BOX 4-5-9 NEWS AND NOTES FROM THE GENERAL SERVICE OFFICE OF A.A. Vol. 20 No. 2

April-May 1975

Hurry! Denver Rooms Are Going Fast! SIXTH CONVENTION

What Really Goes On Behind the Scenes at the Conference? Delegates and other General Service Conference members never see the “underside” of A.A.’s annual representative assembly as it is viewed by nonalcoholic G,S.O. employees. In this exclusive Box 4-5-9 interview, Denise Stern, G.S.O. office manager since June 1, and her immediate predecessor, Kleina Jones, department coordinator and personnel manager, reveal here “backstage” secrets of Conference meetings. Denise and Kleina never participate in any Conference sessions, committee meetings, or discussions and votes on A.A. matters, of course. But without their heroic, round-the-clock service and dedication, the Conference could not possibly be held.

25TH CONFERENCE Like Kleina before her, Denise will be the first and last person on duty every day when the 25th annual meeting marks the silver anniversary of the General Service Conference of A.A. (U.S.-Canada) April 21-26 this year at New York’s Hotel Roosevelt. Denise will also direct a large, rotating crew of stenographic help working away at Conference business over hot typewriters in a big office room hidden away upstairs in the hotel. After every committee proceeding and workshop, they transcribe and produce the immaculate, many-times-revised minutes which appear like magic at each

If advance registrations are a sign, A.A.’s 40th Anniversary Innational Convention (July 4-6, 1975, Denver, Cob., U.S.A.) may be the biggest in A.A. history. Over 9,400 advance registrations and room reservations had arrived at G.S.O. by Mar. 14, and they keep pouring in at more than a hundred per day. Charter flights at economical rates are already set from Africa, California, New York, England, and New Jersey, with many more in the works. Subjects for ten workshops and 14 panels are scheduled. They inchide public communications media, anonymity, Big Book (Steps, Traditions, and sponsorship), hospitals, correctional facilities, professional cooperation with A.A. (and vice versa), industry, armed services, “two-hatters,” courts, alcoholism agencies, rehab programs, the Grapevine, Internationalists and Loners, central offices, general services, and public inforination. Six of these will also be held in the Spanish language. Sixty-four alkathons are scheduled (8:00 am. to 2:00 am.), including regional ones, young people, doctors in A.A., around-theworld, a family alkathon, and special ones in French, Spanish, and Indian tongues. In addition, two big meetings in Currigan Convention Hall, the “gala opening ball and rock hop” (Thursday

NEW OVERSEAS DIRECTORY READY

FIRST GENERAL PRICE RISE IN A.A. LITERATURE

A.A. world directories have started rolling off the press again, after the moratorium recommended by the 1973-74 General Service Conferences for devising and setting up an entirely new system for issuing the directory in four parts each year. First of the new ones to be ready is the International A .A. Directory (outside U.S. and Canada). Primarily a service to help travelers find A.A. overseas, the new edition has a smaller, easier-to-carry format than the old ones.

Effective May 1, 1975, A.A. World Services, Inc., is forced reluctantly – to raise the price of all A.A. literature, for the first time in our history. A discount structure based on quantity orders, to be introduced at the same time, will help hard-pressed intergroups and central offices. A.A.W.S. is probably the only book publisher in the world which has had no general Price increase in 35 years. In the past 14 months alone, book-paper costs have risen 60%. The costs of doing business

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Box 4-5-9 is published bimonthly by the General Service Office of Alcoholics Anonymous, 468 Park Avenue South, New York, N.Y. 10016.

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Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, Inc., 1975.

Mail address: P.O. Box 459, Grand central Station, New York, N. Y. 10017. Subscriptions: Individual, $1 per yr.; group, $2.50 for each unit of 10 per yr. check payable to A.A. W.S., Inc. must accoinpany order.

