Region 5 of OA Nov 2013 Business Assembly
Fri, 9-Nov through Sat, 10-Nov-2013
Merrillville, IN
Friday, November 8, 2013
 IG Sharing Meeting
o Publicity successes
 Post printed signs in all city area busses for SW Ontario IG (Bonnie L is contact for this); no
charge for the publicity on the busses for 2 weeks
 Distribute printed business cards or place on bulletin board  follow up with PIPO to see if
available for Cincinnati
 Target “obesity summit” events at medical facilities (Cleveland Central Intergroup and CSSI
participated in this type of event during 2013); professional exhibit fund is available through
WSO to defray cost for attending this and display is available from WSO
o Question was asked about what constitutes a quorum for conducting Intergroup business
 One share mentioned about having 6-month and 1-year abstinence requirements for all those
not on the Board
 All mentioned have 2 officers included as part of quorum
o Opportunity to sponsor someone in Central Asia virtually or at least to send outreach email to contact
(Bonnie L contact for this)
o Linda J (Region 5 Trustee) reminded the group that WSO periodically sends out reports on unaffiliated
groups geographically near Intergroup to her (also can search OA.org for groups in geographic area that
are shown as unaffiliated)  review this perhaps as part of “Twelfth Step Within” or “Tradition One”
committees activities; need to respect the decision of the group to remain unaffiliated if desired but
good to stay in contact with them regardless
o Question regarding update of group-level information (secretary, contact) with OA.org was discussed
 One IG rep mentioned that Vice Chair has responsibility to ensure all this information was
updated
 It was discussed that some groups might not have a secretary, only a contact person, so
important to periodically verify the information, especially focusing on the contact person
 OH Meeting
o <none held>
Saturday, November 9, 2013

Credentials for AM and PM session
o <see attached sheet>
Credentials_Region_
5_Nov_2013_Assembly.xls

Vice Chair report
o Christen M shared that based on current meeting space contract, it would cost $4000 to cancel an
Assembly vs. $6000 to hold it
o
<see attached sheet>
vice chair report Nov
2013.docx

Secretary report
o <see attached sheet>
Secretary Report for
Assembly 11-2013.docx

Trustee report
o Linda has electronic version of Bylaws checklist for compliance with latest OA Word Service guidelines;
most recent addition was a statement regarding the contacting of World Service in order to deregister a
group (this was included in Cincinnati’s 2012 Bylaws and reviewed with prior Trustee)
o <see attached>
Region 5 Report to
Region LKJ 11-9-13.docx

Chair report
o <see attached>
Chair Report for
Assembly 11-2013.docx



Treasurer report
o Request for additional support from groups boosted ability of Region to meet financial commitments
o Ask from Treasurer is to minimize use of PayPal to keep fees as low as possible (currently get lowest rate
as a non-profit organization)
o PayPal fees will be listed as expense for Region starting in 2014
o <see attached paper report>
“Time Out for Robert’s”
o In the case of election, consider the amount of time that is required how much to properly perform the
jobs; it’s important to talk to each candidate about their willingness and interest to carry out the role
with the amount of time it takes (treasurer – doing the books, chair – preparation for presiding over
meetings, etc.)
Candidates for Vice Chair and Secretary
o Susan Mc for Secretary – relevant experience for the role includes reviewing of minutes of recent Region
5 Assembly meeting minutes, writing instructor, teacher, area Intergroup Board positions (ELECTED)
o Bonnie L for Vice-Chair – relevant experience for the role includes Region 5 Board positions Chair, Vice
Chair, and Secretary; believes in spirit of unity and service in terms of personal recovery; loves to
negotiate with hotels
o Michael B for Vice-Chair – relevant experience for includes being chair for Region 5 Convention in 2014
o Patricia K for Vice-Chair – new to the role but wants to build on the IG concerns raised in March 2013
Assembly
o


No candidate was awarded a majority vote for Vice Chair so a second vote was held with Michael and
Patricia as candidates as Bonnie had the lowest number of votes (ballot is a “YES”/”NO” configuration
and a majority vote is needed to win the election); after this second vote, a vacancy was declared for the
Vice Chair because both candidates tied at 15 “YES” votes; the Board will appoint someone to serve as
Vice Chair until March 2014 Assembly, where there will be a special election held for someone to
complete the remainder of the 2-year term (November 2015)
New Business
o Motions from Bylaws Committee
 Amending motion 2 to include “the most recent” ahead of “10 years” – ADOPTED; amended
motion 2 add item 6 g to maintain financial records for most recent 10 years - ADOPTED
 Amending motion 3 to replace what was originally sent as motion 3 with new wording to carry
out a 1 year-term regardless of the start month of the committee appointment
o Motion from Vice Chair
 Motion 5 to add a phrase to clarify that moving the Assembly meeting date could also be
dependent on meeting site availability - ADOPTED
Committee reports
o PIPO
 Focus will be on Region-wide dissemination of ways to make PIPO outreaches by including the
committee-generated ideas and successes in Region 5 Newsletter article
 Examples - SW Ontario’s advert cards on metro busses, Louisville Metro IG put together PIPO
packets for members of the clergy
o 12th Step Within
 speaker’s and sponsor’s list being updated
 planning on enhancement to Region 5 website page for sharing ideas that worked
 creating an OA glossary of terms to be more visible (e.g., current definition of abstinence)
 will be putting together action plan to respond to issues raised during March 2013 Assembly
meeting
 reviewing if Tradition break when people share their first and last names on audio recordings
made at Convention, even if release form is signed granting permission for the recording
 seeking to recommend potential changes to audio recording release forms to notify the
speakers that their voice might end up on a web podcast and that they recognize this as a
potential anonymity concern
o Intergroup Outreach
 Proposed motion to change wording of Page C-10, item 3a to clarify where Intergroup minutes
and newsletter are sent vs. event announcements to Region 5 Trustee for approval who then
forwards information Region 5 webmaster for posting on the website – ADOPTED
 Committee members will initiate contact with unaffiliated groups to check on their current
status and provide information and encouragement to affiliate
o Bylaws
 Postponed motion from July 2013 to specify that Officers have a room for Friday and Saturday
was voted to NOT be brought back
o Newsletter
 This newsletter topic is “Action Plan” with last day to submit an article is 24-Nov-2013
 Publication of next newsletter was 15-Dec-2013
 Submit articles directly to Editor rather than committee chair for review
o Finance

o
o
o
Discussed how to manage PayPal expenses for some Region 5 transactions, Convention and
Assembly registrations, by suggesting that fees be paid as part of the cost; line item to be added
to the budget
 Information provided about Assembly costs, with focus on hotel information and overall costs
(see attached paper report)
 budget was adopted (see attached paper report)
Webmaster
 Working on update of website to allow for Intergroup representatives to self-update content
 Will update website to ensure that “robot software” does not access registration processes;
change will be enabled to prevent automated registration processes
 Webmaster email contact - rcr1751@att.net
Convention 2014
 “Abstinence is the Key” is theme for convention presented by Central OH Service IG (Columbus,
OH)
 Soliciting contributions from artists
 Email address is available for contact – Region5Convention2014@gmail.com
 Raffle baskets being requested for the event
Convention 2015
 Chicago and Northwestern IN IGs are collaborating on planning
 Schaumburg Marriott is location
 Date is Sep 11-13, 2015
 Room fee is $99 + tax for 4 people
 New theme will involve the idea of “transformation” (caterpillar to butterfly, seeds to a plant)
 Soliciting artistic people to draft flyers
Submitted in Service,
Tony A & Ali E
For the Cincinnati OA Intergroup