Introduction to this Motion Packet
This is the PDF text of Mike C's Cover Letter which
accompanied
this package, in addition to text contained
on each of 16 'slides' for your convenience with printing
You can click on any hyper-links (blue typeface) and
be directed
to the respective web pages which we
reference through out these frames
Note: Several of the Area 16 links require an ID, and
Password
as follows:
User ID: area16
Password: Gssa@2006
This information was passed on to all in attendance at the
May Assembly from the Rostrum for the use of 'Our
Members', statewide
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CONCERNS REGARDING THIS
SUBJECT
MATTER, PLEASE GO TO
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20 July 2007
To: Area 16 District Committee Members
Greetings!
At the last Assembly, I brought a motion to the floor
regarding external web-links
and our State Website. Supporters of this
motion have produced a package of
information so that you, your GSR's, your
Groups and your Meetings can have
knowledgeable discussions in preparation
for the vote in September. Included in
this package are a CD with both a
slide show presentation and text copy of each
of the slides. Please feel
free to make any copies you find necessary. A copy of
the actual Motion Form
submitted is also included.
We thought it necessary to send this package
because, in our opinion, there was
no opportunity to explain why this
motion was brought forth during our last
Assembly.
The slide
show reveals why we believe linking to external, Traditions-based
(i.e.
"valid") District and Intergroup Websites is essential to carrying the message
to the alcoholic in our technological future. With computers becoming more
prominent and users becoming savvier, having links to District and
Intergroup
Websites simply allows another way to find a meeting or even
another alcoholic.
Believe it or not, we are not the first State to have
this idea. Oregon (
www.aa-
), Ohio (
),
and Colorado (
/) all have links to their respective
Districts and Intergroups. These are only a few examples, but they
set a
precedent for allowing external links from a State AA Website.
This motion is not intended to reinvent the wheel here in Georgia. We
simply
believe there is a need to carry the message across the World Wide
Web to the
alcoholic who still suffers. Having links to Georgia's
Traditions-based District and
Intergroup Websites meets that need.
Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to call.
In Service,
Mike
Mike Chambless
Outgoing GSR, Area 16, Zone 5A
912.656.6314
SLIDE PRESENTATION INDEX
Slide 1
PREAMBLE
The purpose of this presentation is to build
consensus statewide in support of the
District 5 Motion to activate
`Hyper-links' on our State Area 16 Web Site
Open Minded Consideration is
needed to allow for an Autonomous but Unified
web presence linking the Area
16 Website to Traditions-based District or
Intergroup websites statewide
The recent District 5 Motion offers a Tradition Based
`SOLUTION'...This
presentation serves to clarify misunderstandings which
may exist and
explain `WHY' this change is warranted at the State level
Slide 2
The District 5 Motion to
Change the GSSA Area 16
(undocumented) Website Policy
Presented by Michael C, GSR, District 5 at the May 2007 Assembly
, allow hyperlinks to valid
Georgia Intergroup and District Websites."
What is
"VALID" ?
Keeping it simple, "valid" in our Motion means Tradition
based, and
representative of, any Intergroup or Area 16 District.
Slide 3
Five Considerations for
Informed Decision Making
What are Hyper-Links?
THE Background for this Motion
Is this proposal Attraction, or Promotion?
GSSA & GSO Documentation
addressing Website Hyper-linking
Benefits of passing this motion
Slide 4
Hyper-links Defined:
This is a means to navigate from
a web page to another web location or file;
Typically activated by clicking
on a highlighted word or icon at a particular
location on the screen
Hyperlinks are part of the foundation of the World Wide Web
Slide 5
Background for this Motion
Prepared by Michael C, GSR, District 5 for presentation to the May
2007 Assembly
With the advent of the 54th Prepaid Convention in October
here in Savannah, the
Convention Committee has spent much time trying to
coordinate registration
possibilities with the State Webmaster. In
discussions the State Webmaster and
the Savannah Area Intergroup Webmaster,
it was revealed that it was "against
policy" to link external Intergroup, or
District produced web sites within Area
16 on our state site. After thorough
investigation, no documented "policy" was
ever discovered.
Slide 6
Background Continued....
In bringing this motion, we believe that by allowing hyperlinks to
Area 16,
Traditions-based Websites from the GSSA website allows us to carry
the
message to the alcoholic more effectively. An example would be our own
District
5 Website,
'The Primary Purpose' of navigating the site is to enable NEWCOMERS
and VISITORS in Savannah to easily locate meetings. Our local site
contains
directions, maps, phone numbers and information. It should be
linked from the
GSSA Website. To further support this motion
there is the precedent of a
hyperlink to the Akron Intergroup web
site on Ohio's 'Area 54' state site.
Slide 7
Is this a matter of promotion rather than
attraction?........We think NOT!
Excerpt from
Our co-founder, Bill W., wrote:
"Public
information takes many forms. the simple sign outside a meeting
place that
says 'A.A. meeting tonight'; listing in local phone directories;
distribution of A.A. literature; and radio and television shows using
sophisticated media techniques. Whatever the form, it comes down to
'one
drunk carrying the message to another drunk,' whether through
personal
contact or through the use of third parties and the media."
Note that Bill says `Meeting'...GSSA web `policy'
PROHIBITS posting
of `meetings', recognizing registered `Groups' ONLY!