LITERATURE PRICE RISE (continued from p. 1)

– including those of running G.S.O. – also have soared. As far back as 197 1, the General Service Conference gave authority to A.A.W.S. to raise the prices of hooks and literature when necessary. The 1973 Conference reconfirmed the authorization, The final decision was not made, however, until the 1975 budget was threatened with a sizable deficit. On February 3, the trustees gave their approval to adjust prices upward. Prices of pamphlets and other material will be increased on an over-all average of about 45%. Changes in book prices and group discounts are as follows: Old Price

New Price

“Alcoholics Anonymous” Retail …………….. $4.50 $6.25 To A.A. groups ………. 4.00 5.75 “Twelve and Twelve” (regular) Retail …………….. 2.75 4.00 To A.A. groups ………. 2.50 3.75 “Twelve and Twelve” (gift) Retail …………….. 3.00 4.25 To A.A. groups ………. 2.75 4.00 “A.A. Comes of Age” Retail …………….. 4.00 5.75 To A.A. groups ………. 3.50 5.25 “As Bill Sees It” Retail …………….. 3.50 5.00 To A.A.groups ………. 3.15 4.65

Orders received l)CfOre May I of course, be honored at the old prices for all A.A. literature.

Will,

MATURITY MILESTONE The first nation to which A.A. spread from North America was Great Britain. The story of false

starts and troubles in the 1940’s (15 newspapers refused to mention A.A.) and eventual stability is told crisply in the just-published “The A.A. Service Handbook for Great Britain.” Up until now, British A.A.’s, like others, have pretty much adapted U.S.-Canada A.A. procedures and structures. But, as the introduction to the new manual notes, ’’Our national institutions are not always comparable with those of the United States. . . . We have been able to work out procedures … more appropriate to the needs of the Fellowship in this country.” This is the first A.A. service structure overseas to come up with its own original manual. It seems to us a beauty, reflecting the maturity of A.A. in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. It is carefully thought out and well written and edited, after years of work by the General Service Board of A.A., Ltd. (Great Britain and Ireland), and their nine-year-old G.S. Conference.

CALLING OLD ’NEW LIFE’ MEMBERS Bill W., Niland, Calif., is anxious to contact all former members of the New Life Group, which he joined in the state penitentiary in Canon City, Cob., 20 years ago. A group reunion will be held during the 40th Anniversary International Convention in Denver. Twenty-five members have signed up so far. If you don’t know Bill’s address, write him in care of G.S.O., and we’ll forward it to him. “Doing a five-year sentence for drunk driving,” he wrote us recently, ’’I was introduced to A.A. and promised at my first meeting by an outside member I could have a wonderful life in A.A. without another drink or going to another jail. This promise has been so true for me and lots of other guys from that group. I have never lost contact. I still write them, and every year since my release, I have

got back for at least one meeting (a Twelfth Step call of 2,500 miles).” Bill added, “Quite a bunch of us retired people, all in A.A. a number of years and living in trailers, get together every summer for some bumming-around together, using the World Directory. Last year, we made meetings in 21 states and nine penitentiaries. Thanks to the World Directory, a sober ball was had by all.”

A.M.S.A. AWARD GIVEN DR. JACK The nonalcoholic chairman of A.A.’s General Service Board, John L. (“Dr. Jack”) Norris, M.D., was honored by the American Medical Society on Alcoholism at its most recent annual meeting. He was the third person in the society’s history to receive its “Award and Bronze Medalin commemoration of outstanding contributions to the advancement of knowledge about alcoholism and in grateful recognition of unstinting dedication to healing the sick and troubled victims of this illness.” Long noted as a world authority on industrial alcoholism, Dr. Jack first became seriously interested in the disease during his distinguished career as associate medical director of the Eastman Kodak Company, Rochester, N.Y., from which he is now retired. He is former chairman of the New York Governor’s Committee on Alcoholism and former president of the Industrial Medicine Association and the American Academy of Occupational Medicine. Fortunately for us, he joined our board in 1951. Some A.A. members may feel that any honor to Dr. Jack is indirectly a recognition of A.A. More likely, he would have achieved his Own distinctions without need of us. But we have needed him, and still will for years to come. Incidentallyhe has never been paid a cent for his loving service to A.A.

