World Service Conference Cocaine Anonymous
Daily Summary
August 28, 2012 – Day 1
Tony D.: The Conference will come to order. Please take your seats. Good evening and welcome to the 29th World Service Conference of Cocaine Anonymous. My name is Tony D. and I’m your Chairperson. And please join me in the Serenity Prayer.
(Conference recites Serenity Prayer)
Grace M.: (reads Who Is a CA Member?)
Tony D.: Thank you Grace. I have asked Elizabeth S. to read The Twelve Traditions.
Elizabeth S.: (reads the 12 Traditions)
Tony D.: Thank you Elizabeth. Next, I have asked Cynthia S. to read the 12 Concepts.
Cynthia S.: (reads the 12 Concepts)
Tony D.: Thank you Cynthia. All right, I want to welcome everybody to the 2012 World Service Conference. I’ve been reliably informed it is our 29th. NO I have not been here for all of them, just the last 13. This is where the fellowship representatives meet to conduct the business of CA’s World Services. However, we have spiritual principles come in from the Steps, Traditions and the Concepts of Service, which should be followed during the Conference. Our goals and work are, hopefully, based on spiritual guidance that we understand comes to us from our Higher Power, through the group conscience embodied in our Second Tradition. I believe, and hope that you will agree, that God does work through us here, no matter how difficult the process sometimes seems to be. We not only
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use certain rules of order, but also abide by the principles of the program, such as love, tolerance, kindness, and especially patience. Please remember that when the gavel falls this coming Sunday that the decisions made at this conference should be carried back to your areas with support and enthusiasm. We are now going to proceed with roll call. This is time consuming and very important. From this count, we will establish our quorum for today. Please limit your side conversations. Yes, I know it’s been a year since you’ve all seen each other, or most of you have seen each other. Let’s keep it to a minimum. If you really need to talk to somebody immediately, you can take it outside, but you have to be counted in order to be counted. That means you come up here to the microphone. Now, most of you are already sitting where you want to sit at this conference. If you want to change your seat, do so now. We will be sending out a piece of paper, a seating chart. You will write your name in the little box where it is appropriate. A formal seating chart will be created from it and given to us up here. Please sit in the same place, so that for those of you who I don’t know, I will come to know by use of that chart. When you come up to this microphone, up here, in order, be sure to speak your full name, your affiliation, the number of votes that you carry, or none if you have no votes. Please refrain from any extra commentary when you come to the microphone. And we are going to start on my right.
ROLL CALL
All right, is there anyone else here that has not already gone up to the roll call microphone and put their number of votes in? Okay, hold on while I determine the preliminary quorum. We have 143 votes. The quorum will be 96.
Robin, are you ready with Conference Committee announcements? Do you have any? Lori/Susan do you have any?
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Thank you. A couple of other quick announcements. For those of you who have strung extension cords to power up your electronic equipment, please secure them, the conference committee should have tape available. Oh, anything that’s up here, in terms of materials, like supplies and office supplies, those are for our use up here. Please don’t borrow them, especially permanently. If you have questions, hopefully, they’re real important questions. You bring them over to Trevor, do NOT approach me during session, hand him your messages, he’ll get them to me, and I’ll get them out onto the floor as quickly as possible, but we will take breaks fairly often. In other words, please don’t leave the floor unless you really need to, and remember, when you’re speaking at the microphone, start with your name, affiliation, number of votes you are carrying. The transcripts don’t recognize voices or body language. Adjust the microphone as needed. Please be aware of the fact that if you stand far away from the microphone, it may not make it onto the tape. Voting is done with your hand. Closed fist for one vote. Two fingers for two. And, remember, if we’re doing an actual count, please remember to keep your hand up until the count is complete and I tell you that you can drop your hand.
So everybody take out your cell phones, turn them off, turn them silent, turn them to meeting, turn them to vibrate, but I don’t want to hear them during the Conference. Also, nothing is to be distributed on the conference floor, unless conference approved or approved my me, the conference chair. Now, as is usually the case at this point in time, I turn the microphone over to my Vice Chair/Parliamentarian, who will reveal a little bit of the parliamentary procedure overview.
