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NA WORLD SERVICE NEWS

We hit the ground running this month preparing for the World Service Meeting (WSM) in September!  How’d that happen—didn’t we just have the World Service Conference? 

This is a shorter version of NAWS News than the last issue.  Rather than trying to include the workgroup reports here, we are mailing them separately to conference participants.  These reports are available to NA members upon request from the WSO.  We hope to keep this publication as an overview of world service activities.  We would like to begin to include more fellowship-related issues rather than only concentrating on World Service Conference activity.  We really need, and would appreciate feedback from the areas and regions who receive this report as to what you would like to see included in this publication.

The project workgroups met in Chatsworth, CA on 11 August and 12 August and we held a World Board meeting on the following two days.  Needless to say, the pace has been challenging, but as we draw closer to the WSM we are witnessing what true teamwork and focused determination can accomplish.  In spite of the daunting production timeline, we all remain enthusiastic about the projects and are optimistic about presenting them as scheduled in the 2000 Conference Agenda Report.

The Executive Committee met with the Human Resource Panel on Thursday to discuss how we can create a more effective interaction.  We are all learning how to work with, and within, this new system, helping it to be more successful.  Other discussions included  two-way communication, accountability, single-point-of-decision, the world pool and the selection process, election procedures and developing each bodies (the WB and the HRP) internal guidelines to reflect more clearly, the relationship between the two entities.  It was an exceptionally productive meeting!  The HRP also joined us in our action group on Saturday.

Floyd Best, our board member who has been so seriously ill, is still unable to attend our meetings and we ask you all to continue to keep him in your thoughts and prayers.

 The 1999 World Service Meeting (WSM) is being held at the Clarion Hotel in Hollywood, Florida from 24 – 26 September.  We will also celebrate Unity Day on Saturday, 25 September.  For information on how to register for the Unity Day telephone hook-up and/or the event itself, please check the Narcotics Anonymous website at www.na.org or contact the WSO at 818-773-9999, ext. 115. 

The list has been finalized for the ten regions that will receive funding to attend the WSM from the budgeted pool.  We had randomly drawn a total of nineteen regions and actually offered funding to seventeen regions.  We were able to get this far on the list due to the seven regions who declined funding assistance in order to allow funding to another region that might otherwise be unable to attend.

We developed a tentative agenda and plan to have an Open Forum at 3 PM during our board meeting that will be held on Thursday, 23 September.  Our board meeting begins at 10 am and is open to anyone who wishes to attend.  The WSM will officially begin on Friday, 24 September at 9:00 am.  We received a lot of useful information at the WSC about how we present information to the fellowship. Because of this, we will make only minimal presentations in order to allow the maximum amount of time for dialogue and input from participants.  We encourage everyone to familiarize themselves with the material before the meeting so that you can make this time as productive as possible.

We are moving forward with the replacement of the old database as we reported in the last issue of NAWS News.  There is much staff excitement surrounding the installation of the new database.  The WSO staff is currently being trained on the various functions of this database that has been designed to meet our ever-expanding needs while we continue to grow as a fellowship.  One of the enhancements include registering groups and events online.  The events’ registration should be up and running shortly.  We will be distributing more information about how this will work at the WSM.

At WSC 1999, we had a motion committed to us requesting an online conference participant discussion forum.  We are designing a bulletin board for our website that will be available to conference participants to post information and for any member to view.  We believe that trying this idea as an experiment is the most effective response to this committed motion.  We will also discuss this further at the WSM and plan to have it available shortly thereafter. 

We are proceeding with the Public Relations Plan this year.  We are trying to create more effective partnerships with local PI committees and have attended and plan to attend a number of professional events.  In August alone we had two WSO staff and two board members attend the American Correctional Association in Denver, Colorado, as well as a staff member, pool member, and Euro-PI member at the International Congress of Alcohol & Addiction in Vienna, Austria.  We are committed to allocating resources to these types of events.  We want the professionals present at these types of events to know what NA is and how we can help the large numbers of addicts that many of them come into contact with every day.  It is an important component of carrying our message effectively worldwide 
The following is a brief report from the WSO Marketing Director:

OVERVIEW & OBSERVATIONS
THE 129TH ACA CONGRESS OF CORRECTIONS
 The overall attendance seemed to be about usual for this summer conference, with about 5,000 to 6,000 attendees.  I noticed a marked increase in the number of correctional authorities that recognize who we are and what we represent.  It would appear that there is an increase in structured treatment units within the various correctional systems.  With this increase comes the awareness of various 12-step fellowships, including Narcotics Anonymous.  During the last two (2) ACA Conferences and the most recent American Jail Association Conference, I met various correctional professionals who are in the process of structuring treatment modules within their system and at their facilities.

We didn’t distribute as much literature as we usually are accustomed to distributing at this particular event.  Many more individuals were interested in having us forward informational packages so they could evaluate them at a later date.  What we have been trying to do, with some success, is to get them to take a copy of the Narcotics Anonymous Step Working Guides for their personal evaluation or evaluation by their substance abuse program administrators.

Overall, I believe we continue to be effective in getting our correctional marketing information into the hands of the people who will ultimately make decisions about purchasing NA literature and ensuring that NA meetings are a part of their treatment modules within their correctional facilities.