Delegate Corner

Central Office Corner EVOLUTION OF GOOD 1NTERGROUPS

WHY HOLD A CONFERENCE, ANYWAY?

We continue the story started in the last issue of Box 4-5-9. “You’ll set up another central office over my dead body,” declared one of the original intergroup deacons when A.A.’s 90 miles away from Anonymousyule felt they had enough groups, meetings, and calls for twelfth-stepping to set up their own CO. Nevertheless, as soon as the groups in the other city felt certain of enough financial support and volunteer manpower, they finally did open their own. It was an immediate success. It did indeed, as the original C.O. deacons had forecast, drain off some financial support from the old CO., because groups naturally started supporting their own local office, not the older one so far away. But at the same time, the new office relieved the old one of a large load of work, and did it more quickly and efficiently than the mother office could by long distance. The same pattern has since been followed in other communities in that region. But some important lessons have been learned from the experience. We’ll share them with you later.

The First Concept for world service says: “The final responsibility and the ultimate authority for A.A. world services should always reside in the collective conscience of our whole Fellowship,” As it is impossible for all A.A. members to meet together and find the group conscience of so many, the Conference has developed as the means of finding and expressing this conscience. Each group elects a G.S.R. to express its group conscience at assembly meetings, and to elect a person to whom the groups delegate the responsibility of representing them at the General Service Conference. The delegates meet with other Conference members for six days of deliberative and policy-making sessions. For all practical purposes, then, the Conference becomes the collective conscience of our Fellowship insuring communication between the groups and their board and their General Service Office.

– Cora Louise B., 1975 Conference Secretary

WHAT HAPPENED TO ONE TRUSTEE WHO CAN BE A GOOD G.S.R.?

It was a bit unusual that Don A., Chappell Hill, Tex., became Southwest regional trustee in 1971. Sober 18 years, Don had been active in many groups, but, unlike other regional board members, had never been a Conference delegate. Other activities had made Don known to A.A.’s in many states, however. As a private citizen (not as an A.A. member), Don had served on a volunteer governmental alcoholism body and worked with alcoholics in correctional institutions for many years. He was always careful to observe our nonaffiliation and anonymity-in-public-media Traditions. A.A. ’s for miles around appreciated both his ability and his brand of A.A. Don says the third World Service Meeting, in London, was the high point of his Third Legacy work, because of the broad, new view of A.A. it gave him. He also credits his trusteeship with “sharpening sobriety” in other ways. “It has taught me about communications and made me more objective about A.A. work. That is, I now have a new grasp of what ’principles before personalities’ means,” Don explains. We will miss Don very much when the torch of service rotates to the hands of his successor this April.

After four years as group secretary-treasurer, George H., Pratt, Kans., became a G.S.R. and alternate district committee member. Here are his suggestions on reporting to the group: “For me, it seems important to be liked and respected by your group. To be a good, dependable servant. To be there when they need you. To participate in group activities. To carry the message, both within the group and outside it, to sick alcoholics. “When giving a report, be thorough, but as brief as possible and to the point. Don’t read a report (unless it is a financial one). Memorize high points, then just glance at it once in a while. Answer questions and discuss certain points as you go along. The report is for the group. Get them to participate.” Thanks, George. Maybe you will encourage others to share experiences of this sort. We can see why you write, “I have been given so very much for so little. My A.A. cup runneth over. Without A.A., it would not have been possible for me to be sober ten years, instead of looking at the world through the bottom of a bottle.”

G.S.R. Corner

Trustee Corner 3

REPORT FROM G.S.O.’s GENERAL MANAGER It now takes 74 paid workers at your General Service Office to handle the job of carrying the message worldwide. That sounds like a lot of people, but look at it this way: Thirty years ago, we had one paid worker to every 98 groups; 20 years ago, one paid worker for 230 groups; today, with greatly expanded services, one G.S.O. worker serves 324 groups. Fourteen of us are A.A. members; the rest are dedicated nonalcoholics. One-third of the G.S.O. family is male; two-thirds, female. Blacks constitute about one-third of the work force. Five employees are over 60 years old; five are under 20; and about 45% of the total are between 20 and 30. The ethnic mix is, to me, amazingly diversedon’t ask me why. Among G.S.O. employees are two Chinese, one Japanese, one Filipino, two Puerto Ricans, two Trinidadians, three Colombians (South America), one Cuban, two Maltese, one Yugoslav, and one Indian (from India, that is). We have a regular United Nations right here in the officejust as we do in the Fellowship at large. – Bob P.

