WORLD SERVICE OFFICE BOARD MINUTES
July 23, 2016
OPEN MEETING @ 9:10 AM
SERENITY PRAYER – Read by Scott S.
TRADITION 8 – Read by Allison.
CONCEPT 8 – Report on Concept 8 by Randy M. Concept 9 to be done next month by Scott.
BIRTHDAYS –
ROLL CALL & QUORUM DETERMINATION
Present were Scott S. (Chair), Laurie R. (Treasurer), Linda F. (DOO), Alesia F. (DAL) and Randy M.
(Secretary). Gary is calling in. Quorum is met.
Guests: Kevin M., Allison
CHAIR ANNOUNCEMENT(s)-
- Two meetings in August. One for finance committee and interested parties to review 2016 budget and prepare revised (updated) 2017 budget for Conference. Finance Committee meets on August 13, 2016 – 9:00 AM WSO) Can Allison attend this meeting? Discussion of expected discussion at the finance committee meeting.
- Conference in 40 days. Please review the latest delegate mailing carefully. Also be sure to register for the Conference.
- Newsgram articles needed as soon as possible. Service to CA is the theme.
- Question: Linda should someone from this board write an article about the new A Quiet Peace. Should be the office.
Linda makes a MOTION to do CAWS 2017 Seattle Convention report out of order. Seconded by Randy. Motion passes. Gary says everything is going ok. Steering and General committee meeting last Saturday. They sent about $4,000 from the roll out. A couple of things need to be fixed on the registration form – no beef; salmon. Hotel is offering room cheaper on their website – they’re working on it they’ll have an onsite meeting at the hotel next month. Scott – on the website, we need some pictures on the packages. Shoot all corrections to Marius, cc Linda and Scott. Have committee members put pictures in the blank spaces of the packages. Linda asks what are the three meal choices? He’ll have to email answer. Linda will make sure that it’s fixed. Office will correct the registrations which selected beef. Scott – let’s talk about the room cost. Ira reached out to Kim about Chicago. Gary believes they have it in the contract to get attendees who booked rooms through the hotel to be added to our block of rooms. First point is to protect our position by securing these to add to our room night total. Second, let’s also get a handle on room costs so we can discuss the benefits of securing rooms through CA website. We’ll talk later about how to transmit the information once the facts are determined. Kevin thinks the best way is to put on the website what the benefits are of securing rooms through CA. Scott: when is next meeting. After the conference. October after the conference with new trustee. Gary and the Hotel Liaison will be going there to address the room rate issue on August 7, 2016. WSOB still owes a “Pass It On” from the 2016 Convention. There is a lot of information on memorabilia from previous conventions / experience to assist his committee. Also a check request form coming in for their first fund raiser. Something similar to 2015 convention – will be out at conference.
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APPROVE THE MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING(s) –6/18/2016 MOTION to approve the minutes from June 18, 2016 made by Alesia; seconded by Randy. Motion passes unanimously.
SEVENTH TRADITION
OFFICE DIRECTOR REPORTS
Director of Operations- Linda – Written report submitted.
Thanks for vacation!
Continues to do normal stuff. Two employees have left. She has an add out.
Will be interviewing for customer service person.
Adrienne and Nicole should get a hearty pat on the pack for an amazing job.
They did an inventory, finished July 19, 2016. Some of the pamphlet numbers were off.
They are pretty much prepared for the conference. Office equipment is under control.
Special Quite Peace did not make it to Chicago. Two thumbs up. We have 1 -5 and 17 – 48.
Specialty chips are still a good seller. New colors are selling well.
Continues to work with Marius on 2017 convention registration.
Special thanks to Laurie for keeping up with QB during the convention. Alesis was a big savior in the memorabilia. Tim was helpful wherever needed. Randy was registration buddy. Scott was everywhere!!
Seattle’s May meetings were uploaded; Montreal also.
Questions:
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DIRECTOR REPORTS
Chair – Scott – written report submitted
Try to get reports in by Wednesday before the WSOB meeting.
Scott will be reviewing TheBox as a place to store documents during conference. We have the ability to get off of Yahoo! or Google for communication. Will have a recommendation by next meeting. Can subaccounts pass data between groups? Members will all have rights. Will have to determine what the costs are. We will have a plan by the next meeting.
There are a lot of IT issues to be handled in the next 12 months. Kevin is managing an onsite meeting as well. This may also be a good candidate. We to have some sort of central control of electronic data management for all of the group.
Vice Chair- Tim – Written report submitted.
Not present.
Treasurer – Laurie R – Written report submitted.
$2,500 check for legal was voided.
Scott is tasked with looking at legal fees.
UK check was finally run through and was rejected as counterfeit / fraud. ON the London side. She contacted the treasurer and they will now wire transfer the money. Money should be in by Wednesday or Thursday.
