NA World Services

Conference Report Volume 18, Number 2 -- November 1998 Table of Contents The World Board Overview Development Forum Conference Agenda Report WSC Co-facilitator Plans for CY 1999-2000 Deadlines Reminder FIPT The World Service Office 1998—A challenging year WCNA 27 Sales Policy Changes Staffing Website Update Non-English Medallions The Human Resource Panel Introduction The WSC Co-Facilitator for 1999 The World Pool Internal Guidelines Process for Candidate Evaluation Meeting with the World Board Election Procedures WSC Co-Facilitator elections for 1999 The World Board Overview The World Board is pleased to report that, during the Conference Year 1998-1999, we are making progress toward achieving the three goals that were set out for us at last year’s conference (as described in the 1998-99 Interim budget notes, which we have taken as our reference point for this year), which have been (1) to focus on developing our internal processes in creating a brand new system for world services; (2) to begin incorporating the Unified Budget practices into our accounting procedures as well as in developing new protocols for planning world service projects as outlined in the Unified Budget proposal; and (3) to concentrate upon making deliberate decisions about our communications with the fellowship. It was felt at the conference last year that, if we could make significant progress in these three areas over this year, we would have made great strides toward getting the new world services system up and running. Below is a description of our progress in each of these areas thus far this year. Communications Perhaps the biggest challenge we face this year, and will continue to face for a while, is that of trying to find better ways to communicate with our members. We will be utilizing some of the communication vehicles mandated by the previous system such as the Conference Report, the Annual Report, and the Conference Agenda Report, which will help ease the transition from the old system to the new one for our members. We have also created a couple new publications, the NA World Services News, and a quarterly financial report, in order to try to reach our members in a different way. We are in the process of creating a Communication Task Force to help us to focus our decisions regarding communications with our fellowship, and we have unanimously agreedto make communications our number one priority over the coming months. Perhaps the most important things to emphasize regarding our efforts to communicate more effectively with our members are these: (1) Everyone can expect some changes and some experimentation over the coming months in terms of how we try to get information out to our membership—we want to explore a number of communication options, to try new things, and to make some definite and deliberate decisions about how we communicate, what kinds of information we need to communicate, and who our various audiences are across the fellowship and what kinds of information they want and need. Most importantly, (2) in order for us to do this first thing, we need your input. Please, tell us what you want, what you need, and whether we’re delivering the goods. Tell us how to improve. We are committed to the ideal that communication from world services will not be a monologue in which world service talks at you—we need our communication to become a dialogue, wherein our members tell us what you want and need so that we can be more responsive. After all, these things are what the recent changes to the world service structure have been all about. We want to serve you, but we can’t do that effectively unless you do your part—by telling us what you need. Internal Processes Nearly all of our first two meetings have, in one way or another, focused upon developing our internal processes. We have worked in session with an outside consultant who conducted team-building exercises in which we, as a group, have begun to develop some sense of our responsibilities and the possibilities for productive change to the way world services operates that accompany those responsibilities. Although we are eighteen separate individuals each with his or her own set of expectations and hopes for the new world services structure, these sessions have helped us to discover that we are unanimous in our commitment to an improved, more productive, and more responsive world services system. In other words, our first task has been simply to come together as a board, with a set of shared goals, beliefs, and understanding, and our first two meetings have helped us make real progress in this pursuit. However, regarding our internal processes as they relate to creating our committee system and developing project plans and so forth, we simply are not there yet. In order for us to make intelligent, informed decisions about how to set up our committees and prioritize our future workload, it is essential that we first understand the totality of the responsibilities with which we have been entrusted. Talk about a steep learning curve! It is important to remember that we, as a single body, are attempting to address a scope of duties that was formerly divided among no less than ten separate world service boards and committees. We are therefore assuming the task of becoming responsible for all of these duties, and we are really trying to digest an enormous amount of information so as to be adequately