THIRD CONCEPT PROVES GOOD GROUP GUIDE This is the third in a series of articles on the concepts for A.A. ’s world services, based on an A.A. convention talk. Maybe a six-member group would all get together to decide what brand of coffee to buy. But the average group wouldn’t expect the chairman to call a business meeting every time a question like that came up. Members are usually willing to delegate authority, to give the “Right of Decision” to their group officerstrusted servants. Concept Three says that, to insure effective leadership, we should endow each element of A.A.the

Conference, the board and its service corporations, staffs, committees, and executiveswith a traditional “Right of Decision.” What would happen if a delegate to the Conference said only, “My area told me to answer no”? Or “Hold everything. I’ve got to phone home and find out what my group wants me to say”? It doesn’t work like that, of course. Sending a delegate to the Conference with strict instructions would be like telling him to go to an A.A. meeting with a firmly closed mind. Actually, each Conference delegate talks about opinions among the groups back home. He shares their experience. But then he listens to other delegates sharing their groups’ ideas. Some of them may have found better answers than his groups have. Maybe they haven’t. Either way, by the end of Conference week, members will wind up with a recommendation, because the “Right of Decision” belongs to Conference members. Without it, a delegate wouldn’t be a trusted servant at alljust a messenger. Those to whom we delegate responsibility must also be free to make decisions.

NEW OVERSEAS DIRECTORY (continued from p. 1)

For countries having their own general service offices that put out their own national directories, only the G.S.O. and central office addresses and phones are listed in this new directory, so visiting A.A.’s can make local contacts there to obtain up-to-date information on groups and meetings. For nations without their own G.S.O.’s, the new issue lists all known central offices, clubhouses, groups, and other A.A. contacts. The other three directories will become available in this order (no dates set as yet): (1) Canada; (2) Eastern U.S.; (3) Western U.S. These will list all known groups and other information previously given, as furnished to G.S.O. by General

Service Conference delegates (usually with the help of their area committees). As each directory is completed, a copy will be sent free to every group listed in that particular volume. For instance, each Canadian group will receive a free copy of Canadian A.A. Directory. Groups and individual A.A.’s in the U.S. may purchase Canadian directories through their group G.S.R.’s or secretaries. The directories are a service to A.A.’s, not a profit-making enterprise by A.A. World Services, Inc. (our publishing company), since so many are given away. All directories are now priced at 75 each. Lena Machado, nonalcoholic head of our records department, asks us to thank warmly all those who helped by sending in new correct group mailing addresses in response to the plea in Box 4-5-9. She hopes correct new addresses will keep pouring in.

25TH CONFERENCE (continued from p. 1)

delegate’s seat within hours. Each day, they also have to type copy for the Conference (Early Bird) edition of Box 4-5-9, which delegates find at their breakfast plates on the last morning. Last April, right after the 24th Conference closed, but long before its work was wound up, Kleina began working on this year’s session. She had to confirm with the hotel the contract and arrangements for the 25th meeting. Other New York hotels try to get this business, of course, but none can underbid the Roosevelt. For a couple of years, another hotel was tried. However, arrangements were inconvenient, and “the year of the mouse” ended that experiment. During a Conference plenary session held that year, Kleina had to get a message to someone on the speakers’ platform. Entering (continued on p. 5)