We have the draft for CAWS 2016 for internal use only. Net income of approximately $95,000.00. Illinois will receive a check pursuant to previous vote.
Waiting for the final hotel bill from Swlssotel. Hotel Liaison will have meeting to resolve issues with the hotel.
Report for the office will be completed by the conference.
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Trend continues for a very good year.
CAWS 2016 committee did an excellent job.
Linda will prepare “Thanks You” letter by the next meeting.
Questions:
- Linda thought the auctions did very well. Most of the goods were donated. Previous year’s most of it was purchased.
- Kevin M.: What is the prudent reserve policy? Where do we stand? We’re about 80%. Finance committee has already been talking about fully funding the prudent reserve. Prudent reserve policy has already been passed. A new prudent reserve number is created prior to each conference.
- Kevin M: How many years have we been running a positive cash flow. The past 3 years. Laurie says we don’t really know what happened in the previous years. Maybe the bookkeeping wasn’t great. This year and last year book and chip sales, as well as fundraisers, have helped keep us in the black.
- Kevin M.: In the future, as convention revenues are not known, can the office stand a “bad” convention year? New formatting of financial reports has the office, conference, Trustee’s and the convention shown separately. The goal is for the office number to be 0 or more. Laurie added background about history.
Secretary – Randy M – Written report submitted.
No comment.
Director at Large – Morgan – Absent
Director at Large – Chris – Absent.
Director at Large – Alesia F – Written report submitted.
TRUSTEE REPORTS
WSO Trustee – Vacant
WS Trustee – Ira L – Absent. Written report submitted.
COMMITTEE REPORTS –
Finance –Laurie – Written report submitted.
Included in treasurer’s report.
Structure & Bylaws –Scott – Written report submitted
Basically handled referrals.
Convention – Linda, Scott and Alesia –
CAWS 2017 Convention Committee had a meeting at the last convention. Sharing the old and the new with the incoming committee. They were hoping to have a meeting before conference but it didn’t happen.
We’re going to have two screens and two projectors in lieu of one. Room layout is better.
Conference call tomorrow morning.
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Conference –Linda, Ira –
There is a meeting tomorrow. Scott had a meeting with Jay and Susan beforehand making sure everything was going well. They had a meeting at the last convention, also. Alesia will be proposing a change to the conference layout.
Unity – Alesia
She was finally was accepted to the committee. Person in charge has had personal issues. No conference calls yet.
Literature, Chips & Formats – Chris – Absent
Hospitals & Institutions – Tim – Absent
Public Information – Morgan, Linda –
There is an SR 14 on Drug Court for the conference.
IT –Linda & Scott – Written report submitted.
There is a significant push to use social media for public information. Trying to get a policy of how to do it without violating tradition. Colorado has a FB page designed to be their PI outreach. Scott is involved in correcting violations. They are getting ideas on how to protect traditions and still get outreach on social media.
This will have to be discussed at conference.
Questions:
- Kevin M.: Comments that a place to start is at website guidelines for social media. Posts to the pages could be an issue.
- Kevin M.: Comments that one thing that came up on early websites were links to copyrighted content.
- Linda: are we also talking about PSA’s that are coming out on individual FB pages? We need to somehow get our umbrella around it to round up these pages to keep them moving forward but within traditions. Scott: be aware we are working on the best way to stop unauthorized use of CA logos, etc. Kevin M: wants to state there is a significant risk to members in protecting their anonymity.
Archives – Randy & Linda – Written report submitted.
CAWS CONVENTION REPORTS:
A. CAWS 2016 – Chicago – Closing out report (well the beginning at least). Scott: there was an auction, and one member donated $4,000. Scott to write letter regarding the problem with the suite Marty (the donor) won. The problem is that he received four nights at the duplex suite which was below the fitness room! (Yikes!) They needed to be moved. Marty has already said he doesn’t want anything from C.A. in return. Scott will be sending him book #16 (of A Quite Peace: Special Edition) to Marty (First publicly sold book). He will talk to Gary about the possibility of getting him a suite in Seattle at our rate. (It’s just a conversation to be had – not any directive.) Had a problem with Audio / Visual. Both dances blew fuses at the hotel and shut down the events. We got a $15K bill for these items and the hotel failed to deliver. Linda: we have had people request refunds for the dance. Scott comments the refunds will be honored for every attendee who requests one. We also discovered that the cost of moving goods across the US is staggering (Palettes of goods – close to $1,500.) Also, regarding Archives – the digital presentation was not well received. People need to
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see stuff. Laurie suggested European delegation come up with their own archive items to show at Sweden. We need to consider alternatives to digital presentation. Laurie comments on her concern about losing archive material in transit. Linda states nothing leaves the CAWS Office that is a single archive item. Alesia: Is here something in the convention budget to offset these costs? Calling on Board members to bring ideas to the table on how to handle archives at the conventions. Members want to have a separate room for archives at the convention.