prepared to oversee the duties with which we have been entrusted. The other portion of our first two meetings has therefore been dedicated to familiarizing ourselves with the vast areas of responsibility that comprise the world services system. So, while we do intend to create those internal processes necessary to the creation of our committee system and all of the work it will eventually accomplish, we are moving slowly in this process, because we want to "get it right" as best we can the first time, and that means really understanding what, exactly, we are responsible for. Without this overall understanding of world services’ duties, we would be ill-prepared to divide up those responsibilities among a brand new committee system. We therefore ask for your patience and understanding as we make our way through this process. Unified Budget Transition Perhaps one of the biggest tasks before us regarding the implementation of the Unified Budget is developing a process by which to create work plans and budgets for prospective world service projects as outlined in the proposal which conference participants adopted last year. Over the coming months, we intend to develop the processes and procedures that will allow the creation of such plans and budgets to occur smoothly. We are enthusiastic about this very significant change in the way the new world services system will operate under the Unified Budget system. For now, we are still operating under the threefold division of accounting practices from the old system: the conference budget, office budget, and convention budget are being tracked separately. However, as was outlined in the Unified Budget proposal, the first six-month unified budget will be in place between January, 1999 and June, 1999. At the outset of the new fiscal year on 1 July 1999, world services will officially usher in its first unified budget for a full fiscal year, and the World Service Conference will have reviewed and approved that budget at WSC ’99. Back to the Top Development Forum We have sent the initial letters of inquiry to all of the Development Forum participants from last year’s invitation list inquiring about their need for assistance from the DF funding pool, and we are awaiting these communities’ responses. We should also note that, according to a straw poll from last year’s WSC, all regions will be eligible to request DF assistance to attend the conference, including regions in Canada and the United States. In order to be considered for DF funding, you must complete a form available from the WSO. The deadline for funding requests is 25 December 1998. Back to the Top Conference Agenda Report There are two items to report on regarding the 1999 Conference Agenda Report: our intent to include a report in this year’s CAR, and the inclusion of Issue Discussion topics for prioritization. Reporting in the CAR? We anticipate no action-oriented motions from world services in the upcoming 1999 Conference Agenda Report. However, we do have one request to make of conference participants regarding our section of the CAR. Current WSC policy states that, if a world service body does not have a motion for the conference, then that body does not have access to the CAR as a reporting mechanism. However, that policy was written for a world services system that consisted of no less than ten separate boards and committees, along with ad hocs—a system, in short, in which it made sense to restrict access to the CAR due simply to the number of entities involved. On the other hand, because of the fact that this is the first year for a brand new world services structure that consists of only two world service entities (the World Board and the Human Resources Panel), and because our members will want to know about the work we have accomplished, we believe that this year’s situation is a bit different. We are hoping to use the CAR as a way to communicate with our membership, even though we don’t anticipate having any motions for the conference’s consideration this year. It is our expectation that our membership will want to know what progress we have made as their new board during our first six months of existence. We anticipate in fact that it will be expected of us to report as widely as possible upon our activities during the past year, as well as what the conference can expect in the way of discussions regarding our work for CY 1999-2000, and we want to fulfill our members’ expectations by reporting as completely and as thoroughly as possible to the fellowship our activities during this past year. We also believe that there is no more effective vehicle to report this progress to our members than in the one publication that has become institutionalized across our fellowship as the most reliable source of World Service Conference information—the Conference Agenda Report. However, we also understand that, in order for us to use this publication as a reporting mechanism, we need to seek your support in doing so. We ask that, should conference participants have objections to our employing the CAR in this way this year, please let us know by writing, calling, or emailing us in care of the World Service Office as soon as possible. Issue discussion Papers As mandated at last year’s conference, we will be including the list of Issue Discussion topics we receive from conference participants in this year’s CAR for prioritization at the 1999 WSC. As you know, after