Report and Charter Committee Agenda - January 2026

Agenda

• Open
• Welcome! Introductions and contact list.
• Choose a Secretary for Report and Charter (R&C) Committee
  • Position requirements
• What is R&C and what does it do?
• Who makes up the committee?
• Getting familiar with our procedures
  • Suggested Committee procedures
  • Scope of R&C
    • What is it and where to find it.
  • Agenda Items in standing committee
    • What’s the process?
    • How are they resolved?
• Discuss assigned Agenda Items
  • Old items
    • Agenda Item 2024-01-06 003 Report & Charter: Area 41 to form a new Area committee tasked with hosting the area reunions.
      REUNION RECONFIGURATION
      Rationale: During discussion of Reunion Host Committee at the July, 2022 Business Meeting, it was proposed that an Area 41-level Reunion committee be implemented. It was recognized, among other things that Districts have been hesitant toward hosting, and attendance has trended downward. Given Area 41’s timetable for business, this proposal could be approved in 2024 for implementation in 2025 for the 2026 Reunion.
      EXPERIMENTAL: This proposal is for a four year trial period. It will sunset and the Reunion structure revert to the District-based organization if not adopted by the first (January) Assembly of the year – 2030 - following the fourth experimental event.
      POSITIONS:
      Alt Reunion Chair / Reunion Chair
      Area Chair would prepare a slate of candidates from which the Area Assembly would select the Alt Reunion chair for the current year to serve as Reunion Chair for the following year. This would be done via the third legacy procedure. Then every January at the Area 41 Assembly a new slate would be prepared by the Area chair and a new Alt Reunion Chair would be elected for the current year to serve as Reunion Chair the following year.
      Funding
      The Alt Reunion Chair will be funded for two nights of hotel and mileage at the Area 41 rate to attend one Area 41 Reunion: the Area 41 Reunion which is held in year one of his/her selection to be Alt Reunion Chair and the Area 41 Reunion held in year two - in which he/she will be serving as the Reunion Chair. The Alt Reunion Chair will also be funded for one night of hotel and mileage at the Area 41 rate to attend the next two Area 41 assemblies. The Reunion Chair will be funded for two nights of hotel and mileage at Area 41 rate to attend one Area 41 Reunion. The Reunion Chair will be funded for one night of hotel and mileage at the Area 41 rate to attend four Area 41 assemblies. The funds to cover the expenses of the Reunion Chair as well as the Alt Reunion Chair will come from Area 41 General Fund via the Area 41 Treasurer.
      Funding for the following positions for two nights and mileage at Area 41 rate to attend the Area 41 Reunion should be added to each of the Officer & Committee Chairs’ annual budgets rather than coming from the seed money that is provided to the Reunion Committee.
      Area 41 Delegate, Area 41 Archives Chair, Area 41 Grapevine Chair, Area 41 Literature Chair
      The funds needed to rent meeting space to hold the Area 41 Reunion should come from the Area 41 Alternate Delegate’s budget rather than from the seed money that is provided to the Reunion Committee.
      Subcommittee Chairs
      The Host Committee may include, but is not limited to:
      i. Secretary
      ii. Treasurer
      iii. Facilities Coordinator (provide Reunion needs to the Alternate Delegate)
      iv. Pre-Registration/Registration
      v. Coffee
      vi. Program Coordinator – planning, scheduling, etc.
      vii. Speakers (A.A., Al-Anon, Alateen speakers. Seek input from those fellowships on their potential speakers).
      viii. Social Activities – dance, ice cream social, etc.ix. Others…decorations, speakers’ hosts, greeters, security, publicity, etc. In general Area 41 encourages the Host Committee to enlist as many individuals as possible in the planning, development, and operation of the Area 41 Reunion.
      Subcommittee Members
      All A.A. members are eligible
      Background: ASSEMBLED BY THE AREA 41 REUNION AD-HOC COMMITTEE:
      Pluses of the Reunion
      -Opportunity for members to hear Delegate’s Report of the GSC
      -Lots of fellowship
      -More opportunities for service work
      Challenges of the Reunion
      -Trend toward low attendance in recent years
      -Difficulty being self-supporting some years
      -Difficulty finding different districts willing to host the event
      -Difficulty getting host committee volunteers
      Other Points Considered:
      There may be some good information learned from the area Ad-hoc Function Committee. We don’t currently have the benefit of knowing what any of that information may be. Area 41 is currently locked in to having the Reunion through 2024 only. A vote is scheduled October 2023 to set dates and facility for 2025 and 2026 Reunion.
      The Delegate’s Report is given at the Reunion and also given approximately 1 month later at the Area business meeting. Sometimes it has been the same or a very similar report, but it doesn’t have to be. It’s unknown what would be the Area financial ramifications of not having a reunion (the cost that could be saved not having a Reunion versus the change in costs for the other 4 annual business meetings without having a Reunion). We found that there were just too many variables such as dates, locations and different hotel policies to determine if eliminating the Reunion and meeting 4 times per year rather than 5 times would be financially beneficial to Area 41. We’d need to solicit actual bids for 4 meetings vs 5 meetings to know for certain what impact this would have on the Area finances. We discussed at length the possibility of Area 41 establishing a Reunion Committee rather than having districts host it. We discussed having a one day event rather than having the Reunion last the entire weekend. There was talk of somehow attaching the Reunion to the 4-Corners Workshop. There was mention and discussion of the possibility of changing the Reunion date(s). The Reunion is held when it is aligned with an Alanon Business meeting. Alanon’s Service Conference is held in the spring just as our GSC is. Alanons in Nebraska meet 4 times per year (3 business meetings and 1 reunion). They meet in conjunction with Area 41 meetings at all except our January meetings. We think we may need to advertise more. We think providing more seed money could benefit some Reunion committees. Also, not being as adamant that the seed money be returned could help some committees. We could use oficers’ and/or committee chairs’ budgets (i.e. Delegate, Literature, Grapevine, Archives) rather than Reunion committee budget to pay for hotel sleeping rooms or meeting rooms. Host districts could communicate more with previous host committees to get more information and ideas concerning reunion “best practices”. We could reconfigure the agenda of the Reunion. We could have workshops at the Reunion. We were able to get some past Reunion attendance records and finance records. The results were as follows ----
      We have financial information from 14 of the past 17 reunions. That shows an overall profit for the Reunion of $5360.67. We have attendance records from 15 of the past 17 reunions. We consider the low attendance from the 2020 & 2021 as outliers rather than part of a trend since they were held during COVID. But there has been a downward trend from 2007 till now even though the number of attendees does not seem to correlate with the annual financial profits vs losses. We feel that two of the major problems the Area is experiencing with the reunion are as follows:
      1. We discussed the fact that there doesn’t always seem to be a lot of interest shown from individual districts who would like to volunteer to host the reunion.
      2. We think more continuity is needed from year to year with each new reunion committee
  • New Items
    • 2026-01-10 005 Agenda item: Report and Charter: That past Delegates be granted lifetime voting privileges at Area Assemblies, effective immediately upon completion of their service term as Delegate.
      Background: Ensure all past Delegates are included as voting members on Area business matters. Align our structure more closely with the spirit of Concept IV. Reflect practices already in use in other Areas of the Fellowship. Help encourage participation from past delegates to continue to have a voice of institutional memory and elder statesmen.
    • 2026-01-10 006 Agenda Item: Report and Charter: Change the Area 41 Newsletter distribution process so that the standard printed copies just include the agenda, voting items, business meeting minutes, new agenda items, agenda items still in committee, contact list, and the Officer reports. Printed copies of the additional reports will only be printed as requested on demand from the Area Secretary.
      Background: Newsletter distribution challenges have been a recurring issue for many rotations. While many members use the digital tool, some members and groups rely on a physical copy. Streamlining what is printed would allow the hard copy to be available sooner, faster, and printed at a far reduced cost. Having the additional reports be able to be sent if requested still ensures the information is available if a member requests it but ensures that hundreds of copies of reports aren’t printed if not needed.
    • 2022-04-02 005 (n) Agenda Item FUNction Ad Hoc: Report and Charter: That Area 41 make District Committee Member (DCM) reports available on the Area 41 website rather than printing them in the Newsletter.
      Background: Have you ever read anyone’s report that wasn’t yours? Have you read another District’s report? Many members have expressed a desire for continued access to DCM reports. By moving these reports to the website, we can maintain open access for all while reducing printing and mailing costs. This change supports better financial stewardship, expands accessibility for members who prefer digital formats, and keeps the newsletter focused on timely highlights and fellowship news. By posting DCM reports on the Area website instead of printing them in the newsletter, we can keep all information publicly available, archive it for future reference, and make it easier for members to find at any time. This also allows us to use our limited funds more effectively for outreach, translation, and other vital services. The intent is simply to modernize how we share information, while continuing to honor transparency, participation, and unity in Area 41.
    • 2022-04-02 005 (j) Agenda Item FUNction Ad Hoc: Report and Charter: All documents distributed at or by Area 41 should have a revision date on them.
      Background: Frequently, documents get updated or are out of date and no one is ever sure when they were last updated. This would allow for a general idea of accuracy of information, and to help denote what may need to be updated.

