WSBT Q4 Conference Call Minutes
Mid Quarterly Conference Call … V3
Nov 9th, 2024, 8am to 12pm PDT, Virtual
Gary opened the meeting with a Moment of silence followed by the “WE” version of the Serenity Prayer ***
Roll Call-All Trustees are present
| Barry H | SWRT/WSBT Chair |
| Gary P | TAL1 / WSBT Vice Chair |
| Tina R | MWRT/ WSBT Secretary |
| Robert B | WSOT / WSBT Assistant Secretary |
| Richard B | ANRT |
| Chris M | ASRT |
| Stuart J | ERT |
| Johan T | MERT |
| Ruby C | PNRT |
| Aurora L | PSRT |
| Joni E | WST |
Chairs Opening Remarks-Barry H.
Nothing formal to say. Would like to express my gratitude to the Board. We have handled a lot of motions, we’ve had a couple of emergency motions come through, and the board has afforded me some latitude in managing those motions and I appreciate that. We were busy Q2 and Q3, and I’m hoping that this conference call will get us back refocused and repurposed for the next several months ahead.
Also, I would like to add that as the chair of the Board of Trustees, that we can manage this business in an effective manner, maybe not so much with all the formalities, unless it’s required.
Standing Business
1. Election of corporate officers (Q4)- Robert
Joni- We are trying to get things straightened out at the office, so we need to vote on the officers now.
Stuart- Just wondering if the officers need to be on the board for the entirety of next year. Robert- Didn’t think of that, but yes it should be limited to the 4 people that will be here next year. Richard- Nominated Gary as CEO, Tina seconded, MOTION CARRIES Joni-Nominated Richard as Vice-President, Chris seconded, MOTION CARRIES
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Robert-Nominated Stuart as CFO, Richard seconded, MOTION CARRIES Richard-Nominated Tina as Secretary, Gary seconded, MOTION CARRIES
Robert-I will relay this information to the WSO, so they have it on record. Again, there is absolutely nothing you must do about this. It is all filed electronically with the State of California, and the State of Arizona.
Chris-Tina you will have to use your government name…Kurtina
2. Project Chart- Gary
Gary-I am now the keeper of the project chart, which I’m excited about. I will be talking about the project chart and LTP together since they are all the projects for the board of trustees. I have not seen a lot of meetings happening, and I’m not trying to shame anyone. Just a gentle reminder to take the lead on your projects and not wait till the last week before Q4 and try to schedule a meeting.
Barry-I will try to do a better job in general with a gentle reminder. Would also like to take something out of order. Item 8 LTP, is that essentially the same pep talk?
Gary- Yes, also a gentle reminder that we’re all suggested to be on the LTP call. It’s called
Long Term Advisory that we all should be on. We all have projects that we are on and should be working on.
Stuart- Has the chart been updated lately
Gary-Yes, Barry has been updating it.
Robert-Question for Barry, there were 2 motions. One was a project chart motion, and one was a LTP motion. Both were emailed to you to be put on the agenda for this meeting, but I don’t see them. One could easily wait until Q4, but the finance one we wanted to try and get to on this meeting.
3. Correspondence- Robert
Robert- We have had 2 items of correspondence come in. One was assigned to Richard, the issue with SOCA (in his region). The other issue was from the OSA, regarding flyer and C.A. logo designs and that was assigned to Johan because he was next in line. Both came in on the same day, and they are both on the calendars. The 30-day response is due 11/28/24 for both. Both Richard and Johan have no issues with the due date. Gary- Questioning if the time frame is enough
Robert- This is the time frame we have always worked with.
Johan- Asking for feedback on his correspondence. Ruby- Question why the OSA which is in the PSR did not go to Aurora, since the SOCA issue went to Richard.
Robert-My interpretation of the Asst Secretary responsibilities is that if a specific issue arises in a region it will go to that regional trustee, and this wasn’t an issue but a clarification.
What I don’t want to happen is we get 10 correspondents coming from the Pacific South and we would just load them all on Aurora.
Richard- Would like some input on his correspondence. (Discussion)
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4. Referral Tracker-Robert
Robert- There are quite a few that opened, but it would be more beneficial to go over them at Q4. There is a question on one of them, that I needed some feedback from Joni. It was voted on at our last quarterly meeting at the conference. It was regarding a hybrid conference; it was voted on to transfer this to the Conference committee. Joni, the question is, was this transferred?