B. CAWS 2017 – Seattle – Board to approve Seattle hotel contract. (Held until August, 2016)
C. CAWS 2018 – Montreal – Board to approve Montreal hotel contract. (Held until August, 2016)
D. CAWS 2019 – Sweden – New chair for convention.
GUEST REPORTS:
- Allison – her area is having a beach event.
- Kevin M. – he came in the program when we were young.
ONLINE BUSINESS: – None.
Break
UNFINISHED BUSINESS-
A. WSOB Director(s): No open positions at this time. Resume outlines available from Linda. Submit prior to CAWS 2016 if possible. Slates due for Trustee consideration:
a. WSOT
b. DAL
c. Treasurer
B. European Fulfillment Center -Morgan and Scott – Scott needs to talk to Morgan. Will be discussed at the conference. Scott gives description of general idea.
C. Meeting Formats in a Pocket _______ and Linda – Hold – conversation with Committees.
D. Office Lease (February 2016) – Scott – holding until August 2016 – In accordance with Trustee Guidelines lease draft handed off to Trustee Negotiating Committee for final work.
E. 800 number – Alesia talked to Earl. Discussion about the 800 number – too much cost for what we
F. Trademark – Ira-
G. New birthday envelope – Linda (Tabled motion from 11/14/2015)
H. CAWSO Dba setup – Scott/Ira – (Tabled motion from 11/14/2015 – waiting for Trustee opinion on whether necessary or not) Kevin M.: what is our official name? Suggestion is to do a dBA of CAWSO for Cocaine Anonymous World Service Office, Inc.
I. Review price policies and report from WSO on same. Review purchase plans on books. Scott is looking into how price increases affect sales. Kevin M.: Is that due to stock piling? Standard pricing is 100% mark up. Our price for HFC2 softcover is $3.00. First mission is to carry the message; second mission is raise money to carry the message.
J. Translation of specialty chips. Chris & Linda to work on. No report.
K. Referrals from 2015 WSC (see file uploaded for details)
a. From other Committees:
i. 2015 LCF 2 MOTION to approve the proposed response is made by Linda, seconded by Alesia.
“Thank you for your referral. We will consider your proposal. However, at this time you may purchase A Quiet Peace as an eBook.” Kevin M. says in his opinion this is doable. MOTION passes with substantial unanimity.
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ii. 2015 LCF 7 MOTION to approve “Thank you for your referral. The WSO is currently in the process of having the translation of HFC II reviewed and final edits made by the German fellowship. We will pass this on to them and the company that does our translation review and ask for their comments and/or agreement.” is made by Randy. Seconded by Linda. Kevin M.: he discusses the intent. The phrase shall be included but needs to be vetted by the German translator. MOTION passes with substantial unanimity.
iii. 2015 LCF 8 – DONE!
iv. 2015 PI 2 – DONE!
v. 2015 PI 5 – DONE!
b. From floor:
MOTION to approve by unanimous consent the following responses to open referral’s # 1, 2, 4, 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12 and 13 made by Laurie. Seconded by Linda. Motion passes unanimously.
i. 2015 WSOB – Proposed response:
“Thank you for your input. We are assuming that you are discussing the pamphlets that were purchased some time ago. At this time the WSOB has not considered a “buy back” of older CA literature given the cost of shipping if nothing else. However, we are discussing the printing out of labels which can be affixed to the pamphlets covering the old addresses.
We would like to hear from you about the “3 addresses ago” since we can only recollect two reaching back into the early 90’s. The WSO was at the Overland address (suite number changed) until we moved to our current Long Beach address. Some of this literature may be worth having for Archives.
Last, have you considered packaging up the literature in small units and auctioning them off at a local convention or event?”
ii. 2015 WSOB 2 – Proposed response:
“We assume you mean “nominative” and will review translation guidelines (WSO internal) to see how the names are represented. However, we are not at all expert in translation to other languages and rely on local fellowships as well as our translation reviewers (professionals) to get it right.”
iii. 2015 WSOB 3 – DONE!
iv. 2015 WSOB 4 – Proposed response:
“Thank you for your referral. The WSOB and WSO will review existing Guidelines for Translations. The WSOB and WSO do not have a timeline for this review but will work towards completing this project as soon as practicable.”
v. 2015 WSOB 5 – Proposed response:
“The WSO was unaware that the logo sticker failed to work well. We will review our current stock and also see if there are better alternatives. Some stock (of stickers) will not work as well when they are old (even if not printed on) so we will try and keep our stock down to manageable levels to avoid this problem.”
