Jan 17, 2026 – WSOB Minutes

WSOB MINUTES: JANUARY 17, 2026

SERENITY PRAYER – Randy G. opens the meeting with the Serenity Prayer.

TRADITION – Wesley B. read the 1st Tradition.

CONCEPT – Justin C. read the 1st Concept.

ROLL CALL & QUORUM DETERMINATION

Present:

• Randy G.–Chair
• Justin C.–CAWS 2026 Chair
• Karmen K.–WST
• Wesley B.–DAL
• Jason S.–DAL
• Jesse G.–Director of Conferences and Conventions
• Morten V.–DAL
• Kalob T.–DAL
• Nathan H.–CAWS 2027 Chair Jonathan H.–WSOT
• Parthi T.–CAWS 2029 Chair Kimberley C.–Secretary

Guests:

• Nadz L. (Member at Large),
• Crawford B. (CAWS 2028 Chair),
• Larissa G. (Member at Large),
• Simonne M. (Member at Large),
• Maria K. (Member at Large).

CHAIR ANNOUNCEMENTS

The December 2025 minutes were approved.

SEVENTH TRADITION

Observed in the office; online members are directed towards ca.org.

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CAWS CONVENTION REPORTS CAWS 2026 (Florida) – Justin C.

Highlights:

• Four months remain until CAWS 2026 Convention and the focus for many is beginning to shift toward on-site logistics and final preparation. I have requested all General Committees to identify and prepare for all forecast purchases, submit all applicable CR’s, and actively recruit those willing to serve from their Home Groups and Districts. The Vice Chair Committee is planning an on-site visit on March 7th and we are seeking to schedule our final pre-convention onsite General Committee meeting in mid-late April.
• We offered a FLASH Sale during December which has netted 26 more registrations. Regular registration ends in just six weeks and we’re looking for a good“pop”of registrations to come in. We will continue to utilize the rooming list and social media to send reminders to register.
• We were told by a Caribe Royale staff member that our assigned events manager separated from the company a few months ago, and it seems that no one has yet filled that gap for us. We haven’t received a recent pick-up and we’re generally unimpressed by the level of communication and service coming from the hotel lately. Sam is keeping the pressure on them and is doing a fantastic job, she has scheduled a meeting with the department manager on January 15th. One of the topics we plan to discuss is what actions they will take to improve communication on their end during these final months.

• We also learned that we must submit drawings and obtain permitting from the Orange County Fire Department, with an onsite inspection, prior to the start of the Convention. Randy is an engineer by profession, and he has agreed to draw the files, hopefully the hotel has an existing room layout.
• The Entertainment Committee is still researching the Sunday Night entertainment and is presenting their recommendations to the Program Committee. Decorations committee is gathering all the items they will utilize to bring the tropical vibe. H&I has a form letter ready to go out to the treatment centers and transitional living residences in the Area.

CAWS 2028 (Scotland) – Crawford B. Highlights:

• The HSBC account is now fully accessible and the dual signatories have been appointed. We are looking into card readers that can be linked to this account and these will be valuable not only for the convention, but for the sale of merchandise at events around the country.
• We are going to be having our general committee meetings beginning the 8th of February, these will then take place every second Sunday of every second month for the interim.

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• We have vacant positions for Outreach Chair and Merchandise chair. Due to individual circumstances, Frank and Caroline had to hand in their positions and we thank them very much for their service. We also have vacant chair positions for Children’s events, Advance newsletter, Special needs, Unity, Co Merchandise and Printing/drawing and Closing Chair.
• We have our limited-edition jackets and these along with other merchandise will be sold at the European convention in Dublin in March.
• The fundraising committee are in the process of finalizing our first event and this will take the form of a “white collar boxing event”. A Ticket Taylor link will be available soon and the event will also be live streamed on a pay per view basis for anyone oversees or unable to attend. The most stringent levels of organization and planning will go into this event. We had a meeting with the event organizers and we are completely satisfied that all the necessary insurance, policies, practises and procedures are in place and every aspect of the event is covered.

