SGSC MINUTES SEPTEMBER 16, 2018

Transcription

1 SGSC MINUTES SEPTEMBER 16, 2018 The meeting opened at 3:30pm ET with the Serenity Prayer. ATTENDANCE: (22) Agnes - MD, Akia W DC, Barbie Jo - FL, Cayce OH, Cindy HI, Claire PA, Constant CO, Dave M MA/FL, Deme S CA, Debby - GA, Gracie AU, Haidee AU, Kathy KY, Linda MI, Lou FL, Lisa MA, Marsha MI, Paul B - MA, Pam K Toronto, Shirley H ME, Sherry FL, Rod Melbourne, AU, (If you were on the call and your name is not listed or your information is not correct, please Pam K at lowry.kokott@gmail.com so your name can be added or the information can be corrected.) ~ Welcome by Paul B, SGSC Chair sgsc@foodaddicts.org INTERGROUPS AND CHAPTER REPORTS Western Area Intergroup (WAI) meets 2 nd Sunday monthly (except June), 200+ people in attendance Deme S, WAI SGSC Chair, presented the following: FA Western Area Intergroup (WAI) Meeting Summary August 12, 2018 From the Public Information committee Service Group Support Committee conference call is scheduled for Sunday, September 16, :30 2:00 PM Pacific. Questions or to be added to the list, contact Deme at waisgsc@foodaddicts.org From the 12 th step committee It s time to start planning for this year s Thank-a-Thons, which are special 2-hour meetings held on US Thanksgiving Day. Two speakers qualify, and the focus of the meeting is on gratitude. If your regular Thursday meeting held a Thank-a-Thon last year, please discuss at your next business meeting whether or not your group would like to host one again this year. Each Thank-a-Thon needs two contacts who have two or more years of abstinence, and who are willing to have their names and phone numbers posted on the FA Website. The deadline for submitting your Thank-a-Thon time, location, and contact information is before the September Intergroup meeting. Please send your contact information to Dana at waithankathons@foodaddicts.org Public Information Committee: Su S. Media Watch Statistics: o Sent out 30 contacts o Received 3 personal responses Articles: o Food Obsessed: Struggles over weight loss, gain a problem for many VC Reporter July 25, 2018 Personal Responses (Examples):

2 o Thanks for your great message!... I will keep your additional information as we continue to work with people with every possible relationship to food. Best wishes, Stephanie Brown, PhD Addiction Institute Weblinks New website links: 20 New college website links: 1 Number of colleges accessing FA website last month:5 Visits from college links: 8 Total referral traffic last month: 1,379 Social network referrals: 599 Total Website traffic (visits) last Month: 51,944 o Desktops 37% o Mobile 58% o Tablets 5% Google banner ads (Impressions): 430,000 AdWords Click-through to FA website: 24,600 Click-through rate: 5.72% Blogwatch 29 Attempts 19 Appear 7 pending Totals to date: 1071 Attempts; 550 Appear Community Outreach Recent events: o August 11th Allen Temple Baptist Church (Oakland) o August 11th Information Session, Main Branch of SF Public Library (San Francisco) Upcoming events: o Kaiser Clinical Health Educators presentation (diabetes support) - Postponed to new tentative date: August 21st o Marin Senior Fair, Marin Center Exhibit Hall - Wednesday, October 24th o Mills Health Center 100 S. San Mateo Drive (San Mateo) Co-Presentation to recovery groups (AA, NA) at the Detox Center, partnering with Gamblers Anonymous (GA) Saturday, September 8th o SF State University - Presentation to students in an addiction class Service Group Support