As previously reported, we are continuing our efforts to finalize arrangements with the airlines and hotels in order to complete the travel package and registration flyer before the end of the year.  We are also working on a newsletter that will address all of these issues as well as other relevant information that people will need to make a decision about attending this event in Cartagena, Colombia (8/31 – 9/2, 2000).  There seems to be rumors in the fellowship that we plan to cancel this event due to recent events in Colombia.  We want to stress that this is not true, although we have and will continue to monitor the situation in Colombia.  There will be complete information contained in the newsletter that will be released.

Mark your calendars!  The dates and locations for WCNA 29 and 30 are as follows:
 

SERVICE MATERIAL APPROVAL PROCESS
During both workgroup meetings, there was much discussion regarding the differences between recovery and service literature and how to present that distinction with a new approval process for service material.  The workgroup addressed the input received from the board meeting in June, as well as revising and simplifying the approval process diagram that is currently being developed.  The workgroup continues to agree that the process for the development and approval of service material products should be easy to understand, flexible, timely, and should utilize World Pool members. Also worked on at this meeting were the presentation for the WSM in September and a tentative agenda for that meeting.  Included in the upcoming mailing to the conference participants prior to the WSM will be the developmental text outlining the approval process and a diagram.

TWO-YEAR CONFERENCE
As reported earlier, the workgroup remains focused on five main areas—the goals and purpose of the two-year conference cycle, the event known as the World Service Conference, the conference work cycle and the Conference Agenda Report, the worldwide workshop system, and funding attendance to the WSC.  There was discussion regarding the necessary improvements to the conference system and how to make the event more productive for participants and more effective in serving a worldwide fellowship.  The workgroup feels this will bring their vision into focus—that of a WSC in which everyone works together as a united cohesive body focused on NA’s worldwide mission.  The workgroup has developed a draft, with board support, that presents their recommendations for a foundation that will allow for the transition to a two-year cycle to begin and is requesting input from the fellowship in order to finalize work for the inclusion in the 2000 Conference Agenda Report. 

MOTION 21 PROJECT
The Motion 21 workgroup had a very successful second meeting.  Discussions included the draft report of a strategic 10-Year Plan for the creation and revision of fellowship-approved literature, all of the literature motions committed from the 1998 and 1999 WSCs, and the 1999 fellowship literature survey results.  The survey results are still available on request to anyone or visit the WSO website at www.na.org. The workgroup has started to envision both what needs to be done in the short-term, as well as how the literature development process might be changed to function better in the future.  There will be another workgroup meeting with the WB in November to finalize the comprehensive report on literature development that will be included for fellowship-wide discussion in the 2000 CAR.
 

COMMUNICATIONS TASK FORCE
The CTF met with small groups of WSO staff from Fellowship Services, Customer Service, and Convention Services staff during their August meeting.  Three categories of communication—correspondence, telephone, and periodicals—were discussed. 
 The board approved a plan for the use of fellowship focus groups in order for the CTF to have specific discussions with members in local communities with a variety of NA experience.  Communication categories to be discussed with these groups are divided into five topics: correspondence, periodicals, products/services, translations, and a world wide workshop system.  The locations for the focus groups have been tentatively determined: Philadelphia, PA.; Spokane, WA; Rockford, IL; Germany; Calgary, Canada; India; Uruguay, and California.  We are currently in the process of contacting the delegates in each of these NA communities to plan these events scheduled to take place between October 1999 and January 2000.  The response has been very positive and we are excited about this opportunity to engage in a new type of dialogue with NA members to help to frame our communication goals for the future.  In order to effectively conduct the focus groups around the world, an increase of $27,000 was approved by the board for this project plan. 

Since the work of the CTF will not be included in the 2000 CAR, there will not be a report from this workgroup included in the mailing to conference participants.  There will be a brief report at the WSM but the panel discussions will be focused on the three projects to be included in the Conference Agenda Report—the process for service material, the two-year conference cycle, and the Motion 21 projects.

WB INTERNAL PROCESS & PROCEDURES
The Executive Committee presented their work to the board for discussion and approval.  This is still very much a work in progress and is not schedule to be completed until 1 March 2000.  The current draft will be sent to conference participants before the WSM.  There will only be a brief discussion at the WSM since the opportunity for input will be available until January 2000.

As we reported in the last issue of NAWS News, world services’ income from direct donations during the last conference year was over the half-million dollar ($500,000US) mark for the first time in our history.  The final amount was actually $590,779US—a significant milestone and an 18% increase over the previous year.  We are uncertain of the exact dynamics of this increase and while we do not have definitive answers at the moment, we do want to continue to thank all of our members, groups, areas, and regions for their confidence.

Continuing to look ahead, we know we can still not afford to sit back and rest on past achievements.  We have a lot of work to do and there will always be more addicts to reach.  Remember, one of the goals identified in our Fellowship Development Plan calls for an increase of one million dollars ($1,000,000 U.S.) in donations by the year 2000.  That might seem unrealistic in mid to late 1999, but not quite as far away as some of us thought when it was created.  If we continue to try, there is every indication we can get a quarter of the way there by pushing ourselves over the $600,000 mark by June 30, 2000.  As the following chart reflects, the donations so far this year seem to indicate that the fellowship is responding and as a result this is a very realistic goal!  We can do it if we remain committed to our goal. 

We are continuing to work on an ambitious schedule this year and expect to meet our goals.  As we reported at the conference, and have previously indicated here, we believe that the projects that we have undertaken are an important part of the foundation needed for this new world service system.  We would like to again thank all of the workgroup members for participating in our projects.  We continue to have very high hopes for this year and with your input and growing support, we know we will be successful.

In fellowship,
Your World Board