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Picture This
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Could it be a Sixties revival? A Summer of Love reunion? No, but close. It’s the Twenty-Seventh World Convention of Narcotics Anonymous!
Up until 1996, the world convention was an annual event. Now it’s biennial; that is, it only happens every two years. Perhaps because of this, members have been anticipating this convention with more enthusiasm than has ever been shown toward a world convention.
Registrations began flooding the World Service Office within hours of the convention flyer’s distribution to the fellowship. The pre-registration pace is about twenty percent ahead of what it was for the 24th World Convention, held in 1994 in Baltimore, Maryland. To date, that has been the largest world convention, with 10,597 paid registrations and approximately 2,400 newcomer registrations. We expect attendance at the world convention in San Jose to far exceed those numbers. The theme of the convention, “Our Diversity is Our Strength,” will be reflected in the sheer variety of addicts in attendance.
For those who have been to a world convention, no explanation is necessary. But even veteran world convention-goers will be amazed by the world convention in San Jose. We’re expecting the main meeting on Saturday night, which will be held in the San Jose Arena, to be the largest meeting of Narcotics Anonymous ever to be held. Imagine up to 20,000 addicts in a professional hockey stadium. If the sheer exuberance expressed during the clean-time countdown doesn’t bring you to tears, the moment of silence followed by the closing prayer surely will.
The World Unity Day Celebration will again have live telephone hookups
with NA communities all over the world. These local NA communities are
able to listen to the Saturday night meeting from beginning to end and
so share in the world convention from afar. The celebration also includes
a “mega-Seventh Tradition.” The funds collected go directly to world services
to help carry the message around the world.
San Jose is the eleventh-largest city in the United States, which
makes you think it’s a big city. In terms of population, that’s true. But
in terms of atmosphere, San Jose feels like a small town.
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It’s bigger—
it should be better, too Up until 1992, we could fit comfortably into two or three large hotels, and we could usually hold the main meetings in one of the hotel ballrooms. Sometimes we were actually able to serve a banquet on Saturday night in the same room as the main speaker meeting. As attendance grew, we moved the main meetings into convention centers. Even with that allowance, the logistics of serving a sit-down dinner (edible or not) to several thousand people were simply beyond the capabilities of most caterers. |
We grew to the point where we were occupying a block of rooms in every hotel in sight. We found that even the largest halls in some convention centers no longer held our main meeting. We found ourselves sitting in huge arenas, with banquets a distant memory. No caterer in his right mind would attempt to serve even a handful of peanuts to a such a crowd!
We had grown into a fellowship that could consume $50,000 worth of espresso and cappuccino, $17,000 worth of candy by the pound, and $12,000 worth of lemonade and funnel cakes, and tax the resources and supplies of every area restaurant.
The Baltimore world convention marked a significant change in what the world convention represents to our fellowship. Before Baltimore, many people had expressed the opinion that the world convention was getting to be kind of like a giant regional convention—or maybe it was that regional conventions were getting to be like mini-world conventions. In any case, world convention planners felt that the world convention should be a special celebration of our recovery and a demonstration of our unity as a fellowship. It should have elements that can’t be found anywhere else. So planning began to be geared toward meeting that goal.
First and foremost, convention planners focused on the recovery meetings, trying to add something special to the traditional mix of main meetings with speakers each evening and workshops during the day. One of the new additions was to have the final meeting of the convention on Sunday morning feature a panel of speakers from around the world. Following on the heels of the Saturday Night Unity Day Celebration, where attendees from more than thirty countries will stand up and be recognized, the speakers will drive home the fact that recovery in NA transcends geographic and cultural boundaries.
The definition of “workshops” has also expanded to encompass service-related concerns or topics that are challenging our fellowship. In the past, topics have included HIV and AIDS, prejudice, and how our fellowship defines abstinence. At this writing, the workshop topics for WCNA-27 haven’t been finalized, but they’re sure to center on the most important issues facing NA today.