Joni-No
Robert- Then I will get it taken care of and get it off our plate. After this meeting I will post the new tracker into the WSBT groupsio. If there is something you are interested in then we can discuss more at Q4.
Barry- Could you also post it in the referral tracker?
Robert- The other issue is there was a motion in the minutes regarding the 2 WSOB members being from within 150 miles of the office which we voted for and approved a referral would be submitted to S&B. It was not a project. Who makes that referral? Does the Asst Secretary do it since they are over the referrals, and add it to the chart to watch? If everyone is okay, I will submit the referral based on that motion from the minutes on behalf of the WSBT.
No referrals have been received since the conference.
5. Long Term Planning (Gary)
Gary- Gentle reminder to work on your projects
6. Financial Overview (Robert)
Robert- I posted a couple of items yesterday. The most recent is the 12-week cash flow analysis. The transfers to the Prudent Reserve and the book publication fund have occurred, so that took a little over $65,000.00 out of the operating account which is good. There is still plenty of cash in there. Had a discussion with Richard that it’s probably a good idea to see where we stand as the board of trustees and our budget, in addition to where the fellowship stands. I have all the regional trustee’s expenses here, they are just the totals, if you need a breakdown, I can easily get that information to you. Discussion about Q2 and Q3 expenses. Also, we are significantly behind on 7th Tradition through the end of Q3. About $35,000.00 behind where we budgeted to. This is something to keep an eye on. Regional trustees could maybe have a conversation with their areas. Through the end of Q3 which includes October we’re positive at $81,000.00, where we had budgeted estimated -$126,000.00. We’re still over $200,000.00 ahead of where the budget placed us.
(Discussion about donations, and checks being lost in the PO Box) Robert- These numbers were pulled on 11/1/24. Also please let all your areas know, not to send anything to the PO Box, it is not in the fellowships name. Aurora- Question about Gratitude Month, and how is that reflected in the budget?
Robert- There is a QR code that can be used and goes directly to the gratitude account. They can also use Paypal, and in the comment section specifically say gratitude month
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donation. Or they can go old school and write a check and mail it to the office, with gratitude month written in memo.
Gary- Discussion on how the prudent reserve was changed.
Robert- Motion was made by Jonathan to raise the prudent reserve to $175,000.00 and it was approved, while you were sick. Going back to the budget, looks like the profit from the 2024 world convention is about $170,000.00
7. WSOB (11th Tradition literature changes discussion)-Joni
Joni- Translation committee hasn’t met yet, but I’ve been in conversation with Tai. I asked her to put together a list of everything that needs to be changed. I’m going to the office a day early before our quarterly meeting so I can meet with Tai and go over some things, and one of those things is the translation committee.
Robert- We need tradition 11 changed in all our literature. Had a couple of discussions with Randy about this. A lot of questions from regions about when this change will happen, how it’s going to happen. Randy has been very proactive about getting out in front of this and making sure things are getting done. So, the hyper focus is the translation committee and getting the tradition 11 changes done quickly and imminently, so that we can get it out to the fellowship.
Joni- I’m sure this will be on the agenda at our next meeting.
Johan- A new meeting is scheduled before Q4. Who will tell the fellowship they need to translate their local 11th Tradition throughout their literature? Will it be the office or the
Regional Trustees through the WSBT?
Robert- I think it will be the office and the translation committee
Joni- I think there should be a process for this, as changes come through, we should have a process for getting that information out and requesting that it be changed.
Barry- Talked with Randy, the conference approved the change to the tradition, but we don’t have a process for changing all our literature. Who writes this process and then may need to go to conference for approval. A lot of conversation needs to be had about this process.
Randy did not want to put on the office manager. Also we want to continue business as usual, so we wouldn’t stop buying literature until the change is made.
Gary- We have the translation committee that should be doing all of this, but let’s not tie up the office or this board with discussion on who’s going to do what.
Joni- It’s not such an easy change, it’s a pretty big process, and I don’t think it should all be put on the office.
Robert- This is on the agenda for the next WSOB’s meeting.
Old Business Items
1) TNC Contract Criteria (Joni) … Q4
2) WSOB CRM/DMS Consultant (Robert)
Robert- We have chosen a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) and it’s called donor perfect, it is geared towards nonprofit organizations. I asked for some clarification about if it
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contained DMS (Data Management System), and Tai contacted Steven to get an update.
Once I have an update I will put it in the Whatsapp chat.
