Alternate Delegate – Area 72 Newsletter

Greetings Area 72,
The newsletter topic this month is so timely! With the agenda items and background information for the General Service Conference recently released it is a wonderful time to be discussing what it takes to arrive at an informed group conscience. I look forward to reading what others have found as ways to form a group conscience!

In the month of February, I facilitated seven GSR schools. There is one more scheduled for early March and some District Committee Members (DCMs) have reached out, asking me to come to their district or to plan GSR sessions later in April.

These first sessions were intended as a high level crash course for General Service Representatives, Alternate General Service Representatives or members interested in learning about General Service. (Links to the GSR handbook and a useful page on the Area website are listed at the end of my article.)

One of the events that is encouraged for GSRs to attend is a Pre-Conference. (The dates and details of the Pre-Conferences can be found in this newsletter, and on the Area 72 website: https://area72aa.org/events/category/area-business/pre-conference/list/)

At the Pre-Conference meeting you will be provided information and background by our Area 72 Delegate, Courtney S. Then you have the task of sharing the content and informing your home group so you can have a conversation and arrive at a group conscience regarding the topics given.

Groups have many different ways to facilitate this process and each group will find success in their own, different way. Some groups will want to read all the information and discuss all the topics provided by Courtney. Some groups will not be as interested and maybe will only be engaged for a topic or two. Wherever your group falls on that spectrum, the goal remains the same: share information, lead a conversation, share the results of that conversation (thoughts, concerns, questions) with Courtney, so she can be informed as she participates in the forming of a group conscience at the General Service Conference in New York.

I have seen groups have success in a variety of ways, and you can hear specific suggestions from your service sponsor, DCM or you can call me if you’re struggling. As your group representative, you know your group the best. I subscribe to the belief that some conversation and some discussions are better than none. Some feedback about the topics will be more helpful to Courtney than none at all. Inform your group of any groundbreaking topics from the Conference agenda and do your best to facilitate a group discussion on however many topics you can.

Through this (Conference) process, your group gets to participate in conversations and decisions that will affect all of A.A. Through this process, your group can “take the final responsibility for their world services” (as Bill wrote in Concept I).

As referenced earlier, to access the GSR handbook, visit: https://area72aa.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/GSR-Handbook-P75.2.pdf. For a “one stop shop” for GSRs go to https://area72aa.org/gsr. Both of these are compilations and explanations of things a GSR can expect and what events to attend as a GSR.