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Every year, the S-Anon World Service Office (WSO) conducts an Annual Group Verification to ensure the WSO is providing accurate information to newcomers and members who reach out for support and to Trusted Servants providing service to the fellowship. The WSO recently sent the update request to group contacts, but rotation of group service roles could result in the WSO not having current contact information for some groups.
Will you please consider bringing up the Annual Group Verification at the meeting you attend and asking if an update has been or is in the process of being submitted?
Read some helpful suggestions for completing or updating the Group Registration Form and suggested guidance on how a newcomer may reach the group.
Before completing an updated Group Registration Form, it’s recommended that every group first discuss a few key details:
Group Name: According to the S-Anon/S-Ateen Service Manual (SSSM), when selecting a name for the group, experience has shown it best to maintain the S-Anon point of view and avoid using the name of a building, business, or organization where the group meets, as this can cause confusion by implying that the group may have an outside affiliation. Over the years, many groups have simply named themselves after the city, state/province, and meeting day, whereas others have developed a recovery-based name. It’s up to each group to choose or change their own name but please note, the WSO has removed any references of businesses (i.e., Zoom, Skype) in a group’s name to align with the guidance provided in the SSSM.
Publishing Location/Access Information: Whether or not to publish the meeting location or access information on the S-Anon website is up to each group. It’s encouraged that this decision be made using the group conscience-decision making process. When completing the form, only provide the street address and/or electronic access information if the group has decided to make this information public on our website. Online and Phone groups that choose to publish access information need to provide the Meeting ID and password along with the meeting link so that members can “one-click” attend directly from the Find a Meeting page of www.sanon.org.
Hybrid and Geographically-Based Online/Phone Groups: Electronic meetings which have chosen to be associated with a geographic location may choose to also have their meeting information published worldwide, not just for the city and state/province in which the meeting is “located.” Publishing information worldwide will attract a larger interest whereas only publishing under a specific location most often draws the attention of those looking for meetings in that area. Please indicate the group’s preference in this section of the form. Select “N/A” for in-person groups or for online/phone groups without an associated geographic location.
Group Contact Information: Providing a generic email address or phone information line to be published on www.sanon.org prevents a newcomer or member from needing to reach out multiple times before being connected to the group. For groups that do not have generic contact information listed, an inquirer is directed to email the WSO for a group member’s personal contact information. Because the WSO is only open Monday–Friday, 10am to 2pm CDT, this often means a newcomer or member could wait two or three days before receiving a WSO response with meeting contact information. We’re asking each group to reflect on the current path a newcomer or member must take to attend their meeting and consider ways the group can make it simpler and quicker for all inquirers to make that first connection.
Please note: The WSO no longer accepts paper or PDF Group Registration Forms. The Group Registration Form is only available online.
To ensure the accuracy of the information provided to newcomers, the WSO, at its discretion, may remove any meeting from the Group Database that has not updated or communicated with the WSO in over two years.