vi. 2015 WSOB 6 – Proposed response:
vii. 2015 WSOB 7 – Proposed response:
“Thank you for your referral. Although the Conference Committee is generally responsible for the content of the materials distributed we have communicated with the Committee your concerns. The Theme for the 2016 WSC “Unity Strengthens Our Community” has been included in the letter to all attendees. The WSOB believes this adopts your suggestion but is willing, in the spirit of Unity, to hear any additional
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comments or criticisms about this issue. The WSOB agrees that the Theme should be present in all Conference communications.”
viii. 2015 WSOB 8 and 9 – Proposed response:
“The policy for all WSOB members regarding room assignments is that each member must have a roommate or pay for half of the room if they desire or need a room to themselves. The exception is the “odd man out” rule which simply means that if there is a single man or woman left after assigning the roommates they get a single room by default. This does not mean the Chair, or any other member, automatically gets the single room. In cases at the Convention where a Chair had a room to his or herself the Chair reimbursed CAWSO for the one-half room not assigned to a WSOB/WSO or WSBT member. The only officer that “gets” his or her own room is the Treasurer at the Convention and, even then, if a roommate can be fitted into that room (the individual must meet the requirements of handling money at the Convention) then they will be assigned a room. This policy has not changed.”
ix. 2015 WSOB 10 – Proposed response:
“Thank you for your referral. Such a visit has been informally discussed among WSOB members in the past but budget concerns have precluded such a visit. However, the WSOB will consider in the next month (August 2016) during its Budget review meetings whether such a visit by one or more WSOB officers can be done at a reasonable cost since we also believe such visits are of benefit to not only the European Region but CA as a whole.”
x. 2015 WSOB 11 – Proposed response:
“Thank you for your referral. Since late last year a volunteer member of the WSOB has been on the WSCITC calls and stayed in touch with the members of the Committee. The WSOB recognizes this Committee as being a very important part of the service structure in this day and age. The current member is the WSOB Chairman who will continue to serve on this Committee for the foreseeable future.”
xi. 2015 WSOB 12 – Proposed response:
“Thank you for your referral. The WSOB has recognized the problem with the Hotline number and functionality for some time. Workable solutions have been limited until recently. One volunteer member of the WSOB has been tasked in the last two months to work with other interested volunteer members to seek out a workable method of providing important information to callers to our hotline. While a timeline has not been established as of this response (July 2016), we hope to have it in place as well as a completed product working as soon as possible.”
xii. 2015 WSOB 13 – Proposed response:
“Thank you for your referral. The WSOB H&I Committee and WSO staff will review all available materials to see what kind of booklet can be produced. It will most likely be something like the newcomer booklet but may need some additional contributions from members to focus on the incarnated individual. The WSOB H&I Committee representative to the WSC H & I Committee will review with them ideas on this project at the 2016 WSC.”
xiii. 2015 WSOB 14 – MOTION to approve “Thank you for your referral. The WSOB has already placed a revision date on the bottom of each individual pamphlet and the revision date is listed on the order form that goes out with ever order, and will be posted on the online store website.” as our response is made by Linda; seconded by Alesia.
Motion passes with substantial unanimity.
MOTION to go to Executive Session out of order by Laurie; seconded by Linda. Motion passes with substantial unanimity.
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EXECUTIVE SESSION –
A. Interviews (note: the Treasurer & WSOT are positions that are interviewed in detail by the Trustees or TEC – our interview is only to see that any applicant meets the basic qualifications so that I can submit):
a. Alison – DAL & Treasurer Having voted in executive session, we are submitting Alison Murao as a qualified candidate for Director at Large, and further have voted to submit her name to the WSBT as a candidate for the WSOB Treasurer.
b. Tim – WSOT
c. Kevin – DAL & WSOT Having voted in executive session, we are submitting Kevin Murphy as a qualified candidate for Director at Large.
d. Bonus – recommends a $1,000 bonus for Linda F. for her “job well done” at the
NEW BUSINESS:
A. Linda makes a MOTION to accept the amendment between Sheraton Gateway Los Angeles and Cocaine Anonymous World Services; seconded by Alesia. Question: Ira Lands name is in but he’s out after this year. Scott with place his name in lieu of Ira.
B. Alesia makes a MOTION to buy a projector n amount $985.85 from Amazon.com; seconded by Laurie. Two other bids no longer have the item. The rent is $125/ day, we’re almost buying a new one through renting. Motion passes unanimously.
C. MOTION to set the sales price for A Quiet Peace at $35.00 as per previous discussion. The office will handle discounts already in place. Motion passes unanimously.
D. C.A. Service shirt – membership wants this to be available for them to buy. Can become a new fundraiser. This will be an office fundraiser. MOTION to authorize CA Service Shirt as a new fundraiser by Randy M. Second my Alesia. Motion passes unanimously.
E. MOTION to sell the shirts at $20.00 by Linda; seconded by Laurie. Motion passes with substantial unanimity with noted opposition.
NEXT MEETING(s) –August 20, 2016
MOTION to adjourn at 1:30PM made by Randy M. Seconded by Alesia.