25TH CONFERENCE (continued from p. 4

the meeting hail, she was horrified to spy a mouse perched calmly before the speakers’ table, apparently unnoticed by the busy Conference members. Kleina didn’t think it over. She sprinted down the middle aisle, grabbed the astonished rodent by the tail, and dashed out a side door to toss the culprit into the nearest available opening – a laundry chute, she thinks. The Conference meeting hummed along, and that hotel was closed soon afterward. For our Conference, bedrooms must be saved for 91 U.S. and Canadian delegates, plus trustees, staff members, and others who have to stay at the hotel all week. Also reserved: the large, main-floor Terrace Room, where general sessions are held; the adjoining Oval Room, where Conference members lunch together; and enough suites of medium-size meeting rooms for all workshops and committee meetings. The opening-night dinner (attended by about 250 people), daily lunches, twice-daily coffee breaks, special dinner meetings, and the closing brunch are also scheduled. Final plans for these have to be set in January. Other preparations start in January, too. For example, the dozen or so large display boards showing A.A.’s worldwide services, literature, growth, etc., are started then. And soon thereafter begins the job of assembling and labeling a whole vanload of office equipment, supplies, and other materials which have to be arranged at the hotel in the order in which they will be used. Financial data sheets come later, too, and the behind-the-scenes labors of nonalcoholic controller Dennis Manders, his assistant, Charles Columbia, and their departments are a whole other story. Amplification and taping service,

office and storage space, the hospitality room for spouses, film and slide projectors, special telephone connections all these are the office manager’s responsibility, and the Conference couldn’t go on without them. “The worst part of – any Conference is the two weeks just before it opens,” Denise said. “One of our most important jobs is to prepare a complete, correct, indexed, 150-page manual for each voting member of the Conference (135). It contains staff and committee reports, rosters, working papers, background data, agenda and orientation pages, and other materials from every department at G.S.O.” 25th Annual General Service Conference (U.S.-Canada) Theme: “Unity – Through Love and Service”

Some Agenda Topics Is sponsorship slipping, or only changing? Our Traditions (personal experiences shared by delegates, plus discussion and workshop) A.A.’s Twelve Concepts for Service Group support for group services Role of the “two-hatter” The A.A. Grapevine Is there too much A.A. literature? Election of three trustees: two regional (N.E. U.S., S.W. U.S.); one general service (Canada all provinces) Role of the district committee member Requests for change of region (Alaska, Missouri) International Convention Note: All but the last two items were announced in February-March Box 4-5-9.

Collating these pages, Denise said, “takes five or six members of the stenographic department working three hours three nights a week (so their normal work doesn’t suffer) for two weeks.” Before that, of course, the stenographic department has had to type all the pages. Every single manual must be checked and checked again as the opening day of the Conference draws nearer and tension mounts, Denise said. “It’s like frantically getting ready for a Broadway opening night,” added Kleina, who had been an actress before starting her G.S.O. career. Is every manual always perfect? “Well,” Denise replied, ’’we’re only human; but our goal is to be inhumanly perfect.” The banner of the Conference theme, the gavel, timer, and that darned bell for cutting off talkers who get carried away all go in place the night before opening. Trustee elections require special items such as a big blackboard, chalk, erasers, ballots, and rØsumØs of nominees. As the sun rises each day the week of April 21-26, Denise will check the Conference hall, making sure that everything is in place. She will then attend the daily staff breakfast at 7:30, where the day’s agenda is reviewed and any arrangement problems that may have arisen are worked out. At a Conference some years back, Kleina recalls being told, no one could find a copy of the Big Book anywhere in the hotel. Ever since then, a long checklist of possible contingency supplies is packed early in April by (nonalcoholic) Al Cryan’s shipping department. Copies of all A.A. publications, order forms, and many other items will be quickly available if needed. When the Conference ends, even before all this stuff is inventoried, labeled, and packed for trucking back to G.S.O., Denise starts (continued on p. 6)