these issues have been prioritized, they will then become issues for fellowship-wide discussion and Issue Discussion papers (released along with the CAR) for CY 1999-2000. Back to the Top WSC Co-facilitator The World Board is very aware of the potential difficulties that may arise from the fact that the conference elected only one co-facilitator at WSC ’98. We plan to work in cooperation with the existing co-facilitator, and will offer assistance and/or recommendations to the conference after we have had the opportunity to discuss this matter at length with the co-facilitator himself. We are planning to hold that discussion in the near future, and will report to conference participants our recommendations at that time. Back to the Top Plans for CY 1999-2000 Although we have not yet set up our committee structure for reasons discussed in the overview of this report, we have appointed a number of work groups at our first two meetings, made up of board members who have been directed to address specific responsibilities of the board. Those work groups include: a review panel for translations evaluations; an editorial group for Reaching Out; a group to deal with the Development Forum and the Issue Discussion papers; a group to begin to answer preliminary communications concerns; a new NA Way editorial board, a group to handle the responsibilities associated with the Motion 16-related issues for the CAR; a group to make recommendations about the duties of the Recognition Assistance Panel that remained a part of world services throughout the structural reorganization; and a group to deal with issues pertinent to the Unified Budget. In the meantime, we will continue to orient ourselves to the entire scope of world services responsibilities. We will also continue to work on our internal communications practices, ensuring that each member of the board feels well informed and trusts the processes we are even now beginning to design and implement for this wholly new, untried world services structure. Back to the Top Deadlines Reminder We want to remind everyone of the following deadlines: 1 December 1998—Issue Discussion papers for release with the 1999 Conference Agenda Report  1 December 1998—Issue Discussion items for prioritization and fellowship-wide discussion during the 1999-2000 Conference Year  15 February 1999 for the March Conference Report  Also, please remember for world services funding requests to multi-regional events and so forth to observe the quarterly funding request deadlines: For the January—March "quarter," the deadline is 1 December 1998; for the April—June "quarter," the deadline is 1 March 1999. Back to the Top FIPT There are two areas to report on regarding the Fellowship Intellectual Property Trust: Recovery material on the internet, and vendor registrations. Recovery Material on the Internet In spite of many requests to not post our recovery literature on the Internet, some of our members are still using this medium to post our fellowship’s properties electronically without the fellowship’s permission to do so. While world services takes no pleasure whatsoever from having to serve as the "policeman" in this matter, protecting our fellowship’s intellectual properties is, at the order of the World Service Conference itself, among the World Board’s duties, and one that the office cannot take lightly. Having said that, we also recognize the potential benefit to members and potential members that the use of the Internet may represent in terms of furthering our primary purpose. Any rational person might question why the World Board, dedicated as it claims to be to fulfilling our primary purpose, would stand so opposed to the use of this revolutionary medium for carrying our message electronically. The answer, in fact, is simple: There seems, at present, to be no effective way to adequately guarantee the protection of our copyrights for material posted on the Internet. In plain terms, until the courts make some definite decisions about the relationship of current copyright laws to electronic media, we simply can’t afford to take the chance of jeopardizing our fellowship’s right to control its intellectual properties by making it available electronically. It’s true that it would be wonderful to make recovery material freely available to anyone who "stopped in to visit" our respective home pages. However, imagine what would happen if we lost the right to protect our literature from being altered by other people or organizations. Imagine if we lost our ability to protect our message from being changed, misquoted or even produced and sold by outside organizations. Surely, none of us believes that the benefits that might be gained, at this point, by making recovery material electronically available are outweighed by the potential threat such availability might mean to our right to protect our message. It may indeed be time once again for a very frank discussion about the motivations behind some of our members’ insistence upon publishing our literature illegally. The fact of the matter is, these groups and individuals claim that their motivation for such activity is based upon the foundation of providing inexpensive or free literature to the addict who still suffers. Yet it is our understanding that this is precisely the reason that the fellowship has entrusted world services with the duties of translating, printing, and distributing our literature—to