Quarterly Report 2009 - Oct-Dec

Dear FA Members:

I am pleased to send the attached report from the World Service Board. Please note the following highlights from the past quarter:

World Service Office Director: We are happy to announce the establishment of this new position and the hiring of Adrienne C., previous World Service Office chair, to serve as our first office director. Adrienne brings tremendous skills and familiarity with all aspects of the office functions. She will supervise daily operations and handle special projects, working 30 hours per week.

New Office Committee Chair: The board is also pleased to announce that Ruth M. will be serving as interim office chair. Ruth is a long-time member of FA who has several years of experience as WAI’s office chair. We are grateful for her generosity.

Revised Bylaws: The bylaws have been fully revised in accordance with decisions made by the World Service Conference last June. They have been posted in the “For Members” section of the FA web page under World Service Inc. Docs / Gov. Docs / FA Bylaws.

“Meeting Contact” – Future Shift in Title and Responsibility: We will soon send information regarding a proposed new title “Web and Directory Contact” and changed responsibilities for the current position of “WSI Meeting Contact.” To ensure better accuracy for meeting listings on the web, we will ask each “Web and Directory Contact” to be responsible for the correctness of the posted details related to his or her meeting.

No Shipping Fees: The board received feedback from some smaller meetings in the U.S. and abroad that the charges for literature and CDs were difficult to handle. We are happy to announce that World Service decided we can offer free shipping for all CDs and literature orders. We hope that this will help.

World Service Business Convention (June 4-6, 2010, Danvers, MA): Each year the World Service Conference (WSC) gathers to carry forward the message of FA and handle service-related business of the corporate entity of FA – World Service, Inc. (WSI). The WSC consists of FA members elected by their meetings to represent the fellowship as a whole, officers and board members of intergroups and chapters, and officers and committee chairs of the World Service Board, all of whom have at least five years’ continuous abstinence. Voting and discussions are limited to members of the Conference. The business sessions are open to any interested FA member. The Chapter and Intergroup Forum will NOT be held this year. Details have been sent to each meeting’s WSI Contact.

February 22, 2010 is the deadline for proposed motions, which are submitted by Intergroups and Chapters. Applications for service positions on the World Service Board are due by March 1, 2010. Details are available through the WSI Contact. On-line registration for the WSBC will open February 1. Voting members must register by March 1. Please refer to the Convention Planning Committee report for details.

With gratitude for your service – Kesaya N., for the World Service Board

WSI COMMITTEE REPORTS – 2d Quarter of 2009-2010 fiscal year1

Bylaws Committee (Kris M., Chair)

The committee has been involved in

• Editing the most recent bylaws to reflect the amendments made at the 2008 WSBC
• Working with the other WSI committees to draft updated committee operating procedures
• Drafting the World Service Board operating procedures with the WSB vice-chair
• Connecting with two existing committee members should a case arise where the committee needs to gather together
• Preparing new amendments to the bylaws for the 2010 WSBC

Chapter and Intergroup Support Committee (Misch E., Chair)

• Work has been moving forward on updating the Chapter Forum Manual. The original electronic version had been lost, and it was necessary to recreate an electronic version for the sub-committee to work with. The sub-committee will be meeting every three weeks to work on the manual.
• The Michigan Chapter Chair was able to bring procedural questions to the regular meeting two months in a row and found the discussion and suggestions from the group to be helpful.
• There has been a discussion regarding a possible motion from this committee for the 2010 business convention. A consensus has not been reached at this time.
• The word seems to be spreading that this committee is the place to come for guidance and information about pre-chapter activities. The Sydney and Cleveland fellowships are active with pre-chapter work.
• Arrangements are being made to have the Forum Reports on the website. The Fellowship Convention Forum Report is nearing completion.

connection Committee (Jacquie P., Chair)

• Finalized magazine survey for member input
• Finalized cover art for next two connection Collections
• Began to hold Writing Team conference calls for writing teams worldwide
• Initiated review of magazine’s Style Guide

Convention Planning Committee (Ann H., Chair)

• Planning is underway for the 2010 World Service Business Convention. Once again we will return to Danvers, Massachusetts to conduct FA business and carry the message of recovery forward. The former Sheraton hotel has had a name change and is now known as the Crowne Plaza Boston North Shore. To reserve a room at the convention rate, call 978-777-2500 by May 13 and mention that you will be attending the FA convention.
• Conference voting members have a two-step registration process: (1) All voting members (see chair’s summary) must register on-line between February 1 and March 1. (2) Payment for registration will be open on-line between February 1 and April 30.
• To better assist with our planning, all meals must be purchased by April 30. Meal plans and individual meals will not be available for purchase on site.
• Once again, EAI will be assisting with home hospitality needs for BEFORE and AFTER the convention.
• Additional details will be forthcoming.

