The Business Meeting is where all routine business issues are discussed and group consciences taken at A Serenity Place online Al-Anon meeting. Any member of ASP may attend the Business Meeting, but all members must be subscribed to the meeting before it begins. You may request that an item be placed on the Business Meeting agenda by emailing the List Administrator at list_administrator@asp-afg.org.

The Business Meetings are held whenever a business matter needs to be discussed and/or voted on by members of ASP, typically no more than a 2 or 3 times per year. The Business Meeting is led by the Chairperson (either the ASP Secretary or the List Administrator, depending upon availability). The Chairperson determines the agenda at his or her discretion from items submitted by members, either prior to or during the initial phase of the meeting. Any member who wishes an issue to be discussed must attend the Business Meeting or the item will be stricken from the agenda. The Business Meeting discusses one and only one topic at a time. It is the duty of the Chairperson to keep the meeting participants focused on the topic at hand.

The Business Meeting is using the Knowledge Based Decision Making (KBDM) process on a trial basis. This means that motions are developed by consensus after thorough discussion.  If there is no consensus, then no motion is to be made.  If this process doesn’t appear to be working properly, the Chairperson may switch the Business Meeting to the traditional style based loosely on Roberts Rules of Order. In that instance, motions will be made from the floor and seconded with discussion following.

The basic format of the Business Meeting for A Serenity Place is outlined below. A much more detailed version can be found here: Business Meeting Process at ASP. For more information on the KBDM process, see the KBDM Q & A from Al-Anon’s World Service Office. If you have any further questions about the Business Meeting, technical or otherwise, please email the List Administrator at list_administrator@asp-afg.org

Business Meeting Format

1. The Chairperson will announce in the regular ASP meeting that the Business Meeting will be starting in one week and give a start date.  All members who wish to participate must respond prior to that date.
2. Once the Business Meeting starts, it will be closed. Only those subscribed will be able to participate in the discussions and vote on the topic at hand. Send your messages for the Business Meeting (once it has commenced) to  businessmtg@asp-afg.org.
3. The Chairperson will announce the agenda for the meeting, followed by discussion. Members are free to request that items be placed on the agenda before the discussion begins. Each agenda item will have a specified time limit for discussion.
4. If appropriate, the Chairperson will announce that a vote is to be taken. He or she will provide instructions on the voting process to the participants of the Business Meeting. This announcement will include a deadline for voting on the issue. In accordance with the ASP Founding Statement and Policies, the voting period will last 7 days.
5. The Chairperson will announce the results of the vote and ask the Webmaster to post the motion and the results of the vote on the ASP Members Only website.
6. If more than one topic is on the agenda, other interested members may be subscribed to the Business Meeting at this point and the discussion and voting process will be repeated. (This allows for continuity in the topic, prevents ‘packing’ the meeting just before a vote, and keeps the meeting on track because we will not be revisiting the beginning of the discussion or bringing new members up to speed.) If not, the Business Meeting will be concluded.

Major or Controversial Issues

Issues which would result in a major change to ASP or are controversial in nature will have a delayed discussion and voting procedure:

Month 1:  Announcement of topic followed by truncated discussion to illuminate issues.  Discussion limited to 1 week.
Month 3:  Full discussion of topic.  Discussion may be extended to following month(s) as needed.
Month 5+: Voting on motion.

Important Note

If you would like to participate in a Business Meeting, please take note of the following examples of things NOT to do:

• Send Business Meeting shares to multiple recipients.  The server will reject any message that is also sent to any other address in addition to the ASP Business Meeting address.  In addition to being rejected, this creates a mess on the server that needs to be cleaned up by the List Administrator.  The best way to send a share to the business meeting is to create a listing in your email address book for Business Meeting and send all shares to Business Meeting.
• Comment on others shares to the meeting at large, good or bad.  Please share your compliments to other members privately.
• Include the text of a share that you are responding to.  Please delete the other members text or change the settings on your email program to do this automatically.  Better yet, always start with a new email message and put the appropriate heading in the subject line.
• Send attachments of any kind.
• Send test messages to the meeting.  If you believe you are having a problem receiving the Business Meeting shares, please contact the List Administrator at list_administrator@asp-afg.org.

PLEASE REMEMBER!

• The Business Meeting is the ONLY place we discuss business issues.  Business issues are NOT to be taken to the main ASP meeting.
• If a member of ASP wants to bring something to the Business Meeting, then they must attend the Business Meeting.  There is no proxy voice or vote in Al-Anon.
• Like all Al-Anon meetings, the following statement applies to the ASP Business Meeting:

“Whom you see here, What you hear here… Let it stay here.”
No exceptions.