ensure an inexpensive, stable source of NA literature to the worldwide fellowship, providing for the fair and equitable treatment of our members across the world in their literature and service needs. Yet there seems to be an additional motivation for many of these illegal publications as well. For example, in many cases, the literature that is being illicitly published has been altered, in some fashion, from our current fellowship-approved versions of our literature and, most especially, our Basic Text. Why? For this reason, it seems to us: it may be that these members’ insistence upon continuing their activities is at least partially politically motivated. After all, if it were simply a matter of providing free literature in keeping with our fifth tradition and our stated primary purpose, why publish these altered versions of the Third Edition Revised Basic Text with the "original" fourth and ninth traditions "intact"? Even when the illicit literature is a current version of our literature, however, the end result is the same: the fellowship of Narcotics Anonymous’ intellectual properties are being used to undermine the mission of the very service structure that has asked world services to protect the rights of its common property. For the past eleven years, the WSC has repeatedly stated its unequivocal faith in world services to hold their properties in trust on the fellowship’s behalf. Therefore, it seems that the real victim of this activity is the fellowship at large: for while these members may have an axe to grind with world services, they are using—and thereby endangering—our fellowship’s literature in the process of continuing their war against the NA service structure. Is this the kind of activity our members support? Actions at the World Service Conference don’t suggest that we do. Each and every vote ever taken at the World Service Conference on the issue of a low-cost Basic Text, and on the issue of world services’ responsibility to care for our fellowship’s intellectual properties, flatly declares that the overwhelming majority of our members DO NOT support these activities. That in fact our membership trusts world services to be fair and equitable in its protection of our properties and in the sale of our literature. Ironically, world services is sometimes accused by some of the members who publish illegal literature of being arrogant and deaf to the needs of our membership. Yet this same handful of members imagines that they know better what’s good for NA than the hundreds of WSC participants representing thousands of NA groups who, time and again, year after year, have voted in overwhelming support of world services in the careful protection of their intellectual properties. And this is why we are seeking our members’ help. You’ve told us repeatedly that you want us to protect our fellowship’s properties, yet world services cannot "police" these activities alone. As it says in our Basic Text, "We are each other’s eyes and ears. When we do something wrong, our fellow addicts help us by showing us what we cannot see" (100). If our members don’t support these illegal activities, then the people who participate in them may finally understand that, as a fellowship, we have spoken time and again about this issue, and the issue is clear: we don’t want our right to protect our literature compromised in any way—not even by our own members! Vendor Registrations As we told you in last year’s Annual Report, during 1996 the WSO was overwhelmed by requests from individuals and companies for vendor permits to obtain permission to use our service symbol and logo on merchandise to be sold at NA conventions and other activities. So overwhelming were these requests that, for most of the year, a staff member’s duties were taken up with the responsibility of dealing with them on a nearly full-time basis. In response to that situation, the WSO board formed a working group to develop a strategy for coping with this growing burden on the WSO’s already overtaxed staff. Since that time, the WSO has implemented a new policy according to which vendors are required to pay a $500 registration fee and a one-time $50 administrative fee in order to obtain a vendor’s license. This decision was made for two reasons: The former WSO board heard quite emphatic input from the 1996 conference participants that the WSO is responsible for the safekeeping of NA’s intellectual properties, and that we simply could not give free reign to anyone and everyone who wished to use NA’s properties to make money.  And, more especially, our membership was not OK with the administration of the vendors’ information actually costing the WSO money. The board therefore hoped that these fees would help offset the administrative expenses associated with the WSO staff having to keep track of the vendors and their registration requests and general questions.  