The meeting was convened at 7:02 pm with the Serenity Prayer.

Introductions

Chair, IR, Uptown Tuesday 6:30 pm A
Co-Secretary, IR, Midway Wednesday 6:30 pm
Assistant Treasurer, Office Manager, IR, Inner Peace Thursday 11 am
IR, Valley Creek Monday 7:30 pm Al-Anon
Literature Chair, IR, Summit Hill Monday 6 pm
Newsletter Chair, IR, Monday Midway Men’s 7:15 pm
IR, Compassion Al-Anon (St. Paul)
Treasurer, IR, Summit Hill Wednesday 5 pm
IR, Uptown Tuesday 9:30 am
IR, Superior Street AFG

It was noted that a quorum (5% of groups, that is, 6 or more) was present so substantive business could be done.

There were readings on Tradition 3 and Concept 3.

Business

1. Questions/Concerns

There was none

2. Additional nominations for 2014 officers

There were no nominations for Vice Chair, the only unfilled officer position.

3. Open service positions

The most important are Vice Chair and Liaison to Minnesota South Area (MNSA). The Vice Chair serves as program chair and coordinates events such as workshops and Gratitude Night. The Liaison to MNSA is a voting member of the Area World Service Committee (AWSC) and is expected to attend AWSC meetings (1st Saturdays in August and February) and Area Assemblies (1st Saturdays in April and October) . The liaison may not be an AA member.

Other open positions are Group Liaison, Event Sales, Alateen, Archives, Public Outreach, and Institutions.

4. Workshops

There was discussion of a 4th Step workshop at an earlier meeting. A member suggested we consider also hosting a workshop for members interested in speaking. There was consensus that we should not proceed without members who were willing to be point persons for organizing them.

The chair and another member agreed to head up planning for the 4th Step Workshop. A motion was made, seconded and passed unanimously to have the workshop.

The member who made the suggestion volunteered to be point person for a speakers workshop. A motion was made, seconded and passed with one abstention to have a speakers workshop.

Information about workshops and requests for volunteers will go in the newsletter. We are thinking of June for the speakers workshop and October for the 4th Step workshop.

5. Sale of literature at Gopher State Roundup May 23–25

Volunteers will be needed to staff the literature table at Gopher State Roundup. We will try to have the table open 4–9 Friday (possibly 6–9), 9–9 Saturday and 9–11 Sunday. A normal shift is two hours. Unless there is a willing volunteer, it will not be open during talks. We need to pass the word in meetings about the need for volunteers. They should be able to make change and do simple arithmetic with a calculator. It's a great way to experience Gopher.

A member volunteered to be point person with the Chair as her backup.

6. Calling groups to update their information and to invite Intergroup Representatives

At the February meeting, a member volunteered to call all the groups. She reported that she is not yet through. She has been asking if individuals in groups would like to receive the newsletter by email. In at least some groups, there was enthusiasm for the idea. She will email changes in group information to the Directory chair for updating the group records database.

Reports

Chair

No specific report

Vice Chair

The position is open

Secretary

The co-secretary summarized the minutes of the February meeting. It was moved, seconded and unanimously voted to approve them. A request was made to have a roster of officers and service chairs at Intergroup meetings.

Treasurer

The treasurer went through her report as of March 1, 2014. There was a balance of $8,430 in the checking account and $5,000 in our prudent reserve Revenue for February (sales, tax, contributions) totalled $2,772 and expenses totaled $1,119. Expenses were relatively low since we had no expenditures for literature purchases in February (orders that had been placed had not been received). It was moved, seconded and voted unanimously to approve the report.

A question was raised about getting out an appeal letter. The Treasurer will try to get one ready; the Directory chair will supply labels.

Assistant Treasurer

She provided income information for January and February. This showed January and February sales of $1,805 asnd $1,826, repectively, with sales tax collections of $138 and $150. January and February group contributions were $413 (10 groups) and $640 (3 groups) with individual contributions of $34 and $18, including “keep the change.” It was moved, seconded and voted unanimously to approve the the Assistant Treasurer's report.

Office volunteers

No report, although it was pointed out that currently March has only one unstaffed day.

Office manager

No report

Speaker chair

No report

Website/Directory

There will shortly be links to maps for each group on the meeting schedule pages.

Newsletter

The editor reported he would be ready to get out a newsletter by April 1 if wanted. It was moved, seconded and voted that the next newsletter should be mailed by May 1 and every three months thereafter. It will contain contact information, a request for volunteers, information about Gopher State Roundup, a list of contributing groups. He needs people to provide him with information to go in the newsletter.

There was some discussion about emailing the newsletter. There was little support for not having a paper version to be mailed to groups, but there was general consensus that there should also be an email edition since it would be likely to be read by more members. It was suggested that the email list for the newsletter should not be the same as the list used to mail minutes and other communications to people involved in or interested in Intergroup.

A member expressed some discomfort at the idea of the newsletter being sent in unedited form by email since email is inherently not confidential. He worries that including personal information such as phone numbers and email addresses would expose members to loss of anonymity. No decision was made about how this would be handled. The Newsletter editor said that any emailed newsletters would be sent using a BCC list rather than a CC list

Literature

She reported that quite a lot of literature had come in but we were still out of stock of some items. It has been taking up to two months for orders to be filled. She will be ordering more literature this week.

Office Manager

No report

Group Liaison

Open

Group Liaison

Open

The meeting closed at 8:10 pm with the Al-Anon Declaration.

The next meeting will be April 8, 2014 at 7 pm at the Griggs Midway building.