SAICO for the Literature Committee.
The Spanish SA Big Book will be in a fully bound format shortly, whereas currently it is loosely bound. If anyone is interested in translating SA literature into another language, please contact the Literature Committee via SAICO, or your Regional Delegate to the General Assembly. Your help will most certainly be appreciated. The Literature Committee will then seek the approval of the Board of Trustees.
Intergroup
The Intergroup Committee is trying to obtain an updated list of intergroups throughout the world, including correct mailing addresses and phone numbers. SAICO only has information on 34 intergroups as of January 1997. If your intergroup is not registered with SAICO or has changed its mailing address or other contact information, please contact SAICO with the appropriate details, earmarked for the Intergroup Committee.
Regional Realignment
Any feedback on the regional alignment of intergroups, e.g. if you believe your intergroup should be in a different region, should be sent to SAICO earmarked for the Regional Realignment Committee.
Site Selection
The following sites are confirmed for upcoming SA International Conferences:
- July 1997: Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada
- January 1998: Daytona Beach, FL
- July 1998: Newark, NJ
The following locations have submitted bids for upcoming conferences (tentative and subject to change):
- January 1999: Sacramento, CA
- July 1999: Cleveland, OH
- January 2000: Nashville, TN
- July 2000: Toronto, Ontario, Canada and Minneapolis, MN
Essay
Increased production costs, especially for paper and printing, have forced an increased subscription cost for the Essay Newsletter. As of September 1997, individual subscriptions will cost $10 a year, $8 for groups of 10 or more.
Please encourage all in your groups to subscribe to the Essay: it is the ONLY method of communication available to all of SA. Also, consider creating an Essay representative position at your meetings to raise awareness of the Essay, facilitate subscriptions, and receive group and member input on ideas for the Essay (see March/May 1995 Essay for more information).
Finally, the Essay needs more submissions from members and groups.
Internet
SA now has a WorldWide Web site at http://www.sa.org.
Although many at the recent Oklahoma City conference shared how easy it is to fall into the dark side of the Internet, the new SA site uses the Internet in a positive manner as an outreach to the sexaholics who still suffer in cyberspace and elsewhere. On it are a number of SA readings from our meetings, as well as information on how to find SA through SAICO.
In addition, an E-Mail SA group has formed and is available to any member who wishes to send E-Mail and join. Send your request to saico@sa.org (SAICO’s e-mail address). You will soon receive a reply welcoming you to “our permanent closed SA meeting in cyberspace.” The intent of the group is primarily for group sharing, but one-on-one communication is possible. As of March 1997, over 60 members from the USA, the UK, Canada, Japan, Spain, Ireland, Norway, and Central and South America share their experience, strength, and hope on-line, causing the group’s trusted servant to state, “there should always be someone available in the world of sobriety and recovery.”
Web site: http://www.sa.org
E-mail: saico@sa.org
Nominations
Please forward any nominations you have for SA Board of Trustee members (5 years of sobriety required) or for non-sexaholic trustees to SAICO earmarked for the Nominations Committee.
Legal
SA is looking for members who are attorneys and who would be interested in serving on its Legal Committee. If interested, contact SAICO or your Regional Delegate.
International
No delegate currently represents the International Region. If interested, please contact SAICO. Also, if you are interested in chairing or serving on the International Committee, please contact SAICO.
Loners
Loners with E-Mail access are encouraged to join the E-Mail list (see above). Many, however, remain to be reached by telephone or letter, and requests for contact exceeds the assistance available. Please consider donating just 15 to 30 minutes a month keeping in contact with one or more loners in 18 countries and 26 states. Contact Michael J., Loners Committee, P.O. Box 322, Fairless Hills, PA 19030.
SA Corrections Committee
An even more overwhelming number of requests are received by the SACC. Many, many more prisoners write to SA than there are members who can answer them; therefore, many of their letters go unanswered. Please consider donating 15 – 30 minutes each month to reaching out to those behind bars who have done many of the same things we have done and need our help. Contact Steve O., SACC, P.O. Box 768, North Arlington, NJ 07031.
NOTE: Many of these service opportunities have no major sobriety requirement. In fact, the 12th Step service could help you stay sober! The Board suggests coordination with your sponsor in helping with either the Loners or the Corrections Committee.
NOTE TO REGIONS
The hope of the Board of Trustees and the General Delegate Assembly is that each region would have its representative on each SA committee, or at least a contact (for the SACC and the Loners Committees, for example). Please consider naming such representatives from your region and making them known to the various committees. Consider doing this on intergroup level as well for the benefit of the region.
Example: A prisoner in Illinois writes to the SACC. In order to find out which group can best meet his needs, the SACC Chairperson contacts the North Midwest Region’s SACC representative, who, being closer to the prisoner’s area, can better assist him.
Central Office Management Committee (COMC)
SAICO reports that the credit cards purchase program is going well!
SAICO plans to get a second computer and a refurbished copier.
An SA Archive is being created.
The cost of bulk mailing from SAICO should drop with SA being approved for non-profit bulk mailing status with the U.S. Postal Service.
The SA Big Book, the brochure, and Member Stories have been reprinted. There is plenty of stock on hand to fill orders for the new members.
DID YOU KNOW?: Each SA Big Book actually costs about $2.00 to produce.
So, why is the price $10?
Unrestricted donations comprise less than half of SA income; the rest comes from literature sales (see “Self-supporting through our own contributions?” by Jess L., Essay, December 1996).
Please support SAICO financially through your groups and intergroup.
Otherwise, SA will have to continue to charge top dollar for literature.
Finance
Copies of the 1997 Budget are available from SAICO, upon request.