Since these new fees have begun to be assessed, the number of vendors registered with the WSO has decreased from eighty-five to twenty-three. We do not believe that those individuals who have not registered have ceased producing their various products, but we expect to begin to get a better understanding of what these numbers actually mean as the year progresses. In short, we expect that there may be some problems with vendors’ compliance with these registration procedures, but it may simply be too early to accurately assess the situation as of yet. To clarify another matter that seems to be the source of some confusion—Narcotics Anonymous service boards and committees already have the right to use our intellectual properties such as our service symbol and stylized NA letters in a circle on merchandise. The vendor licenses have been created only for those individuals and companies who intend to make money from NA-related products by employing these symbols in the manufacture of those products. Those who wish to register as vendors authorized to manufacture and sell products utilizing any of NA’s intellectual properties may do so twice a year, during the months of January and July. Simply contact the World Service Office with your request for vendor registration during either of these months, and through this process you can become a legally authorized vendor of NA-related merchandise. For all interested parties, a list of registered vendors is available from the WSO. Back to the Top World Service Office 1998—A challenging year As anticipated, the World Service Office has been challenged by the work resulting from the adoption of the World Board and the changes to the corporation at WSC ’98 in April. Administrating the legal necessities associated with the change of our corporate name to NA World Services, Incorporated; having to file new registrations for all of NA’s intellectual properties; having to assess the status of 75 international property registrations and any changing laws that may have affected them, as well as then prioritizing which of these we needed to re-register in order to protect our properties in other countries, and further having to make such prioritizations based upon our limited resources; and finally changing all of our existing literature’s documentation page to reflect the new corporation’s name—all of these conditions have presented some of those challenges. The office is also switching over its accounting systems to accommodate the unified budget adopted at WSC ’98, which includes training staff to use the new systems and software. It is significant to mention that we have been implementing these changes while supporting the single largest convention in our fellowship’s history—WCNA-27. Back to the Top WCNA-27 The twenty-seventh world convention of Narcotics Anonymous was held during the weekend of September 3 through 6 in San Jose, California. This year’s event was the single largest convention in our fellowship’s history, breaking all of our previous attendance and participation records. We saw 13,517 paid registrations, and distributed 1,660 newcomer registrations. We estimate that there were over 16,000 members in the Saturday night meeting, with an additional 1,000 to 2,000 members in the downtown area or immediately around the convention center during the main meeting. We received approximately $14,600 in the Unity Day seventh tradition collection, and we distributed almost twelve cases (328) Basic Texts to newcomers on Saturday night. This convention also saw the debut of our newest publication, Miracles Happen—a "history" of the birth of Narcotics Anonymous told in words and pictures. We sold approximately 3,000 copies of this new book at WCNA-27. Miracles Happen is now available from the World Service Office. The World Board would also like to thank the 5,000 plus members who participated in the demographic survey conducted at this year’s convention. We will report to you the results of that survey when they become available. Back to the Top Sales Policy Changes For the first six months of 1998, the WSO has glimpsed some success as the result of the changes made to the sales policy over the past two years. The WSO is doing better financially. As you know, on 1 January 1999, the sales policy is scheduled to reduce discount percentages by 15%, and also has a scheduled 5% price increase on all literature and other products. Let’s look at both of these changes separately. 15% Reduction—Effective 1 January 1999 First, we need to clear up some confusion that has arisen around the 15% reduction in discounts. It’s very important that everyone realize that this reduction is a reduction in the existing discount percentages, and not an across-the-board reduction of a full 15% cut. In other words, if a customer is now enjoying a 20% discount on bulk literature purchases, in January that percentage will be reduced by 15%—meaning that 15% of 20 equals a 3% reduction: therefore, that customer’s discount will have been reduced from 20% to 17%. There has been some confusion about this matter, and we hope this helps to clear up exactly how the 15% reduction in discount percentages will affect our customers. Just as a reminder, this reduction in discount percentages will become effective 1 January 1999. 