Service Group Support Committee Minutes - Sunday, October 18, 2020
3:30pm – 5:00pm ET
Serenity Prayer
Attendance
Mac M., TX; Pam K., Kelowna BC, Canada; Anita F., University Park FL; Abi W. Western MA; Akia W., Washington, D.C.; Ana O., San Rafael, CA; Andrea C., Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Andrew L., Fresno, CA; Barb C., Canada; Bob F., Dunedin, FL; Brad B., Simi Valley CA; Bronna G., Toronto, Ontario Canada; Carol B., Gainesville, FL; Catherine L.; Cindy B., Maui, HI; Cynthia Campbell, CA; Cynthia L., Jupiter FL; Diane T.; Cynthia K., Jakki T., Endwell, NY; Karen D., Vancouver, WA; Karl M., Elora; Kathleen, Martinez, CA; Kathryn W., New York City, NY; Ketura, Washington, D.C.; Leona W.C., Antioch, CA; Lou C., Rochester, NY; Lucinda, UT; Magg G., Kalamazoo, MI; Marlene B., MD; Margaret R., Buffalo, NY; Nancy C., New Hamburg, Ontario, Canada; Perrine C., La Quinta, CA; Rebecca R., CA; Reina D., Topsham, ME; Rod B., Melbourne, Australia; Ron; Roslyn H., Amelia Island, FL; Sherry W., Cape Coral, FL; Stacy T., San Francisco, CA; Val, MI; Vicki K., Moss Beach, CA; Erica, Cupertino, CA;
Kathryn, Charleston, SC
Intergroups and Chapter Report
Eastern Area Intergroup (EAI) – Anita F.
- Planning the first virtual Service Group Support Weekend Nov 7-8. The meeting will be a series of breakouts that will be repeated so that everyone can participate. There will be a dance party/game night on Saturday night, and Sunday morning will be yoga, a writing session and board meeting where anyone can attend. There is still lots of space, so please sign up!
Maine Chapter – Reina
- Of the 22 meetings, 17 are meeting virtually due to COVID-19. Other groups have joined up or are joining gatherings hosted elsewhere. People from afar attending meetings has enriched the local fellowship.
- Chapter purchased a Zoom license so that they can still hold meetings and people can attend remotely.
- PI committee had its first virtual booth at a health fair event. They are also completing an ad buy for online and print advertising. The ads will run for 3 months from November to January. Virtual PI meeting Oct 27 at 7pm.
- Office committee is coordinating literature sales and planning chapter day.
- Chapter expects to be considering motions in the upcoming months.
Western Area Intergroup (WAI)
Deme S. has stepped down, Leona W.C. has stepped up to coordinate WAI
- WAI held a service group call with the Pacific Rim fellowship which connects those in California with those in Australia
Zoom Your Way to a Fellowship Day – New York Fellowship
- Got the idea for a fellowship day from the Maine Chapter
- People from the Rochester/Buffalo, Ithaca, and Syracuse areas got together to plan the fellowship day. NY used to have a chapter, so the fellowship day was a nice way to re-connect the NY fellowship.
- First fellowship day was in person in October 1, 2016 – 7-hour event with breakout sessions, fellowship meals, games at the end. Collected donations to cover the costs of the event including space rental, lodging assistance, donated excess to WSI.
- For the recent Zoom gathering, the topic was Staying Connected No Matter What.
- Event was 1.5 hours.
- Several breakout sessions, started by a moderator and two speakers who shared for 8 minutes each.
- Breakout rooms let more people share. o Lou was the host because he had a Zoom account that could handle more than 100 people.
- Used Google drive for meeting notes and email drafts, which is where they saved all the documents from previous events as well.
- Publicized the event by contacting all the NY meeting contacts using the FA website.
- People registered using a Google form – collected people’s basic information including emails and whether they want to be on an event phone list. The phone list was distributed after the event.
- Learning from mistakes:
- Problem with registration link – make sure to test it
- Limitation on attendance; needed to create a waiting list
- Attendance was less than registration – make sure to send a reminder email 1-2 days before
- Breakout rooms – they didn’t need so many rooms and needed better up-front instructions
- Needed to know how to assign/reassign people to breakout rooms
Q&A/Discussion
- Sherry W from Cape Coral, FL
- How many people were involved in the sharing? 9
- Kathryn from Charleston, SC
- Attended the Fellowship Conference and had emails that would count down to the event
- Perhaps include a mini tutorial on Zoom and how to connect
- Akia W. from Washington, D.C.
- Previous brochure displayed showed two locations – was that for different areas? The two-day event brochure was from the ME Chapter Day. Last 3-4 years were
- Rod B., Melbourne, Australia
- Could you share the documents or PowerPoint to people who want to share the same thing? Sure. Email SGSC@foodaddicts.org if you are interested in seeing the NY fellowship meeting materials.
- Pam K., Kelowna, BC, Canada
- How many people attended? About 60. The event was very successful. Everyone was welcome, so some attendees came from outside the NY Fellowship.
- Akia W., Washington, D.C.
- The breakout rooms worked wonderfully at the NY fellowship day. The big room felt like being a spectator, but everyone participated in the breakout rooms.
- Vicki K., Moss Beach, CA
- Can anyone attend the EAI weekend? Yes, everyone is welcome.
LSG Reporting
- Perrine, La Quinta, CA
- Is WSI/EAI/WAI thinking about how and whether to meet in person in 2021? This is under discussion at this time.
- Reina, Topsham, ME – Chapter has decided to keep meeting virtually in 2021
- Ana O., San Rafael, CA
- Spanish speaking meeting on Sunday morning, opening another meeting on Thursday nights, which has had a huge response. They are sponsoring completely in Spanish. If you are interested in this information contact SGSC@foodaddicts.org.
- Oct 24-25, Bylaws Committee will be hosting an eForum – you will have received an email about this. For more information please contact SGSC@foodaddicts.org.