25TH CONFERENCE (continued from i,. 5)

checking every single bill for the Conference, and the steno department pitches in on copies of final committee and other reports, presentations, and extra Box 4-5-9’s which must be sent without delay to all delegates. And all this only skims the top off the Conference chores Denise is responsible for. The story of how Denise Stern, G.S.O.’s new nonalcoholic office manager, first came to work for the Fellowship has a familiar ring. Fresh out of the Academy of Mt. St. Ursula and the Woods School in New York, she worked as secretary to a bank officer and to a manufacturing executive, and was so dissatisfied that she left both jobs. For several months, she haunted an employment agency for a position she would like, but none turned up. Starting to panic, she began to spend all day at the agency. Then one day a placement officer said, “I just got a call about a steno job, but I don’t think You’d like it.” “Where is it?” Denise asked. “At Alcoholics Anonymous.” Denise’s heart sank. For a second, she wondered, “Has it come to this?” But she was scared, so she sighed and said, “Oh, well, I’m so desperate by now I’ll try (Ever heard that aiij f/i ing.” before?) She found G.S.O. considerably less posh than the elegant offices where she had worked before, and on her first morning, she decided to leave at the end of the week. She has been at G.S.O. ever since, and that was nearly four years ago. “1 had never experienced such friendliness on a job before,” Denise explained. “And it blew my mind to call people by their first names – Beth, Bob, Ann, Midge, Cora Louise, Kleina, Dennis, Niles, and so on, not Mr. or Mrs. or Miss Something.” Denise is herself so openly

friendly, direct, relaxed, and attractive that she fits right in. (Unsuspecting visitors assume she’s an alky like us.) Her rapid promotions attest to her extraordinary maturity, poise, and work efficiency. Now hold your hat Denise is all of 23 years old. Conference members will be greeted by Denise as they enter the Oval Room Monday morning, April 21. Mary Feeley (also nonalcoholic), assistant supervisor of the steno department, Denise’s chief aide for the Conference, will help her in handing delegates their name tags and bulky work kits. Denise and Mary (who will eat at their work tables all week) will still be there smiling when the bone-tired but exhilarated Conference members depart on Satur day. And before most of them get back home, Denise’s work on the 1976 Conference will already be under way one day at a time, of course.

CLOSED MEETING TOPICS FROM THE GRAPEVINE April: Do spiritual conversions really happen? Discuss after reading “On the Road to Damascus.” See “Gift of Faith” and share attitudes on the meaning of faith to each of us. Three articles (pp. 16, 18, 19) witness growth in personal understanding of a Higher Power. Can this growth change our lives? May: “Bronzed Moccasins” traces a doctor’s long, hard road to acceptance of his alcoholism. How did you reach the point of acceptance and surrender? “How It Works” suggests a deeper look into the Big Book’s fifth chapter. Read “Call Me Early”; discuss when and how to block stinking thinking. SIXTH CONVENTION (continued from p. 1)

evening, July 3), and a big professional variety show are set. Ask any of us who experienced any earlier Convention – Miami

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Beach (’70), Toronto (’65), Long Beach (’60), St. Louis (’55), or Cleveland (’50) and chances are you’ll hear, “Unbelievable! Oncein-a-lifetime! I hadn’t dreamed there could be such a thrill!” About Miami Beach, a Californian said, “It was intensely affecting. Trying to describe it comes out all confusion, hysteria, euphoria, maudlin sentiment, rapture, exaggeration, exultation, frenzy, fatigue, delight, excitement, friendship.” “For the last meeting at the Maple Leaf Stadium in Toronto, I was late,” a Connecticut A.A. reported, “so my buddy and I went to the top balcony for seats. I’ll never forget that moment when we stepped into that vast arena and saw spread beneath us wall-to-wall acres of drunks like us, all sober and happy. We were speechless, almost paralyzed with joy. I’ll never miss a chance at such a feeling again, even if I have to hock my son’s car or hitchhike!” “I felt as if a gentle lightning bolt was cracking open my mind and heart that first night when I walked into Kiel Auditorium in St. Louis,” a Michigan woman wrote. “After ten years in the Fellowship, this was really the beginning of a whole new A.A. life for me.” Theme for the three unforgettable 24-hours in Denver is “Let It Begin With Me.” Lois W., Bill’s widow, “First Lady” of Al-Anon Family Groups, will open the celebration by proclaiming the new slogan appropriately, since the theme has been inspired by AlAnon’s use of the wish or prayer. And we’ll all join Lois in repeating it. Fifteen dollars per person covers registration for all Convention events. For registration and housing-reservation forms, see your group’s general service representative (G.S.R.)or secretary, or write: Convention, Box 459, Grand Central Station, New York, N.Y. 10007, U.S.A.