5% Price Increase Postponed As you know, there is a 5% price increase scheduled in the existing sales policy on 1 January 1999. These incremental price increases have been built into the sales policy in order to keep up with the WSO’s Cost of Goods and overall inflation every three years. However, upon examination, the WSO executive management, in response to a suggestion by the World Board, has decided to postpone this price increase until 1 January 2000. The reason for this postponement is simple: we want to continue to evaluate the effect of the existing sales policy changes upon the fellowship. We have seen positive results at the office from the existing sales policy changes, but we have never lost sight of the fact that we work for the fellowship, and so we intend, over the coming 12 months, to continue to gather as much data as we can to determine how the sales policy changes have affected the fellowship at large. Therefore, we have decided to hold off on any additional price increases pending our examination of the situation. Back to the Top Staffing Since the conference, the WSO is please to announce that we have hired three new staff. Pam Martin has been hired as the new Data Entry person, and Ronda Phillips has been hired as the new WSO receptionist, replacing long-time employee Dee Price who retired this past May. Lastly, Nancy Schenk is the office’s most recent hire, and will be attending to various writing and editing duties. Welcome to our new staff members! As you may recall, the WSO underwent a reorganization process during 1997 in which we lost about 19% of our staff complement. We have not yet replaced all of the staff lost since that reduction in force. Resumés Welcome From time to time, the WSO seeks qualified people for a variety of positions. Everyone is welcome to submit a resumé to the WSO in care of Roberta Tolkan, Human Resources Manager. The mailing address is: P.O. Box 9999 Van Nuys, California 91409. Back to the Top Website Update We need to report to you some temporary circumstances regarding the maintenance of our website by a person who is now, legally speaking, an "interested party" to NA World Services, Inc. Up until the 1998 WSC in April, our website was being maintained and hosted by Stephan L., a former WSO employee who now owns his own internet consulting business. When Stephan was elected to the World Board in April, he became what is known as an "interested party," because he now would serve on the board of a non-profit corporation which also contracted with him. Upon his election, Stephan requested that WSO management begin immediately to seek alternative providers for these services. Although Stephan’s ongoing contract with NA World Services is perfectly legal and within our conference-approved guidelines, it is nonetheless a concern of everyone involved, and WSO executive management began immediately after his election to search for a new host and a new webmaster for our website. However, in the meantime, management did not want to interrupt our internet services or disrupt the effective functioning of our website in the process of switching to a new host and webmaster. At executive management’s request, with the concurrence of the World Board, Stephan L. was asked to continue to provide these services until we could find replacement service providers. Stephan agreed to do so, with the mutual understanding that management would secure new service providers as soon as was practically and prudently possible. As of this writing, we have switched our website to a new host as part of this shift of our internet services, and are searching for a new webmaster who can provide us with the same services at a comparable price, although our research has indicated that this is unlikely due to the good rate we were receiving. In fact, WSO management is now considering bringing the webmaster duties in-house, for it now seems possible that it may actually be less expensive in the long run to create a new position in-house to tend to these responsibilities than to contract the work out-of-house. It has been due to these unforeseen complications and discussions that WSO management has not moved more rapidly in this situation, for they hoped to make as prudent and practical a decision as possible without interrupting our internet services. Back to the Top Non-English Medallions As we promised at the 1998 WSC, we are investigating the possibility of minting recovery medallions in languages other than English. We have contacted a number of members in non-English-speaking communities to conduct the research necessary to determine if producing such medallions is a viable enterprise at this time, and this research is still ongoing, and will report to the conference the results of this research when the information has become available. Back to the Top The Human Resource Panel Introduction Our October meeting was very productive. We accomplished a lot, but it is clear that the bulk of our work is still ahead of us. Our team is unified and up for the task, and we are excited about the upcoming conference. We have received some input from regional delegates which we appreciate a lot. If you have any comments on our work, please forward them to the WSO. We look forward to hearing from each of you. We are scheduled to have our next meeting on 29-30 January 1999 to finish our internal guidelines, work on election procedures, and nominations for WSC Co-Facilitator. We have requested an additional meeting on 19-20 March 1999 to make final nomination decisions and tie up any loose ends for the upcoming conference meeting. Back to the Top The WSC Co-Facilitator for 1999 We are very concerned about the Co-Facilitator for the upcoming WSC meeting. The 1998 conference chose to elect only one facilitator last year. However, we believe that it is unreasonable to expect one individual to chair the entire conference without any backup. We will be available to help if the conference requires our assistance. Back to the Top The World Pool We are doing everything that we can to increase the size of the world pool. We