3) Communication with A.A. regarding Changing the Concepts (Barry)
Barry- In communication with Nick regarding changing the concepts. We got a letter from the AA Board of Trustees from the intellectual property desks. They have not granted any permission for us to use the long form of the 12 Traditions. We discussed this last year, and I will be bringing this before the board to decide. This will be discussed more at Q4, and the letter will be posted in the miscellaneous files for review.
4) WSBT Intellectual Property Protocol (Joni) … Q4
5) Groups Digital 7th Tradition Collection (Chris)
Chris-We didn’t come up with a hard solution. We have a finance subcommittee for the trustees. We are going to need some written guidelines. We are looking for some guidance. It could be a project. Discuss more at Q4.
6) Conference Committees having materials for distribution to the fellowship approved at Conference for upcoming year-SR-21/revising SR-21 motion (Johan)
Johan- Would like this moved to the project chart. Johan, Stuart, and Robert will be meeting on this.
7) Public Information 4-point Video approval process proposal (Ruby/Stuart)
Ruby- We had discussion on this last quarter, and with the conference approval of the
5-point video approval process and then going back to the PI committee to further flesh out.
This can be taken off the agenda.
New Business Items
1) NewsGram 4th Quarter (Aurora)
Discussion about NewsGram 4th Quarter. Corrections were given to Kenny.
Gary made a MOTION: To approve the NewsGram 4th Quarter, Robert seconded, Passed Aurora made a MOTION: To approve the NewsGram flyer, Tina seconded, Joni made a friendly amendment to accept this flyer as a template for the NewsGram, and be voted on this one time…PASSED…..Richard called the question, Chis seconded, PASSED….
2) Non delegate Chairs (Gary) Q4
3) WSOB Candidate election of DAL’s / schedule interviews (Robert)
4) Project trustee participation limits (Robert)-Q4
5) Hotel Contract for Q4 (Joni)…..Done
6) All Fellowships Anonymous (Aurora)-Q4-
7) WSBT involvement with WSC Committee disputes (Richard)-Q4
8) Engagement Letter for Corporate Filings (Joni)
9) Etsy Copyright infringement update (Joni)-Q4
10)Project WSBT – 2024-02 (Robert)-Q4
11)Project WSBT- 2024-7 (Robert)
12)Tina-Discussion about Unity Guidelines
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13)Maps/Starter Kits (Chris)
Chris- Tai is looking for guidance, there are some regional boundaries in the continental US that don’t have C.A. or are not recognized areas and she needed help getting in touch with the TAL. This has to do with starter kits, and the growth of the fellowship. Aurora- made a MOTION to put WSOB “Welcome to the new office” letter into the current
NewsGram article in place of the existing “Welcome to the new office” letter that’s in there, minus the photograph of workers, Robert seconded……PASSES
Any Other Business
Robert-Got notification from office manager that committee guidelines need to be up on the website 90 days after conference, that due date is Nov 29th.
Gary-4 new meetings of C.A. in Dubai
Ruby-The book “Recalling the early days of C.A” has gone back to LCF at point 15, so not
published yet.
Stuart-Wanted to know how far away we are from using the Hsbc bank account?
Dates and Times for Upcoming Conference Calls and Quarterlies 2024-2025
- 2024 – Q4 Meeting … December 6th, 7th, 8th, 2024 / Phoenix, AZ
- 2025 – Q4/Q1 Conference Call Meeting … January 25th (4hr-5hr zoom meeting)
- 2025 – Q1 Meeting … March 26th, 27th, 28th / London, ENG
- European Regional Convention … March 28th, 29th, 30th
- 2025 – Q1/Q2 Conference Call Meeting … April 12th (4hr-5hr zoom meeting)
- 2025 – Q2 Meeting … May 19th, 20th, 21st – Phoenix, AZ
- CAWS 2025 WS Convention … May 22nd, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 26th
- 2025 – Q2/Q3 Conference Call Meeting … June 28th (4hr-5hr zoom meeting)
- 2025 – Q3 Meeting … August 22nd, 23rd, 24th / Dallas, TX
- TEC Meeting … August 25th, 26th, 27th,
- CAWS 2025 WS Conference August 28th, 29th, 30th, 31st
- 2025 – Orientation Call … September 13th (4hr-5hr zoom meeting)
- 2025 – Q3/Q4 Conference Meeting … October 11th (4hr-5hr zoom meeting) ● 2025 – Q4 Meeting … December 5th, 6th, 7th – location TBD
Motion to close, seconded
*** Moment of silence followed by the “WE” version of the Serenity Prayer ***
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