• The South West area have donated to CAWS 2028, and would like to commit to a monthly donation going forward. We have conformation from London area that a fundraiser will take place on the 18th of April and Central area is to hold a fundraising event in the spring.
• After a lengthy process, we are happy to inform that the contract has been approved, signed and the first installment has been paid to the EICC and the convention will take place from the 6th till the 10th of July 2028.

CAWS 2029 (Toronto) – Parthi T. Highlights:

• To date, I have received five résumés for Steering Committee positions. While I am expecting additional submissions in the coming week, I would prefer to have a broader pool of candidates to consider before submitting my recommendations to the WSCCC. I remain within the established 90-day timeline for Steering Committee résumé submission to the WSCCC.
• Moving forward, I will continue outreach within the Area and will also actively seek résumés from members outside the Area to ensure broad participation and strong representation. I therefore plan to submit the résumés in February, with the goal of having the Steering Committee confirmed and ratified at the February 15 WSCCC meeting.
• I plan to begin contacting the hotels that previously submitted proposals during the bid process in order to personally connect with their event managers.
• Finally, I am pleased to report that our Area has approved an additional motion to earmark funds toward fundraising for CAWS 2029, bringing the total allocated fundraising commitment to a higher total even prior to the formation of the Steering Committee.

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OFFICE & OFFICER REPORTS

Director of Operations (DOO) – Tai B. Highlights:

• I continue to meet and/or communicate with the WSOB Chair, WSO Trustee and paid vendors when necessary. Communication with Bookkeeper weekly. TC Meeting January 14. CRM ADHOC, Shopify complete, QBO still working on (WSOT Completion), then Hubspot. (Ast. Manager to research training). Delegate Mailing made, corrections and apology to be added. WSOB Chairperson master checklist revisions and updates weekly.

• Office Update: Need to start searching for Translator, currently have team to assist (Swedish, Dutch, Danish, French and Spanish). Seeking help with LCF for glossary of terms, may have a solution for helpful translation. Guidelines are past deadlines; fellowship needs these ASAP. Websites (PI, IT, Museum and CA.org) updated. CAWSO Publication Guidelines updated for concepts. Request made for WSBT Contact information (complete). Onboarding documents not complete by WSBT, pending 4. Starter kit requests need to be sent at end of the month to WSOT. CA.org website continually checked with updates as necessary.
• Merchandise: UK Distribution communications made for next contract. Last proforma order made. Discussion pending sent contract (needs revision). News Gram, received. Swedish Chips discussed in Area meeting (solution in progress via MERT). Merchandise Committee? (DAL interest). Inventory complete. COGS review to be made. Possible solution for racks, rack in hand need, Wednesday team review.
• Translation Committee: Meeting January 14, 2025. Tradition 11 language request to international language sent. Have French, Danish. DAL to help. (NEED ALL MEETING TRANSLATION FORMATS, also Pamphlets and Books). Denmark asked to stop printing current books. Revised Royalty Agreements and Licensing (Agreements will be revised for 2026, waiting for WSBT approval). Updated list of Intellectual Property made, handover complete, in review by WSBT. Currently revising books for next document send in January 2026. Purchasing AI tool.

• CRM ADHOC: NO MEETINGS. Hubspot Access has been made. Training for QBO, Shopify and Hubspot not complete for Staff (Ast. Manager to schedule).
• LCF/Liaison: Meeting January 18, 2026. Point 12 Power of PI, complete and sent (revisions to made). Asked to join LCF Guidelines Sub-Committee and Publication Oversight Committee. Working with LCF Vice Chairperson with updating Glossary of terms for WSOBTC. NewsGram Guidelines to be revised.

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WSOB Chair – Randy G. Highlights:

• Participated in the monthly report from a hotel in Iowa and stayed on top of the on-line business while out of town. Jonathan, Karmen and I met on the Wednesday afternoons that I was here to meet with Tai to go over finances, sign checks and discuss any issues that need attention. As Gary has temporarily stepped aside as chair of the WSBT for health reasons, I had our “chair to chair”call with Stewart.

• It was almost strange as to the relative quietness that the end of the year brings our office. They successfully pulled off our year end inventory with absolutely zero effect on the delivery of our products to our fellowship.

• We have an immense amount of work ahead of us in the upcoming year, so buckle up and let’s go for a ride

WSOB Secretary–Kimberley C.