• Additional items
  • Spanish Translation of the Area 41 Handbook
  • Past Actions
  • Update handbook
• Discuss when to meet again
• Close. Thank you for your service!

Report and Charter Committee report from October:
We opened with the serenity prayer with 11 members present at 9:02.
The committee started out by discussing updating the handbook. Zach has been hard at work and has added all the changes made to the handbook during this rotation up to the October assembly. Sidenote, Doug G was already creating mischief in just the first few minutes. Back to it, after looking over Zach’s draft, the Secretary suggested that we table the discussion for a future Zoom meeting. 10-0 We discussed the Newsletter or rather the lack of the Newsletter this quarter. The Newsletter chair has struggled with this position. The Newsletter chair has not been in contact with the Secretary. We discussed how to handle this situation and how we will get the next newsletter into the hands of the fellowship. A motion was made by Zach and seconded by Alex to give the Secretary the right of decision to contact Brock and ensure a plan is in place. There was a minority voice, which stated that the motion is out of line. The motion is already within the scope the secretary’s scope. Motion passed 7-1. There will be a Newsletter for the next rotation. The committee then took up, late at night, the proposed Newsletter scope and responsibilities discussion. Dan made a motion to submit an agenda item defining the scope of the Newsletter Chair. Motion passed unanimously. The committee will meet October 19 at 4 PM Central on Zoom. Come join us.
Items still in committee.
Agenda Item 2024-07-13-008. Explore Spanish Translation.
Agenda Item 2024-01-06 003 Report and Charter: Creating a permanent Reunion Chair
and Alt-Chair…