There exist countless `Meetings' throughout the state in locations
where
`Groups' have yet to be formed...the pedigree of these gatherings
matter
not to the newcomer who shows up, certainly not to the A A's who
regularly maintain and often NEED these `Meetings'
Slide 8
The only `Official' documentation available related to Linking
District, and
Intergroup Websites
Sept
17, 2000_ (Slide 9)
(Slide 10)
Those opposed to this motion present this report as a `official'
(Slides 11 and 12)
(Slide 13)
(Slide 14)
Slide 9
Web Site Creation:
A Committee had
been appointed and discussed the `feasibility study' for
producing a State
Website. Part of that discussion included the following
language....
"Another feature could be meeting schedules showing times and
locations of
meetings in other areas. This could possibly be hyper-linked to
District Web Sites being careful to use a disclaimer, etc....
Based upon the above; a motion was put to the Assembly, seconded, and
passed to create an Area 16 Website
This vote included the
potential for `Hyper-linking'
Slide 10
A Dissenting Opinion
Currently being misrepresented as the GSSA `Position' [related to
`external
websites']; The reality is that it's a single AA's seven year old
OPINION
This report objects to the VOTE WHICH PASSED to create the Area 16
State
Website at the Sept 2000 Assembly
Since it had no official impact on the vote to establish the GSSA
Area 16
Website in 2000, we must question...What does this opinion have to
do with
this motion on the floor in 2007 ?
One must navigate thru the Area 16 website to read this document as
printing
it requires the author's `permission' which was not solicited
Slide 11
6. Q. What about linking to other sites?
A.
Linking to other A.A. web sites will often have the positive effect of
significantly broadening the scope of your site. Information contained
on
these sites becomes instantly available to those visiting your site.
However, since
each A.A. entity is autonomous and has its own group
conscience, a site to
which you have linked may start to display information
which your group
conscience finds objectionable; and there is no way to know
when this might
occur, or to prevent it from happening. Linking to non-A.A.
sites is even more
problematic. Not only are they much more likely to
display non-A.A. and/or
controversial material, but linking might imply
endorsement, if not affiliation,
regardless of the contents. In the final
analysis, experience strongly suggests
that, when considering linking to
another site, one must proceed with
caution.
Slide 12
GSO Opinion on Linking Cont'd....
At G.S.O.
we have attempted to avoid some of these pitfalls by confining our
links to
known A.A. service entities, and by incorporating a mandatory exit
from
our site (including when accessing application software such as, Adobe
Reader, provided to assist visitors in reading Portable Document Format
(PDF)
files). The mandatory exit applies even in those cases when someone
wishes to
activate any of the links we have included on our site.
Additionally, we post a
prominent notice to that effect.
Slide 13
JANUARY 16, 2005_
from the Communications Committee
Excerpt from
Presentation to the Area 16 Assembly
Speaks CLEARLY to the matter of
Linking on the Area 16 Website per the
language in this document as follows:
"We discussed the purpose of each and some possible
improvements:"...... ( Such As it pertains to the web )
:
"The committee foresees the AA Georgia website as having an ever
increasing
role in receiving and distributing information.. This information
will have to be
assimilated and the website redesigned to accommodate all
the new
features. In addition, as other districts uplink there own
websites, which
several districts have already done, it will become
necessary to unify and
maintain a consistent message that stays within the
traditions of AA. The ad hoc
committee suggests continued study and
improvement on how information is
presented on the website. "
Slide 14
This six page document is the only evidence of printed `Policy' which
we have
access to on the State Domain
We can find no language in this Policy which speaks to `Linking'
as being prohibited
We fail to understand why all Inter-groups and Districts within Area
16
who maintain Tradition Based sites are prohibited from being linked
accordingly
Slide 15
Benefits of this `Linking' Motion Passing:
Furnish opportunities for `Local Webmasters' to Interact with the
State Committee
Open up Service Opportunities for Tech minded A A's statewide
by virtue of their `Local Knowledge' in keeping meeting schedules,
driving directions etc....updated on-line
Provide for changes to be implemented in the most timely manner
without the burden of navigating the State Site to find FORMS to
fill
out and submit every time changes occur, which in District 5 is
OFTEN
ALL MEETINGS get posted, not just Groups
In all the documented material referenced in this
presentation, we find
NOTHING that suggests `Linking is Dangerous' PROVIDED
that the 12
Traditions remain intact... A provision which the State
Communications
Committee in an `Oversight' role could easily monitor
By acknowledging the POWER of the Internet; GSO has a clear
understanding of it's vitality, past, present, and future, as yet another
vehicle used to `Carry the Message' ...
The State should not to
Discourage `local' efforts to do so
Slide 16
INTO ACTION !
All DCM's in Area 16 are receiving this CD containing a web based
slide
show presentation, in addition to this text format of the
presentation to
print and `pass it on' to groups in their respective
Districts and Zones
The findings contained in this presentation are important to
insure that
groups, through their GSR's Statewide, become INFORMED voters at
the
September Assembly when this motion comes to the floor for a vote
We in District 5 are grateful for all who have taken their time to
evaluate this material with an
open
mind in hopes of expanding the way we `Carry the Message' here in
Georgia
We in District 5 are grateful for all who have taken
their
time to evaluate this material with an open mind
in hopes of expanding the
way we `Carry the Message'
here in Georgia