Highlights:

• Attended H&I last Sunday. We discussed the budget and I gently advised that PI and other committees use free software so that they can use their budgets more effectively. It was well received.
• Spoke with Lou again and received the list of 34 unreconciled referrals from him. These referrals go back as far as 2016. One of the challenges is that many of the referrals included in the reports do not have the file number which would make it easy to reconcile with the list. We may have to go through the individual minutes to see if any of the referral information in the minutes have the file number.
• Speaking of minutes, I inadvertently used the incorrect naming convention so I spent some time going back and renaming them in the proper order.

 Director of Conferences and Conventions (DoCaC)–Jesse G. Highlights:

CAWS 2026–Florida

• Chair: Timeline on track. 6 months left to go. Need commitment of which WSOB members are committed to dunking booth?
• Vice Chair: Children’s event–will have confirmed and coord w/speakers; using Twinkle Toes nannies; will have insurance, etc set up by Feb. Special Needs- none IDed at this time; have ASL as back up just in case. Newsletter- Jan issue posted. Source Table–decided on location, hours,

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items for table include pamphlets, sunglasses and bracelet giveaways for newcomers, whiteboard w/ the day’s scheduled events, printed programs. Unity–2 events; a game night Thursday and another event Saturday.

• H&I: Goals is to have 300+ newcomers from various HandI’s; will do run- through on site of HandI reg process on site on 3.7.26. Vol Coord–will ramp up in Jan.
• Treasurer: Total actual income recorded (9k increase). All major items under budget and will be continued to be monitored. All major categories are under budget, with positive variances across the board.
• Registration: 324 total registrants; ave registration – $323; Royal 50% of total registrations. 157 (+33) banquets and 190 (+18) breakfasts.
• Program: Entertainment–Comedian will be replaced with humorous cover band; MC, Stevie Ray has been contracted. Workshops–8 confirmed workshops; Workshop chair is now Victoria G. Speakers–Working on speaker gifts; Buddy system to pick up speakers. Marathons–I shared buttons ordered. Special Events–Old Town–44 (+7); Kayak–33 (+3); K1–11 (0); Bass Fishing–3 (0); Gatorland–26 (+6); Fun Run 12 (+4); Pickleball 4 (+$); Golf–4 (0); Blues and BBQ – 31.

• Hotel: Convention is > 25% of booked nights = 2097 room nights (41 from last month). $2500.00 to meeting F&B minimum. 90 days prior to event for credit application. 14 days prior to event full schedule. 6 months prior to event is BEO order check. 14 days prior final cut off for BEO’s.

WSC Conference 2026/2027: 2026/2027 contracts fully executed. 2026 addendum fully executed. 2027 addendum fully executed.

CAWS 2027–Washington State: NO REPORT RECEIVED. CAWS 2028–Scotland Area

• Chair: We have 29 subcommittee chairs in place. GC meetings will begin on 2.8.25 and every other month to start.

• Treasurer: Budget updated based on potentially/likely having convention at EICC. HSBC account fully accessible and DOO can verify funds. Initial deposit due and HSBC account has funds to cover.
• Fundraising: Limited edition jacket will be sold at European regional in Dublin in March. Working on logistics of Black-Tie boxing event including insurance. SW area donated £1000.00 and plan on making monthly donations going forward. London and Central UK areas to host fundraisers in the Spring. Will likely need to update again due to email just received from venue contact.

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• Hotel liaison: Contract is signed and convention is from 6th of July to 10th of July in Edinburgh at the EICC.

CAWS 2029–Toronto (SOCA)

• Chair: Parthi was elected Chair. Has received 5 resumes for steering positions. Seeking more resumes to hopefully have steering team selected at Feb WSCCC. Plans on contacting hotels contacted that were submitted to bid betting cmte. Area has voted to allocate and additional $10,000 CAD to donate to the 2029 for a total of $20,000 CAD allocated to the convention from the host area.
• WSC Conference Committee (WSCCfC): Working on new referrals. Continues to receive referrals about having an online conference due to concerns about entering US and the questions that need to be answered to enter the country. Credentialling website is up.

