NERAASA .ORG

The purpose of the Northeast Regional Alcoholics Anonymous Service Assembly (NERAASA) is for GSRs, DCMs, Area Committee members and Intergroup and 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.

The Regional Trustee and the current Delegates, as the duly elected representatives of each Area, shall have responsibility for the overall implementation of NERAASA. An Assembly site 2007 and 2008 be selected at the 2005 General Service Conference; 2009 and beyond be bid 3 years in advance.¹

1. The Delegate who submitted the bid will be responsible for putting on the Assembly. The Delegate may serve as Chairperson or appoint someone else.
2. It should be the policy of NERAASA to encourage attendance.
1. The site selection within the Area should give consideration to providing economical food and lodging. Meal packages are not encouraged.
2. Registration should be kept as low as possible consonant with recovery expenses.
3. Current Delegates of the Northeast Region are urged to attend.
4. Expenses of the Northeast Regional Trustee will be paid by NERAASA.
5. A report from the Northeast Regional Trustee will be included in a panel.

The dates for NERAASA should be firmly established as the last weekend in February.

1. A business meeting will be held during each Assembly and listed in the program.
1. The business meeting shall be one and one-half (1 ½) hours in length.
2. Minutes of the preceding meeting will be read.
3. Financial report from the preceding meeting will be read.
4. Bids from Areas wishing to host NERAASA should be submitted. (The actual site selection will be made by the Delegates as designated above.)
5. Items for new business must be submitted in writing at least two weeks prior to NERAASA. Urgent or important items that need to be considered in the business meeting, not previously submitted, may be submitted by noon of the day of the business meeting. Approval will require a two-thirds majority vote of those A.A. members present. Approved motions shall not be retroactive.
6. Motions concerning the operation of NERAASA will be accepted until noon of the day of the business meeting.
2. REGISTRATION PACKET:
   The following items shall be included with the materials given to each registrant:
1. A copy of the NERAASA guidelines.
2. A copy of the agenda topics for the upcoming General Service Conference.²
3. As a Third Legacy gathering living the 7th Tradition, expenses are covered by monies from registrations.
4. REGISTRATION FORM:
1. Produce and mail registration forms at least twice, once early and again about six (6) weeks prior to the Assembly date, utilizing the confidential mailing list provided by the preceding Chairperson.
2. In addition, each current Northeast Regional Delegate will be given a minimum of 500 forms for distribution.
5. AGENDA:
1. A Program Committee appointed by the NERAASA Chairperson and utilizing the definition of "purpose" as a guideline, will review topics submitted by Areas through their current Delegates and issues of concern to A.A. as a whole, in addition to specific items to be addressed by the upcoming General Service Conference.
2. A tentative agenda will be outlined and forwarded to Assemblies through their Delegates in November.
3. Ideally, the (almost) Final Agenda will be set by mid-January, leaving flexibility for any last minute unusual circumstances.
6. PANELS:
1. The anonymity statement will be read before panels.
2. In general, each panel will consist of: a moderator, a "timer", a brief reading from a Concept or appropriate A.A. literature, 4-6 topics, pre-assigned to reflect NERAASA's purpose, and open floor discussion on these topics.
3. Topic presenters will be randomly selected from pre-registered members from all 18 Areas.
4. Emphasis for presenters should first be placed on GSRs and DCMs as well as other service people who have not previously participated in this capacity.
5. A specific time will be given to each topic. Presenters are encouraged to utilize written reports and notes.
6. All sharing from the floor will be firmly limited to two (2) minutes.
7. TAPING:
1. NERAASA will be taped in its entirety, with the exception of the Roundtables.
2. Only NERAASA tapes may be displayed and sold; not trinkets and tapes from other meetings.
8. Expenses of the principle speaker will be paid by NERAASA.
9. At the conclusion of the Assembly after all expenses have been satisfied a reserve of not more than $3,500 shall be forwarded to the Area Delegate or Chairperson of the next Assembly within 90 days. All monies in excess of $3,500 shall be donated to the General Service Office.
10. That a process be developed to provide seed money to the NERAASA Committee for the event that is dated two years in advance of the current NERAASA. This will enable said committee to place a deposit with the facility where the event is to be held two years ahead.³
11. Once an Area has hosted NERAASA, a period of six years shall pass before that Area may submit another bid, however, Areas who have not yet hosted NERAASA shall always take precedence.⁴

The Assembly Chairperson should have a general overall knowledge of A.A. and experience with conventions conferences, or assemblies will be very helpful. He or she should be willing to devote considerable time and effort for a period of about 13 months. Some of the Chairperson's responsibilities follow:

1. Make commitments and agreements only for the specific Assembly he or she chairs.
2. Select an Assembly Committee including a Secretary, Treasurer, Program Coordinator, and others as needed.
3. Arrange for the meeting place.
4. Determine how housing and transportation will be handled.
5. Notify Box 459 and The A.A. Grapevine approximately 4 months in advance (October).
6. Literature: Good judgment be used so that only Conference-approved literature, A.A. Grapevine materials, GSO Guidelines and service pieces, local and regional service material and newsletters and announcement fliers related to A.A. be displayed and/or sold.
7. Submit a financial report to the Area Delegates and Regional Trustee within 990 days from the close of the Assembly.
8. Turn over to the current Delegate of the next hosting Area a copy of the financial report, funds as specified above (General, paragraph 9), a mailing list and a copy of the business meeting minutes.
9. Maintain a file of all correspondence, reports, printed matter and other material pertaining to the Assembly.
10. Direct the Treasurer to send funds specified above to GSO as a donation from NERAASA.
11. Implement the updating of the NERAASA Assembly history book as follows:
1. Compile a comprehensive historical report from the time of the bid until the applicable data are passed to the next hosting Area.
2. Use the same format as the previous Assembly history.
3. Page numbering will continue from the previous Assembly history.
4. Forward one copy of the historical report to each Area Archives in the Northeast Region or to the Area Committee if there is no Area Archives. This report should be added to their appropriate section of the book maintained by the Area.
5. Additional memory-lane items and copies of the revised guidelines will be added to their sections of the Area history book.
6. All memorabilia will be passed to the Archives of the hosting Area to be stored and maintained by that Archives as part of the Area history.