distributed approximately 500 resumé forms at the world convention. The World Pool Resumé is up on the WSO website on the internet. It can be printed and mailed to the WSO. You can also call the WSO and request the form, and it will be promptly sent to you. We now have approximately 200 people in the pool, which includes the resumés that were passed on from the 1998 conference elections. We are requesting that everyone in the pool who filled out the old service resumé complete an updated world pool resumé. In the future, we envision the world pool to contain around 1,000 resumés on average. Although there is currently no term for world pool membership, we are implementing an automatic process to request updated information from world pool members every three years to keep the data current and reaffirm each member’s desire to serve. There will be projects coming up after the 1999 conference that will require trusted servants. These individuals will be drawn from the pool. If you or anyone else in your region would like to be included in the world pool, please forward their completed World Pool Resumé to the WSO. Back to the Top Internal Guidelines Our present panel consists of only three people. Yet even with a full complement of four, we believe our structure should be simple and our processes flexible. Our internal guidelines will reflect that. We will have them ready for the March Conference Report. We hope to hear input from the conference on our guidelines at that time. Without getting into a lot of detail, we copied our purpose, function and duties from TWGWSS. We have also basically defined the internal processes that the HRP will need to complete: Pulling resumés from the pool, Reducing the size of the group for consideration, Checking references, Phone interviews, etc. Finally, we have sections on decision making, the HRP spokesperson, the importance of strict confidentiality, and the handling of resumés from non-addicts. Back to the Top Process for Candidate Evaluation We are creating a new process to evaluate candidates. This includes checking references provided on the world pool resumé and phone interviews with the candidates themselves. We will be using standardized questions so that the candidates can be evaluated fairly. In addition, our new candidate profile report should aid conference participants in making voting decisions. The candidate profile report is a standardized presentation of some of the information that is contained in the world pool database. This information will be accurate, verified by reference checks. Our goal is to "put a face" on the candidates so that conference participants can feel more comfortable voting for people they may never have met. We are looking forward to getting input from regional delegates at the conference regarding what they like about the profile report and what we can do to improve it. All of our processes are being tested and refined as we use them to determine nominations for WSC Co-Facilitator at the upcoming conference. We are learning by doing and we expect to make changes before WSC 2000. At our October meeting, we were struck by the overwhelming responsibility of paring down the field of candidates to manageable levels. Even with a pool of 200 members, there are several individuals who meet the minimum qualifications to serve as WSC Co-Facilitator. The reality is that the HRP must determine the maximum group size it can evaluate and then agree on which individuals will be in that group. What didn’t hit home until our last meeting is how difficult it is to decide who is not in the group. What makes the task even more overwhelming is the fact that most of the criteria used for choosing the best candidates will be subjective. We will detail these criteria in our internal guidelines. We received another shock of reality when we set up the timeline for phone interviews and reference checking to evaluate the candidates running for two open co-facilitator positions. This will require approximately 30 to 40 long distance telephone calls. When the world board positions are added to this process it will include about 150 telephone calls. Whether or not this is feasible for future HRP members to complete remains to be seen. We will know more after we’ve been through the process this year ourselves. We reaffirmed the absolute necessity for confidentiality of information on resumés and HRP discussion of individuals. We will always be as open about our processes as possible with the conference; however, if it comes down to a question of "Why didn’t you nominate Joe Addict from my region?", we will respectfully decline to answer. Back to the Top Meeting With the World Board We met with the world board for a short time to discuss the questions that we listed in our last August report. Here are the results of those discussions: The new May 1998 TWGWSS describes the purpose of the HRP is to "facilitate an election/selection process that will allow the World Service Conference to base trusted servant choices upon the principles of ability and experience." In a practical sense, what does "facilitate elections" mean?  The board and the HRP agree in viewing this as the role formerly filled by members of WSC Policy committee. The HRP will verify resumés, oversee the election process, and maintain election procedures.  Who is responsible for writing and implementing the election procedures? The Human Resource Panel.  