• WSC Convention Committee (WSCCvC): Will select steering team for 2029 in Feb. Sorting through referrals that were requested from WSCC to ensure that there are no open referrals that were“lost”.Working on audio recording guidelines draft.
• Bid Vetting Committee: Will commence in Feb/Mar of 2026.
• RFP Committee: Jay F continues to chair RFP committee and is doing an amazing job. Have received 14 RFPs to date from across the pond and US. Cutoff date for RFPs is 1.23.26. Next meeting is scheduled for 1.31.26.

DIRECTORS AT LARGE (DAL) REPORTS Wesley B. (DAL) – Report January 2026

Highlights:

• Attended: Regular WSOB meeting, North American PI, WSCPIC, ANRC, and New York Area.
• PI Updates – Europe: Has changed their meeting time to a comfortable 10am UK, or 5am East, and 2am Mountain (Christie). Hennie understood that we might miss it. Interest is increasing, though participation in monthly meeting is light.
• North American PI: Was well attended–Discussion focused on plans for All Rise/NADCP as well as ad hoc efforts. Discussed plans for North American Summit (in Phoenix next month). Continuing efforts to reach out to every Area to bring them into Regional and World PI–adding new PI Chairs to chat; participation and interest continue steadily increasing. PI was able to share a “convention memory” video from Archives which was well received.

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• World PI: Focused on summits, ideas for things to work on. Continued work to update materials on PI. CA.org – issue is creating editable documents, which means continuing to source approved docs in correct formats–2023 and 2024 conference approved materials still being caught up.

Jason S. (DAL) – Report January 2026

Highlights:

• Attended: Regular WSOB meetings, WSC IT, WSOB ADHOC.
• Website/Tech: Since our Last meeting I have some limited communication with Joe about the website. Tai provided some feedback on the website and plan reviewing that with the ad hoc this Sunday. Waiting for our new HubSpot consultant to be available.

Morten V. (DAL) – Report January 2026 Highlights:

• Attended: Archives monthly meeting and Translation meeting.
• Archives/Museum: From January 28th to February 5th, Jenniffer and Cameron will be at the office in Phoenix going through Ray G CA boxes. I will be in Phoenix from January 31 and will come to the office and assist. Museum got 100 new images the last month.
• Translations: Focusing on the glossary of terms for Danish, Dutch, Spanish, Swedish, and French.

WORLD SERVICE TRUSTEE (WST) – Karmen K.

Highlights:

• General Activities: Working with Tai and Joni on revisions to Publication Guidelines, particularly dealing with the AA Disclaimer and Concepts. Updated registrations for Cocaine Anonymous, We’re Here and We’re Free, CA Hope Faith Courage, and C.A.
• WSBT: The quarterly meeting was held in Phoenix, AZ, at the Central Office from December 5-7, 2025. The Mid-Quarter zoom call is scheduled for January 24, 2026. The First Quarter meeting will be held March 25-27, 2026, in Denmark,

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followed by attendance at the Denmark Area Convention (March 28-29, 2026). Karmen and Barry will facilitate a workshop on Service Work and Structure; Tina and Gary are scheduled as speakers.

• WSOB: Signed contracts and NDAs for the Webmaster and Bookkeeper. Participated in meetings with Quebec to discuss past unpaid invoices and explain the process for printing and approval. Attended WSOB December and monthly meetings.
• Online Motions: Processed motions to approve: CR2027-010 (Seattle Cruise), CR2027-012 (T-Shirts), CR2026-038 (Stevie Ray AV), CR2027-013 (Windbreakers), CR2026-045 (Special Events deposit/kayaking), CR2026-040 (Centerpieces), and CR2026-043/044 (Decorations).

• WSC Conference 2026/2027: Signed addendums for 2026 and 2027 regarding ice cream prices, boxed lunch prices, and possible additional room nights. Noted that the room block has been exceeded for the last 3 years and needs modification for 2026 and potentially 2027, depending on whether areas send fewer delegates due to the 2022 motion affecting representation.
• CAWS: Regarding CAWS 2028 (Scotland Area), the contract with the EICC has been signed and a new budget has been submitted.
• Archives: Participated in the Archive committee meeting. Cameron and Jennifer will travel to the C.A. Central Office from Jan. 28th to Feb. 5th to process Ray G.’s boxes and visit the Archives due to concerns regarding storage and humidity levels. Approved Cameron’s travel expense report. Cameron developed slideshows featuring “Dance/Celebrate Around the World” and CAWS logos.

