Happy new year! Welcome to January, which is the first month of the new year. It is all about new beginnings, new resolutions, new promises and, well, all things new!

Step One — We admitted we were powerless over alcohol—that our lives had become unmanageable. Why all this insistence that every A.A. must hit bottom first? The answer is that few people will sincerely try to practice the A.A. program unless they have hit bottom. For practicing A.A.’s remaining eleven steps means the adoption of attitudes and actions that almost no alcoholic who is still drinking can dream of taking. Who wishes to be rigorously honest and tolerant? Who wishes to confess his faults to another and make restitution for harm done? No, the average alcoholic, self-centered in the extreme, doesn’t care for this prospect — unless he has to do these things in order to stay alive himself. — Reprinted from The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 24, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.

Tradition One — Our common welfare should come first; personal recovery depends upon A.A. unity. Each member of Alcoholics Anonymous is a but a small part of the great whole. A.A. must continue to live or most of us will surely die. Hence our common welfare must come first. But individual welfare follows close afterward.

The unity of Alcoholics Anonymous is the most cherished quality our Society has. Our lives, the lives of all to come, depend squarely upon it. We stay whole, or A.A. dies. Without unity, the heart of A.A. would cease to beat; our world arteries would no longer carry the life-giving grace of God; His gift to us would be spent aimlessly. Back again in their caves, alcoholics would reproach us and say, ‘What a great thing A.A. might have been!’ — Reprinted from The Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions, p. 129, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.

Concept One — Final responsibility and ultimate authority for A.A. World Services should always reside in the collective conscience of our whole Fellowship. We believe that we see in our Fellowship a spiritualized society characterized by enough enlightenment, enough responsibility and enough love of man and of God to insure that our democracy of world service will work under all conditions. — Reprinted from The A.A. Service Manual Combined with the Twelve Concepts, p. 6, with permission of A.A. World Services, Inc.

Upcoming Events

57th International Women’s Conference: February 18 to 21, 2021

The Language of the Heart will be spoken at the First Virtual International Women’s Conference ever held. The women of Charlotte, North Carolina are excited to bring this Conference to women in A.A. in every part of the world, truly making this conference available for many women who were never able to attend in person. See and hear dynamic speakers. Great panels and workshops led by some awesome women from around the world await you. Watch the play “Surrender Dorothy.” You could become a contestant in the game Dysfunctional Family Feud, or learn how to do the Myrtle Beach Shag Dance. Registration is free, but required. Contributions are welcome. For more information, visit their website. To register, please go here.

Northeast Regional Alcoholics Anonymous Service Assembly 2021: February 26 to 28, 2021

Join the many who will make history at the first virtual Northeast Regional Alcoholics Anonymous Service Assembly (NERAASA).

The purpose of this event is for General Service Representatives (GSR’s), District Committee Members (DCM’s), Area Officers, Area Committee Members, District Committee Members, and Intergroup/Central Office Representatives of the Northeast Region to discuss General Service Conference related issues and concerns affecting A.A. as a whole, as well as pertinent aspects of recovery, unity and service common to the areas of the Northeast Region. All A.A. members are both welcome and encouraged to attend! We are making history! The cost for this virtual forum is $21.00. If you have any questions, email info@neraasa.org, or visit their website. To register, please go here.

The A.A. Service Manual: A Study of the First 12 Chapters

And don’t forget to tune-in every Thursday from 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm (through February 11), to unlock the mystery of the first 12 chapters of the A.A. Service Manual. This collaborative event is sponsored by Area 12 (Delaware), Area 28 (Maine), and Area 29 (Maryland). Come be part of the informative presentations and lively discussion. See flyer for more information (including links).

A Visual History of Alcoholics Anonymous: An Archival Journey

Early bird pricing ends January 31 for the new book. Available for pre-order at a special early bird discount of $1 off the list price of $12. Originally developed as the souvenir book for the 2020 International Convention, this highly illustrated tour through A.A.’s history is told in hundreds of iconic images never before published in one volume. Illuminating descriptions walk us through powerful moments in A.A.’s history — from the people, places and things integral to A.A.’s early growth, and forward to today’s vibrant, international Fellowship.

The book includes a special focus on Detroit in A.A.’s history and updated coverage of recent innovations in A.A. group life. To see more about this book, go here. To pre-order, go here.

Zoom Updates

A few new features were added to Zoom which may be of interest to you.

• New Location for Reactions (including raising hand) — Nonverbal feedback options (emojis) are moved to the Reactions button, and all reactions will be shown in the corner of the participants’ video, (or under the More button in iOS). Previously, these emojis were split up – with some residing under the Reactions button on the toolbar and the rest located in the Participants panel. With the latest update, all of the emojis are now located together, under the Reactions button. This makes it easier for participants to find and facilitators to see.
• Reaction Skin Tone — By default, everyone’s reactions (includes raised hand) have a yellow skin tone. In the General Settings of the Zoom client or app (not the website), pick your own skin tone. For more information, see this article.
• Raise hand for host and co-host — Hosts and co-hosts can utilize the raise hand feature along with meeting participants.
• Partially encrypted meeting warning — Unencrypted connections, such as audio through phone dial-in, unencrypted SIP/H.323 devices, or RTMP streaming, will alert the host and other attendees that some aspects of the meeting are not fully encrypted.

2021 Carry The Message Project

Grapevine and La Viña are great twelfth-step tools to help another alcoholic. There are three easy ways.

1. If you know the full name and the mailing address of the recipient, you can give a Gift Subscription to a friend, a sponsee, doctor’s offices, or for giveaways at anniversaries or events.
   • Go to store.aagrapevine.org.
   • Click on the Gift Subscriptions box.
   • Click on the Red Gift Bag icon for the type of gift subscription you want to give.
   • Click on “Go to the products page.”
   • Click on the number of Gift subscriptions you want to purchase (1 gift or 2).
   • Enter your information, the recipient’s information, and your payment information.
   • Click on the Process Order button. You’re done!
2. If you do not know the full name and the mailing address of the recipient and want Grapevine to select an alcoholic in need from the requests we have received. Follow these steps:
   • Go to store.aagrapevine.org.
   • Click on the Gift Certificate box.
   • Click the Buy button of the appropriate Carry the Message Gift Certificate option and you will be taken to a page showing our quantity discounts (at the bottom).
   • Enter the number of gift certificates that you want and click the Buy button. (For multiple gift certificates, the discount will automatically be applied).
   • Click Checkout and enter your order and payment information.
   • When you click the Confirm button, you will get an order confirmation email and the gift certificate will be sent to you as an individual email.
   • Forward the gift certificate to EA@aagrapevine.org and we will redeem it for someone who has requested a subscription but can’t afford one. (If you have purchased multiple gift certificates, select all of them and use the Forward as Attachment option, so you only have to send us one email).
3. If you do not know the full name and the mailing address of the recipient and would like to give them a gift certificate for them to redeem themselves for a subscription (example: A newcomer in your group.) Follow these steps:
   • Go to store.aagrapevine.org.
   • Click on the Gift Certificate box.
   • Click the Buy button of the appropriate Carry the Message Gift Certificate option and you will be taken to a page showing our quantity discounts (at the bottom).
   • Enter the number of gift certificates that you want and click the Buy button. (For multiple gift certificates, the discount will automatically be applied).
   • Click Checkout and enter your order and payment information.
   • When you click the Confirm button, you will get an order confirmation email and the gift certificate will be sent to you as an individual email.
   • Print and hand the Gift Certificate or email the Gift Certificate to the individual(s) you wish to donate a subscription to and they will be able to redeem the gift certificate code and enter their information themselves on the store.