Trevor S.: Hi, everybody. I’m going to look at Page 70 of the Manual. My name is Trevor S.and I’m an addict from Calgary. And from 70-74 are a lot of the basic motions that we’ll be utilizing over the course of this week. On pg 75 is a one page Table of Motions, with some of the parameters that we’ll deal with. I just
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want to spend a minute and read the purpose of parliamentary procedure and kind of why we have it, and how it’s evolved over the course of our Conference.
“The purpose is to permit a majority to accomplish it’s ultimate purpose within a reasonable period of time, but only after allowing the minority reasonable opportunity to express its views on the question at issue.” This is a quote from the Parliamentarian of the U.S. House. It’s also a quote, or it’s applied, to some of the concepts that we have that we talked about last night as well. This summary is drawn from “Roberts Rules of Order”, and has been utilized by the World Service Conference since the first one. The Conference believes that it may also be of use to Areas and Districts. Please use this in the spirit that it’s intended – to aid in the orderly conduct of this meeting. It doesn’t replace or take precedence over the charter bylaws’ standing rules or the principles upon which the Traditions, the Steps and Twelve Concepts of CA are based. A potential exists for one or more people to use parliamentary procedure to control and/or otherwise manipulate a group away from its intention or primary purpose. Scrupulous and incessant attention to principle is the only way to prevent these guidelines for this Conference for being used to circumvent or unjustly influence the group conscience.
Thank you. A couple of other points I want to make before we continue – just a reminder for everybody. In order to speak at the microphone you must be recognized, either by raising your hand, I pick you, you go up to the microphone. On Page 72 of the World Service Manual are the exceptions. In an exception, you will immediately shout out your point of order, parliamentary inquiry, objection to consideration, and go immediately to the microphone. Don’t wait for me to tell you to go up there. You don’t have to.
Only members may make and discuss motions and/or vote may make and discuss motions and/or vote on such motions. Members of the Conference may
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be found in Standing Rule 1 on Page 41 of the World Service Manual. Members will also include under Standing Rule 2: Alternate delegates and committee members who don’t fall under the general definition. Other concerned individuals, may speak at the Chair’s discretions.
The Point of Information: A member uses this inquiry during debate on a motion to ask a question regarding the issue on the floor. It’s not a Point of Order. A member must be recognized, and then, instead of debate, the member states, “I have a point of information.” All Points of Information will be taken at the end of debate. There for, if your question is answered during debate, please sit back down. Such questions are always directed to the Chair, but the Chair may have someone else answer it. Once the question (that is one question, by the way) is answered, the member’s time at the microphone is done. A single question limitation does not mean the member may not clarify or restate the question, if the original question isn’t answered completely. The member may ask for recognition again for debate. The point of information does not count as debate.
Debate the motion on the floor: This problems occurs especially with Motions to Reconsider or Rescind. Discussion of the underlying motion when another motion is on the floor will be ruled out of order.
Debate in general: Just a reminder – listen to the debate that precedes you. Making the same point over and over again isn’t productive or a good use of Conference time, which is limited. Remember, you may make a Motion to Limit Debate to a specific time period or a number of speakers rather than simply calling the question.
Referrals: All referrals go into the box at the front, and each referral must be made only to a single committee. Oh, and remember to take your gold page with you.
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Twelfth Concept: Any motion or referral that violates the 12th Concept with regard, specifically, to “… No Conference action ever be personally punitive…”, will be returned to the writer for clarification. Additionally, any debate that is personally punitive will be interupted and called out of order.
Last, but not least, the Standing Rules: They’re all important so please review them on Pages 46-48 of World Service Manual.
Tony D.: Please refer to the section in your World Service Manual, Page 76-82 that covers your parliamentary procedure guidelines, that Trevor just went over. If you have a copy of Roberts Rules of Order, I suggest keeping it handy, as well. There are a number of publications. A number of us use this one. It’s golden colored. It doesn’t mean it’s the only one.
Conference Orientation & Theme: Though we are different, we are the same
Now it’s time for us to hear any new Area petitions.
Seeing none, I will ask the Trustees to give their opening report
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