• Archive Guidelines & Referrals: Cameron and Jennifer are making amendments to Archive Guidelines (SR14 – 2026 Conference). Noted that Internal Standing Committee policies (repatriation, duplication, access policies) are not Conference Approved and must be submitted for a vote. Addressing Referral #ARCHIVES 2021-02 to create procedures for Virtual Museum maintenance, including multiple Admin access, naming conventions, handling duplicate submissions, and correcting tagging errors.
• TNC: Motions were approved for the CR010 Seattle Cruise and the EICC contract for CAWS 2028 Scotland.

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WORLD SERVICE OFFICE TRUSTEE (WSOT) – Jonathan H. Highlights:

• General Activities: Participated in Online Business for WSBT and WSOB as Required. Communication with WSO Chair, DOO, Asst. Manager, Bookkeeper, and other WSOB Members as Required.
• Financial & Banking: Pulled all financial reports and uploaded to OneDrive. Sent all financial reports to Finance Committee. New expense reports are being used.
• Trustee Assignments: Jonathan is working to review the documents to collect all new trustee assignments on conference committees, sub-committees, and other committees.

• Training and Doc Signing: Link to Sexual harassment training provided to WSBT. Still a few remaining people to get it completed.
• Licensing and Royalties: Idea to have WSOB involved with printers and distributors to approve or be included on orders was brought to WSBT. Idea seemed well received, no action taken yet.
• Board Slate: Slate was provided to WSBT. Request was made to provide all viable candidates for the positions; an updated slate was provided to the WSBT. Interviews are scheduled for the mid-quarter call on 1/24/26.
• Motions: Motion to approve spending on HubSpot consultant passed.
• Committee Updates: * WSC IT Committee (Lead Trustee): Met 9/27/25, 10/25/25, and 11/22/25. Did not meet 12/27/25 due to holiday travel.
  • WSC PI Committee (2nd Trustee): No meeting attended yet.
  • WSBT Finance Sub-Committee (Lead Trustee): No meeting held yet.
  • Long Term Planning (Member): Attended meeting on 10/5/25. Current projects include: Book Development and Approval Process, Global Fulfillment, Investigation of North American Roll-Out for Pamphlet Licensing, NewsGram Updating, Global Growth Initiatives, and Conference Scheduling. No meetings held in November or December.
• Other Noteworthy Items: Conference committee guidelines due 11/24/25 were shared with WSBT. Reached out to IT chair who has provided his report.
• Upcoming Meetings of Note: * WSBT Mid-Quarter Call–1/24/26
  • WSBT Q1 Meeting–3/25/26 to 3/27/26

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NEW BUSINES

MOTIONS

Spending Committee Online Motions

• Motion: To approve CR2027-016 in the amount of $1428.62 for fundraising hoodies, seconded. Passed unanimously.
• Motion: To approve CR2027-017r in the amount of $13,357.00 for Webconnex/regfox, seconded. Passed Unanimously.
• Motion: To approve CR2028-06 in the amount of $1,651.62 for items for pre- convention fundraising, seconded. Passed Unanimously.
• Motion: To approve CR2027-015 in the amount of $4000 for a comedian for entertainment, seconded. Passed unanimously.

Other Online Motions

• Motion: To transfer $100,000 from operating account to prudent reserve. (Jonathan H.) Passed unanimously
• Motion: Initiate a new GiveButter campaign solely for monthly donations of $10 (or “other” choice with $10 minimum) that will be able to be simply shared via text with a link, seconded.

Spending Committee Motions (WSOB Mtg – January 17, 2026)

• Motion: To approve CR2027-014 in the amount of $1,000 for a deposit for a special event, seconded. Passed unanimously.

Other Motions (WSOB Mtg – January 17, 2026)

REFERRALS TBD

Minutes respectfully submitted by Kimberley C., WSOB Secretary.

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