Communication

Communication Committee Minutes

Regular Meeting and Contact

Second Saturday of the month at 0900 ET via Zoom

Contact email address: communication@greysheet.org

Purpose

The purpose of the Communication Committee is to facilitate communication and promote collaboration among the compulsive eater who still suffers, the GreySheeters Anonymous membership, the World Service Conference committees and caucuses and the General Service Board.

Communication Committee Members

Chair: Carla B 03/31/07 GSR Zoom Even if Your A... Falls Off SUN2100
Secretary: Susanne K. 02/03/2008 GSR 2018-2019 ZOOM TUES 2100 ET
Board Liaison: Lee T 03/23/2000

Members

Yael A. 02/20/2009 2016-2019, GSR
Barb W. 04/15/2005 GSR 2018-2019 IL CHI SAT 1100
Maria S 09/24/07 ISR Iceland
Inka O. 09/05/2014, GSR UK LON SAT 1000

Non-voting Volunteers

Annette T. 01/20/2016
Callendra 11/23/19
Phyllis B 11/17/04
Kate O 01/06/10

Regular Meeting: Second Saturday 900 ET Zoom 307 917 885

Contact: Communication@greysheet.org

Purpose

Report

Update

Since our last report, submitted in March 2019, the Communication Committee met once a month to:

Plan the monthly issues of Service Matters
Plan the monthly meetings of Committees Connecting to facilitate awareness of the ongoing work of World Service Conference committees
Draft a policy of using Service Matters as a central means to announce meetings, give Board of Trustees reports, and provide Help Wanted notices from various committees soliciting assistance from the fellowship
Begin monthly meetings for delegates on the Twelve Traditions and Twelve Concepts for World Service to better prepare them for service at the World Service Conference. These meetings are open to all
Create the first-ever full-membership discussion meetings on Zoom to share experience, strength, and hope as we met the challenges of the global Coronavirus pandemic
Review the GreySheet Phone List to ensure that members listed are still abstinent and responding to calls
Review the Area Contact list to ensure that all listed contacts respond to emails within 48 hours
Discuss progress made toward taking over the Phone List from its current moderator
Convene trainings to improve the efficiency of the newly formed Start up Sponsor subcommittee in helping newcomers to be introduced to GreySheet abstinence and get lists of possible permanent sponsors. Currently there are eight English-speaking, one Spanish-speaking, and two Polish – speaking start-up sponsors on our committee. See attached Requirements for Start-Up Sponsors. See Attachment 1. Requirements for Start Up

Plans

During 2020-2021, we plan to

Continue to publish monthly issues of Service Matters to keep all our members “in the know” about what is happening to carry the message to compulsive eaters who still suffer – and how to be of service in this global community
Continue to convene monthly meetings of Committees Connecting so that any interested GreySheeter can learn about the work of our World Service Committees all year long and become involved either as a member or as a volunteer
Explore the feasibility of creating a podcast to carry the message of GSA to the compulsive eater who still suffers. The Southern States Intergroup YouTube Channel has been posting qualifications for years; what about podcasts that address issues of weighing and measuring in restaurants, highlight a member’s no matter what experiences, and offer hope to the newcomer just getting started?
Take over the GSA Phone List coordination as soon as the new website makes the transition feasible
Develop a growing list of Start Up Sponsors and continue to train them
Continue to convene monthly meetings on the Twelve Traditions and Twelve Concepts for World Service to prepare delegates and other interested GreySheeters in our A.A. roots and fundamental philosophy

How To Get Involved

So, you’ve been abstinent over 90 days, and you want to give back to the community that has given you a brand new life, free from compulsive eating. Is the Communication Committee for you?

Here is what we do and how you can contribute your gifts and talents.

Service Matters – our monthly newsletter that answers the question, “What’s Up in GreySheet?”

Do you like to write? Interview people about what they’re doing? Share something about an event that you participated in? Ask a question to a random bunch of GreySheeters and distill their answers in our Q&A column? Compile pieces, reports and information about meetings into a text document that goes to the Webservant every month?

If you answer yes to any of the above, perhaps our committee is a good fit for you. Contact communication@greysheet.org and come to our meeting on the 2nd Saturday of the month. We start early in order to accommodate people in far-ranging time zones.

Serve as a Public Contact

Our fellowship is small compared to Alcoholics Anonymous, but we are a global community with members and meetings easily accessible via Zoom wherever the worldwide web exists. Our list of contacts is meant to represent where GreySheeters live, and to help foster connections between and among our members who speak a variety of languages and share cultures.

Your name, location and email will be listed as a resource for folks in GS looking for information about where you live or how you connect to the program and stay abstinent.

You must have at least 1 year of back-to-back GreySheet abstinence and be willing to respond to emails within 48 hours.

Complete the application form and send it to Communication@GreySheet.org. Someone will respond within two weeks.

Help us Maintain the GSA Phone List

Do you like to call people and meet fellow GreySheeters from all over? In order to preserve the accuracy of the Phone List, we need people to make phone calls to people on the list to see if they are abstinent and still want to be included in the Phone List.

Do you like to work with data like spreadsheets? We need people to update the spreadsheet by adding new members as well as removing names of people who are no longer doing GreySheet.

Facilitate/Participate in Ongoing Concept/Traditions Meetings

Do you know and understand the Concepts and Traditions of our fellowship? Would you like to grow in this area? In order to remain true to the principles and traditions of our AA legacy, it is important that we study and practice the Concepts and Traditions. It is especially relevant for delegates to the World Service Conference, and so our Committee offers regular monthly meetings that focus on one concept and one tradition every month. Any GreySheeter can participate, but we need people to commit to these meetings to make sure that they continue.

Become a Start-up Sponsor

Do you like to help newcomers understand the GreySheet and share your experience, strength and hope on how to put days together in the beginning? Start-up sponsors help by responding within 12 hours to newcomers to GSA, explaining the GreySheet, following the Start-up Sponsor guidelines as written, taking a newcomer’s food daily for up to a week, preparing a list of possible permanent sponsors for newcomers to call, and enrolling those who are weighing and measuring with a sponsor on the Phone List.

Start-up Sponsors agree to:

Respond with yes/no to email or text request for an available Startup Sponsor from Phone List Coordinator within 12 hours.
Accept a newcomer to start off at least every seventh request (not something we would track but just a general impression).
Respond to the newcomer’s first call when (if) it comes and for up to five days of temporary sponsoring if the newcomer calls at specified time.
Attend a Zoom training with the Phone Coordinator to review the Guidelines.
Be willing to sponsor according to the Guidelines and start off people with the procedure outlined in the Guidelines. If any disagreement, willing to meet with other Start-up Sponsors to discuss and agree on compromises as necessary
Compile a list of ten possible qualified GS sponsors from the Phone List who are in the newcomer’s time zone and/or state/region (preferably people that the start-up sponsor knows) and ask them to call 3 per day until they find a permanent sponsor

Minimum abstinence requirement: 90 days.

If interested, email Communication@greysheet.org.