3 Sacramento-Foothills o Meets: 4th Saturday of the month 10:45 AM directly after the 9:00 am FA meeting at St. Andrews United Methodist Church, 6201 Spruce Ave., Sacramento o Next meeting: Sat. Aug 25 o Attendees: 6-11 attendees o Contact Cynthia B or Lenell o No updates San Francisco o Meets: 1x/month on the second Saturday of the month. o Attendees: 7 people meet in person and 13 on s. o Contact Amber J for more information o Eventbrite - 8 Views this month and 3 RSVP. Total views: 146 o Previous/Ongoing Activity: Information Session at the SF Main Public Library on August 11 SGSC members are also working on dropping off FA books in local "Little Free" libraries in the San Francisco Bay Area. Mid-Peninsula/South Bay New group o Meeting time and place: 3rd Saturday of the month at 10:30 at the First Presbyterian Church in Palo Alto following the 9am Saturday morning meeting. o Contact Maria R. o Attendees: Typically 6-9 attendees o No updates Homebound Meetings/12 th step The Homebound Committee brings FA meetings to members who are unable to attend a regular meeting due to a physical condition or surgery. HB meetings are usually held in someone s home for one hour, but can also be held at a hospital or Care facility. They should not be scheduled to conflict with a regularly scheduled FA meeting or to conflict with mealtimes. There were 4 meetings this month with a total of 34 for the year It s easy to inquire about or initiate a HB meeting. Anyone can waihomebound@foodaddicts.org and you will be contacted with information and Eli. This committee has been very hard at work to revise the Homebound Meeting Guide. It has been updated submitted to the board for review and approved. This guide gives Homebound participants the information they need to prepare for the homebound meeting. It s best to reach out at least one week before needing a HBM to allow enough time for the Area Coordinator to help organize the meeting. Please do not plan A HBM without contacting this committee. We can facilitate this process and offer help and information. This is what one fellow shared after having two HBM in her home: My accident resulted in a serious injury which required surgery and a long recovery period. The accident itself was a frightening and vulnerable experience. I continue to heal and get stronger with my FA recovery coming first. As I get closer to full physical recovery, I ve come to rely on the FA fellowship more than ever. So far, Homebound Meetings have been one of the most dear and loving experiences in my FA journey. In such an intimate setting, I ve shared my concerns and hopes without fear. Saying that I m grateful seems so inadequate to express what I m feeling about this HB service.

4 The 12 Step Call Committee provides support to a person not currently in FA but is interested in FA but unable to attend a meeting due to a physical condition. If you know of anyone who needs this please contact us a waihomebound@foodaddicts.org. Eastern Area Intergroup (EAI) meets 1 st or 2 nd Sunday (depending on holidays) monthly, 40+ people in attendance Cayce K, EAI Service Support Subcommittee Chair, presented the following report: History: - EAI decided to fold this subcommittee under PI and have Service Support weekend be it s own committee since the weekend takes more time and energy to plan. - Having an EAI Service Support Subcommittee will enable LSGs to get more support from EAI and from each other. Were we are now: - Dave M has compiled a database of all the LSGs in WSI and is tracking vital information regarding contact information, meeting locations, etc. - Dave M has also started archiving best practices from each LSG into OneNote notebooks so that everyone has access to suggested service ideas and tips. Going forward: - Would like to hold quarterly calls so that EAI LSGs and Maine chapter can call in and report about successes and challenges. - Would like to recruit members to be on the subcommittee and assign roles to members such as archivist, secretary, phone call follow-up, follow up, etc. - Would like to develop simple OneNote process so groups can have a record of what they are doing that works. To reach EAI Service Support Subcommittee: eaiservicesupport@foodaddicts.org Maine Chapter meets monthly on a Sunday Shirley H, Maine Chapter Chair, presented the following: FA Maine Chapter of EAI Report There are 22 meetings affiliated with the Maine Chapter. The Chapter meets the third Sunday of each month (except August). Summary of Recent Activities: PI: FA Booths at in two Health Fairs and one community health clinic Currently organizing a FA Booth for a Naval Shipyard The Chapter provides FA Banners, FA tablecloth and materials for the FA booths. Currently using Meeting Directory and the EAI FA Information (Waiting Room) Booklet for the Public and Health Professional Brochure, FA Racks and the EAI FA Information (Waiting Room) Booklet for