Literature Committee (Jane M., Chair)

FA Book

• Collated WSB feedback into a document that prioritized next steps for FA Book production.
• Received recommendations for consideration regarding publication/distribution process.
• Next steps will be to identify the final stories for the book and continue to make progress towards publishing/distribution

Pamphlets and New Literature Requests

• Continued editing the “Sponsorship” pamphlet to make clear the role of the sponsor/sponsee relationship (sponsors are not to give advice about medications)
• Next steps will be to review and revise the “There Is a Solution” pamphlet and the “Living Abstinently” pamphlet (formerly “Living Abstinently – A Guide for Sponsors”)

CD’s

• Created 5 CDs at the Fellowship Convention in Santa Clara, with an emphasis on Spanish-language CDs

Language Translation

• Will be integrating new members of this subcommittee into the literature committee

Office Committee (Adrienne C., Chair until 12/1/09)

• Management of the website worm issue with resolution.
• Literature and CD shipping reduction cost to 0% now online
• Development of “web and directory contact” person which will replace the “meeting contact” person. More coming on this soon.
• Annual review of office manager performed
• Work has now begun on getting the 2010 business convention registration online, which will open February 1, 2010.
• Continued to develop procedures to facilitate the work of the FA office.
• Continued development of procedures to improve the FA Web On-line Services.
• Continued work on the operating procedures for the procedures manual.

Public Information Committee (Bonnie H., Chair)

• We sent out a press release for the 2009 Fellowship Convention and that caught the attention of CBS News and the San Jose News. As a result two different interviews took place at the convention.
• We would really like to prepare everyone for the upcoming Survey. It is a document that will be posted on the website and we are hoping that EVERYONE will respond to it. Expect further notification.
• We are looking for interviews (either videos or written articles) that have taken place within the fellowship. If you have done an interview for either TV, radio or newspapers please contact pi@foodaddicts.org so we can post it on the Media Page.
• Dr. Oz’s office contacted us recently, but we were unable to appear on their show because they wouldn’t respect our anonymity requirements. That is why Mediawatch and Weblinks are so important. We then contacted them with our information and requested a link to our website. Please contact either Mediawatch@foodaddicts.org or Weblinks@foodaddicts.org or pi@foodaddicts.org with any questions about either.

Traditions Review Committee (Sue G., Chair)

Issue: A member wanted to know if a meeting could be held in a doctor’s office. The physician is actually her daughter’s boss. Her daughter is a PA and works in this office. Both the doctor and the PA are extremely impressed with the program and want to promote the FA program to their patients.

Response: The TRC wanted more information, and this member has not responded.

Issue: A member had a concern about meeting safety. Several events happened at the meeting that led them to ask if they could close their door so that strangers would not wander in. For example, a perturbed boyfriend entered the meeting asking for his girlfriend. He left peacefully. Is there any tradition requiring that meetings maintain an open door policy in view of safety concerns?

Response: The TRC thought this was not a traditions issue but that meeting safety is important. This might be an issue to be discussed in the Best Practices newsletter and in the Meeting Guidelines.

Issue: A member found a link on Amazon.com that appears to give FA’s endorsement of certain products and/or vendors. This member questioned whether this was a traditions issue.

Response: The TRC considered this a clear disregard for the traditions. This person was contacted by the TRC Chair, and the site was removed. The well-meaning member was new and not aware of the tradition issue.

Issue: A member asked the TRC about the use of e-mail addresses to solicit potential clients. Her name and e-mail address have been made available to send out notices for FA business, to let people know when a member is ill, or someone has passed away, invitations to fellowship events, things of that nature. Recently she has received invitations to events for parties where things can be purchased. (Jewelry, candles, house wares, make-up etc.)

Response: This issue has come up before, and the TRC has suggested that people are at their own risk when they agree to put their names on phone/email lists. It is not consistent with traditions 5 and 6 to attempt to use phone/email list for personal financial gain. The TRC recommends that people write to the person using the list inappropriately directly to ask to be removed from any non-FA use of their email address.

Issue: A member asked if the TRC had any suggestions about an AA member in his eighties who attends their FA meetings and shares or qualifies and identifies himself as an AA member and talks about how much he loves AA and how much he dislikes FA. He calls himself a “rebel” and talks about belonging to an “FA Support Group” that allows members to sit around a table and share without rules. The inquiring member is concerned about confusing the newcomers.

Response: The general sense of the TRC was that this was not a Traditions issue. However, the TRC felt that the meeting should be selective as to who they ask to lead a meeting. It would make sense to approach him and ask him to please consider Tradition 5 when sharing. “Our primary purpose is to carry the message to the food addict who still suffers.” The group conscience might address this person in a business meeting as to their concern about how he carries the message of FA.

Twelfth Step Committee (Jim S., Chair)

• Continued evolution of the Committee’s mission to focus on encouraging service among FA Members.
• Planned a Service: How it Works Phone Conference to address members’ questions about meeting health. Conference Call was cancelled after concerns were expressed about incongruity with the Traditions, and about members’ own growth process.
• Prepared to transfer responsibility for translation of FA Literature from English into other languages used by FA members to the Literature Committee.
  • Developed procedure for translations using professional translation service and FA members;
  • Re-Translated ‘09 Revised FA Meeting Format into Spanish and German by professional translation Currently being reviewed by FA subcommittee members.
• Held monthly Service Council meeting, and the first meeting of all 12th Step members.
• Expanded the charge of the Accessibility sub-committee to include issues relating to meeting safety.
• Published monthly the Frontier Phone List, with a new focus on members with no (instead of fewer than three) meetings, and the Frontier Sponsor List.
• Surveyed current and recent WS Board members on Gratitude in Action e-newsletter.