BOX 4-5-0

THE BULLETIN BOARD April

–

May 1975

ITEMS AND IDEAS ON AREA A.A. GATHERINGS – VIA G.S.O.

A.A. CALENDAR OF EVENTS APRIL 3 – 6 – Longview, Texas. Sixth Annual E. Tex. Roundup. Write: Secy., P.O. Box 2082, Longview, Tex. 75601 4 – 6 – Clearwater, Florida. Fourth Annual Suncoast Cony. Write: Cony. Chm., 11608 Seminole Blvd., Largo, Eta. 33540 4 – 6 – Jackson’s Mill, West Virginia. Third Annual W.Va. Spring Roundup. Write: Chm., P.O. Box 825, Clarksburg, W.Va. 26301 4 – 6 – Lethbridge, Alberta, Canada. S. Alta. Roundup. Write: Roundup Chm., Box 212, Lethbridge, Alta., Canada 4 – 6 -New Orleans, Louisiana. Big Deep South Eighth Annual Cony, Write: Special Activities Comm., 535 Gravier Bldg., Rm. 707, New Orleans, La. 70130 5 – 6 Marquette, Michigan. N. Wis.-Upper Mich. Spring Conf, Write: Conf. Chm., Alano Club, 326 High St., Marquette, Mich. 49855 11.13 – Ocean City, Maryland. Fifth Annual Md. State A.A. Cony. Write: Cony. Comm., P.O. Box 841, Salisbury, Md. 21801 11.13- Portrush, Ireland. 18th Irish Cons’. Write: Secy., I Silverthorn Ave., Coleraine, Portrush, Ireland 12-13 – Lloydminster, Alberta, Canada. Interprovincial Roundup. Write: Chrn., 5010 41st St., Lloydminster, Alta., Canada 59V 0P6 12-13 Edmonton, Alberta. Fourth Edmonton Spring Roundup. Write: Registration Chin., P.O. Box 5397, Stn. E., Edmonton, Alta., Canada 12-13 – Vancouver, British Columbia, c’anada. Third Annual Pacific Northwest Young People’s Roundup. Write: Secy., 313-1455 Fir St., White Rock, B.C., Canada 18-20 New York, New York. New York State Cony. Write: Chm., Cony. Comm., P.O. Box 1850, G.P.O. New York, N.Y., 10001 19-21 Camp Tama, Japan. Spring Far East Roundup. Write: Chin., P.O. Box 151, USAMEDDACJ, APO San Francisco, Calif. 96331 Second 25-27 – Banff Alberta, Canada. Annual Spring Roundup. Write: Chni., Box 6744, Stn. D, Calgary, Alta., Canada T2P 2E6 25-27 – Kassel, West Germany. English-Speaking and German A.A. Roundup. Write: Intergruppe Mitte, 8752 Mainaschaff, Postfacts 33, West Germany 24-27-Memphis, Tennessee. 24th Annual Tenn. State Cony. Write: Cony. Chns., P.O. Box 16998, Memphis, Tenn. 38116