5 Provider 12 th Step: Offers home meetings to home bound fellows Chapter sells FA Conference Approved Literature at cost at each Chapter Meetings. The Chapter absorbs the shipping cost (began a year ago by selling FA literature, Big Book and Twelve and Twelve. This month we are adding the 24 Hour Book and the Little Red Book. The Chapter is able to buy these two books for half the cost since we purchase for 22 meetings. Writing Session is planned in October Organizing two FA Road Trips to a meeting on the Maine Frontier 12 th Step Committee keeps an updated list of fellows throughout the Chapter. This list is provided bimonthly to the Chapter Contacts for each meeting Office Activities: s Monthly Highlights to Chapter Contacts. The Highlights announce upcoming events, service activities and Chapter resources available to the meetings Updates Maine Meeting Directory Updates Maine Page on the FA Website ~ South Coast/Cape Cod LSG - Putting the Full Court Press on the Press - Successful Strategies for Getting Press Coverage for Your Info Session Lisa G lisagwareham@gmail.com TO RECEIVE DOCUMENTS SHARED BY SOUTH COAST/CAPE COD LSG lowry.kokott@gmail.com Lisa shared the success of the recent Public Info Session that brought in 12 newcomers (currently 2 are in program working with an FA sponsor and the seed is planted for anyone who read about FA and/or attended the Info Session): The current LSG started with a conference call in April 2018 Seven meetings participated with time and funds to plan an Info Session for Saturday, September 18 at 2pm (choosing the day and time thought to be best for newcomers). In July the LSG started working on press coverage The best tool was the standard FA press release that was customized with info session information and local fellows stories making sure the phone number and website were prominent. A press release was sent to a number of local papers with two goals in mind: get the press release printed and/or an article written Meetings contributed funds for paid advertising in local papers (phone number and website were prominent) Process and results re Wareham Courier: 1) Sales Department called to get rate info, 2) Discussed ways in which FA is helpful to the community at large, that unrecognized food addiction is at the core of many illnesses and FA has a solution that works, 3) Worked with Sales Rep on an ad package that fit timing and location of the Info Session, 4) Sales Rep spoke with Editor about doing a story on FA,

6 5) Editor was sent an and a press release, 6) interview booked with a reporter and 2 FA members 7) Story about FA and the Info Session ran on PAGE ONE!!! 8) Paid advertising ran during the two weeks prior to the Info Session Fellowship lunch was held before the info session. Used lawn signs (idea from Philadelphia LSG) to direct people to location Greeters stood in the parking lot and near entrance before the Info Session and for 30 minutes after it started to welcome newcomers especially those hesitant to come in. Info Session sign-in sheet asked where the newcomer is from and how they heard about the Info Session - all 12 said the print media and one mentioned seeing a flyer on a bulletin board. Index cards and golf pencils were placed on seats for anyone too uncomfortable to ask a question (5 or 6 questions received); moderator was prepared with questions if no questions were asked. Many members worked different angles newspapers and social media Momentum was exciting and energizing A wrap-up call was scheduled to discuss what worked and what didn t. One paper printed press release a month ahead of the Info Session (caution about timing) Q&A/Discussion Q: Noticed real first names were used in the article in the Wareham Courier. Did that break anonymity? A: No, full names and faces were not used. Q: Is the LSG staying together or is it an event-focused LSG? A: We are hoping the LSG stays together. We are planning a fellowship day in spring It s easier to get things done financially and work-wise with multiple meetings working together. Q: Can either a meeting or an LSG hold an Info Session. A: Yes, there is no rule about LSG or individual meetings holding Info Sessions Updates/Concerns/Reports/Accomplishments Akia/Agnes DC Area LSG: DC area LSG works on larger activites such as health fairs and had a table at a health fair in Bowie, MD, LSG meeting minutes are ed but not posted (it was suggested to speak to Dave M about posting in One Note) activities (such as health fairs), if an individual meeting is spearheading an initiative the LSG discusses the initiatives and will support if group conscience decides to do so Teens and Twenties Committee is putting together a kit for approaching that demographic. Rod Australia: Looking for support to get an LSG off the ground in his area. Meeting ended at 5:00pm with the Serenity Prayer. **************************************************************************************************** NEXT SGSC CALL IS SCHEDULED FOR NOVEMBER 18, 2018 AT 3:30 ET WSI SGSC CORE MEMBERS Paul B, Chair, SGSC@foodaddicts.org Akia W, LSG Rep, akiaweaver@gmail.com

7 Cayce K, EAI Service Support Subcommittee Chair, Deme S, WAI SG Support Chair, Pam K, SGSC Secretary, Shirley H, Maine Chapter Chair,