The on-site WSO will be back again for an encore after its debut at WCNA-26 in St. Louis. Members will be able to visit this temporary office and register or update their group information. Other WSO services will be available and staff members will be on hand to answer questions about WSO and how the services it provides can help members, groups, and service committees. Copies of the NA Way will be available, and members can sign up to receive it in any of its different language editions.
The WSO is very excited to be presenting a historical display this year. It will include some of the material that the WSO received from Jimmy K’s estate—original writings of early NA members, records of business meetings, general information about how the fellowship started, and even some photos of early meeting places. The WSO will also be introducing Miracles Happen: The Birth of Narcotics Anonymous in Words and Pictures. This will be an oversized coffee-table type book, approximately 100 pages, in color.
And there’s more . . .
Even before Baltimore, world convention planners had created programs
that are diverse and fit the theme of the convention. At WCNA-17 in New
Orleans, a Mardi Gras parade, a masked ball, and a riverboat ride down
the Mississippi River were among the highlights. At WCNA-23 in Chicago,
Illinois, the convention featured a blues concert and comedians from the
Second City Comedy Troupe.
WCNA-27 will continue this course with a Seventies kickoff party on Thursday night. A costume company will be on hand with all sorts of retro-duds from that era—platform shoes, flare pants, and double-suede-polyester whatever. The music will fit the theme and the entertainment will feature Kurtis Blow as Master of Ceremonies and disco divas Gloria Gaynor, Evelyn “Champagne” King, Thelma Houston, and Kathy Sledge.
Friday’s comedy show will be headlined by Craig Shoemaker, aka “The Love Master,” who, since his performance at WCNA-26, has won the American Comedy Award for the stand-up comedian in the country; Craig is host of the VH-1 series, “Our Generation.” Craig received an uproarious response in St. Louis and we’re sure he’ll be just as warmly received in San Jose.
Saturday morning will start on a cool note with the Jazz Breakfast headlined by Larry Coryell and featuring an all-star band of top jazz musicians. And Saturday night, in what promises to be a unique and intimate event, there will be a concert starring legendary guitarist Eric Clapton. Eric Clapton was a founding member of world-renowned bands Cream, Derek and the Dominoes, and Blind Faith, followed by a long and distinguished solo career. He has been twice inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
In addition to these paid events, there are many activities that are included in the registration fee. There will be a dance each night of the convention. Some will have music provided by a DJ; others will offer live entertainment. Once again, there will be the coffee house each night. On Thursday night, Marty Balin, lead singer and founding member of both Jefferson Airplane and Jefferson Starship, will be performing. On Friday night, Chuck Negron, the voice of Three Dog Night, will perform. Saturday night’s coffee house entertainment was not booked as of this writing, but it will also be a talented national performer. During the dinner hour on Friday night, there will be a Salsa Festival featuring Latin-flavored food and music.
Other attractions
The World Convention Corporation has negotiated a thirty percent
discount at Paramount’s Great America Theme Park. Discounted prices are
$21.50 for adults and $16.50 for children 6 and under. Take your family
and have a blast!
While you’re in Northern California, take a few extra days and take advantage of one of the pre- or post-convention tour packages available in San Francisco or Monterey.
Coinciding with our convention, the city of San Jose will play host to the “Talent in Tapestry Festival,” one of the largest arts and crafts festivals held in the United States. It usually attracts more than 100,000 people. Offering international food and music throughout the day on both Saturday and Sunday, this festival will offer convention attendees yet another fun activity.
It’s your
world convention
Whether you decide to fill every second with fun and recovery and
attend every possible event or get into the true California spirit—that
is, laid-back—we hope attending the world convention will be the experience
of a lifetime for everyone.
Make no mistake, we will virtually take over the city of San Jose. WCNA-27 will be one of the largest conventions ever to be held there, so our presence is a big deal to local merchants and business people. People who might not otherwise ever hear the name Narcotics Anonymous will get an up-close look at us and the quality of our lives expressed through our collective recovery.
Does this sound like something any member should miss?
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