What does the world board need from the HRP? How can we be of assistance? The World Board needs the HRP to fill the World Pool with qualified individuals and to maintain this information in a way that is usable and helpful. The World Board does not need any other assistance at this time.  What are the current needs of the world board regarding talents and skills? These have not yet been determined.  Can the board provide the HRP with detailed job descriptions to help facilitate future trusted servant searches? No, not at the present time.  Should the HRP actively search for another WSC Co-Facilitator? For 1999, possibly. The idea of one person being faced with chairing the entire conference without assistance is unworkable. We discussed various options from searching the World Pool, to asking former WSC chairs for help, to hiring a professional parliamentarian. We all agreed that neither the World Board nor the HRP have been delegated the responsibility or the authority to address the situation. We will be ready to help the conference in dealing with this. No action was taken.  What do you need from the HRP to complete the upcoming budget(s)? Any requests for additional meetings, attendees, or other plans affecting this year’s budget need to be received before 11/1/98. Project plans for next year are due by 2/15/99.  Is our name singular or plural (Resource or Resources)? It is written both ways in TWGWSS.  The HRP decided to use Resource.  What kind of procedures are necessary to follow up with second interviews and reference checks? The board suggested that we review the Nominations Committee Guidelines that were developed by WSC Policy and the WSB, but were never implemented. The HRP did review this policy.  How can we increase communications with the board? The board and the HRP will be exchanging minutes and meeting face to face on occasion.  Back to the Top Election Procedures One of the responsibilities assigned to the HRP is to facilitate elections. At our next meeting we will focus on developing election procedures. We are inviting a trusted servant experienced in election policy to help us at our January meeting. This is the first example of using the world pool to find NA members with the appropriate experience to accomplish a task. (Note: In our August report, we mentioned that we were seeking qualified individuals to serve on the HRP. This was a mistake. A regional delegate reminded us that all nominations for the HRP will be coming from the floor of the WSC. We apologize for the confusion.) Back to the Top WSC Co-Facilitator elections for 1999 The HRP is required to nominate a maximum of six candidates to run for WSC Co-Facilitator this year. We are developing new resumé evaluation and reference checking processes. We are also developing a new standard candidate profile report to give conference participants more information with which to compare the candidates. We have some resumés in the world pool that we may draw on; however, we feel that there may be additional candidates in the fellowship who are also qualified to run. If these candidates wait to be nominated until the April WSC meeting as in the past, they will not have the benefit of the processes or the candidate profile at the conference. The HRP will arrive at the conference with nominations for WSC Co-Facilitator. These nominees will be interviewed by phone and the HRP will check the references that each provided on their resumé. Our goal in the reference checking process is to verify information, not to disqualify candidates. Each nominee will have a candidate profile report distributed to each conference participant to prepare for the election. These reports will be typed and in a standard format for easy comparisons. On the other hand, individuals who are nominated at the last minute will only be able to have their handwritten resumé photocopied. Participants will be able to look at the resumé only for a short time before making their decision. If you or someone in your region has the qualifications and the desire to serve the fellowship as WSC Co-Facilitator, please forward a World Pool Resumé in care of the Human Resource Panel at the World Service Office. Please note on your cover letter that this resumé is submitted to be considered for the 1999 election of WSC Co-Facilitator. The deadline for receipt of World Pool Resumés to be considered in the HRP nomination process for WSC Co-Facilitator is January 22, 1999. The duties of the WSC Co-Facilitators are to: Preside over the business meeting of the World Service Conference.  Communicate with the World Board as necessary in order to be prepared for the conference meeting.  The qualifications for the WSC Co-Facilitators are A demonstrated ability to preside over business meetings.  A working knowledge of WSC conference policies and procedures.  A working knowledge of Robert’s Rules of Order and general parliamentary procedure.  Demonstrated organizational skills.  Holding no other world service positions or responsibilities at the time of assuming the co-facilitator’s duties.  A working knowledge of the Twelve Steps, Traditions, and Concepts of Narcotics Anonymous.  A minimum of eight (8) years clean time required.  Probable Travel Commitment: Ten days for WSC meeting at the end of April.  Four days, prior to the conference for planning. Back to the Top Return to Main Reports Page Contact NA World Services Return to Home Page