2 – 3 – Killington, Vermont. Eighth Annual Vt. State Cony. Write: Chm., Box 323, St. Albans, Vt., 05478 2 – 4 – Surrey, British Columbia. Fifth Fraser Valley Rally. Write: Secy., #17, 11735 89th Ave., North Delta, B.C. V4C 3G8, Canada 2 . 4 – Fresno, California. Third Annual Hospital and Institutional Conf. Write: Chm., P.O. Box 4554, Downey, Calif. 90241 3 – – Washington, D.C. 33rd Annual Wash. Area Intergroup Banquet. Write: Banq. Chm., WAIA, 1884 Columbia Rd. NW, 1006, Washington, D.C. 20009 3 – 4 – Sioux Falls, South Dakota. S.Dak. Spring Conf. Write: Chin., Box 319, Sioux Falls, S.Dak. 57101 3 – 4 – Kelseyville, California. Third Annual Konocti Spring Assembly. Write: Chin., 395 Imperial Way #122, Daly City, Calif. 94015 9 -11 – Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada. 11th Annual Niagara Blossom Time Cony. Write: Niagara A.A. Cony., Box 294, St. Catharines, Out., Canada 9 -11 – Renfrew, Scotland. 19th Annual Scottish A.A. Cony. Write: Mgr., Normandy Hotel, Renfrew, Scotland 9 -11 – Rawlins, Wyoming. Wyo. State Cony. Write: Chm., P.O. Box 463, Rawlins, Wyo. 82301 9 -11 – Atlantic City, New Jersey. Eighth Intergroup Roundup. Write: Chm., 2202 St. James St., Philadelphia, Pa. 19103 9 -11 – Pembroke, Ontario, c’anada. 13th Annual Upper Ottawa Valley Dist. Cony. Write: Chm., P.O. Box 1, Pembroke, Out., K8A 6X1, Canada 9 -11 – Kalispell, Montana. Mont. Spring Conf. Write: P.O. Box 253, Kalispell, Mont. 59901 16-18 – Bath, North Carolina. Eighth Semiannual E. N.C. Tr-Area Roundup. Write: Secy., P.O. Box 96, Bath, N.C. 27808 16-18 – Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. 34th Anniv. Okla. State Conf. Write: Conf. Chns., P.O. Box 20488, Oklahoma City, Okla. 73120 16-18 – Atlanta, Georgia. Second Annual S.E. Conf. of Young People in A.A. Write: Conf. Chin., P.O. Box 49622, Atlanta, Ga. 30329 16-18 – Brandon, Manitoba, Canada. W. Man. Annual Conf. Write: Chm., Box 382, Brandon, Man., Canada 23-25 – Frederick, Maryland. Mini Maac Conf. Write: Mini Maac, P.O. Box 1531, Wheaton, Md. 20902 29- – San Fernando, Trinidad. 16th Annual Cony. Write: P.O. Box 133, San Fernando, Trinidad, W.I.

30-June 1 – Prince Albert, Saskatchewan, c’anada. 1975 Prince Albert Gateway Roundup. Write: Secy., 12 12th St. E., Prince Albert, Sask., Canada S6V 1132 JUNE 5 – 8 – Arlington, Texas. 1975 Texas State A.A. Conf. Write: Conf. Chin., P.O. Box 1306. Arlington, Tex. 76010 7 – 8 – Winchester, Virginia. Four-State and D.C. A.A. Get-Together. Write: Chin., Four-State & D.C. Comm., P.O. Box 651, Winchester, Va. 22601 13-15 – Wheeling, West Virginia. 23rd Annual State Conf. Write: W.Va., Conf. Comm., P.O. Box 6191, Wheeling, W.Va. 26003 13-15 – Hibbing, Minnesota. Fifth Annual Get-Together of Upper Minn. Write: Chin., Box 646, Hibbing, Minn. 55746

WHAT KIND, HOW MANY ’OTHER’ MEETINGS? In addition to regular group meetings, there are many other formats used when A.A.’sjoin each other-from carefully planned study classes on Steps, Traditions, and sponsorship, prayer groups, encounter sessions, and Eleventh Step meetings to small clusters of A.A. oldtimers. Then, too, church basements, school cafeterias, clubrooms, and classrooms do not always house necessarily the best A.A. sessions. Just as in the Fellowship’s early days, private living quarters still are the site of A.A. sharings. Perhaps some of the very best A.A. ideas come out of members’ living or dining rooms. If you have ever participated in such informal, fairly private A.A. activity or know someone who has, please tell us about it. How many got together? How often’? For what purpose’? How were sessions planned and run’? Where? Were there rules? Are the gatherings still going on? We’ll appreciate your sharing these experiences with G. S. 0.