Elections

Elected Area Officers

Fourteen (14) Area Officers are chosen, every second year, to serve 2-year terms on the General Service Committee (GSC) . Seven of these are elected, in even numbered years, at the October Assembly of the full Area 79 Committee. Seven are appointed by the Selection Committee, following the elections, to sit as chairs of designated Area standing committees.

If you are considering letting your name stand for election at the biannual October Voting and Election Assembly, for one of the seven elected positions on the General Service Committee (GSC) the following information is important for you to know ahead of time.

It is strongly suggested that the outgoing (not the incoming) GSRs and DCMs be available to vote at the Election Assembly in order to assure a more informed election.

The seven (7) elected officers are listed below, with a brief summary of their roles:

Delegate – Reports to and from the General Service Conference.
Alternate Delegate – Assists Delegate in responsibilities. Currently the Alternate Delegate also sits as the Literature Chair.
Chair of Area 79 – Responsible for the agenda and chairing Area and General Service Committee (GSC) meetings, assigns travel of committee members.
Alternate Chair – Assists Chair in responsibilities. Currently the Alternate Chair also sits as Grapevine Chair.
Registrar – Maintains Group Records of Districts and Groups in Area 79 and informs the General Service Office (GSO) in New York.
Secretary – Records meetings and prepares the minutes.
Treasurer – Maintains payables and receivables for Area 79. Chairs Finance Committee.

Further information about each position, contact information and a job description are available on their individual web pages.

Communications between members of the Area Committee are generally via email, and therefore it is essential to have access to electronic communications in order to be considered for a position.
The transitional General Service Committee meeting held on the first Wednesday of December, (after the election assembly) is mandatory, as are all monthly GSC meetings of the 2-year rotation.
The time commitment required is substantial and will vary from position to position, and also with particular skills possessed by the member. Generally, some time will need to be spent every day checking and responding to emails and phone messages. Some positions have workloads that are heavier at certain times than at others.
We encourage you to speak with members of the GSC (current or past) to ask more specific questions if you are considering letting your name stand for an elected position.
General Service Committee membership may sound demanding but, as we so often find in A.A, the rewards are far greater than the time and effort put in.
Everyone who is interested in an elected position on the Area 79 General Service Committee must (see sample resume attached) prepare a brief resume of your past and current AA activities. You will be asked to stand at the microphone to read your resume. “2 minute maximum”
For more information please read “duties common to all” on the job description page.

Download Sample GSC Resume (pdf, 1 page)

Download GSC Resume (Word) (docx, 1 page)

Download GSC Resume (pdf, 1 page)
For those wishing to submit their resumes or who are intending to stand for election at the October Voting Assembly, the use of the attached resume form is not mandatory for either elected positions or appointed positions. However, its use does assist both the candidate and the Fellowship in several ways. These include the provision of consistent information in an organized way and assisting candidates in adhering to time limits for presentation of resumes.

How to apply for appointed positions:

Email your Service Resume to: Resumes at BC/Yukon AA

We encourage everyone who is interested in an appointed position on the Area 79 General Service Committee to submit a brief resume. The following positions are appointed by the incoming Chair through a Selection Committee made up of the incoming Chair and 3 other elected GSC members.

Accessibilities – Explore, develop and offer resources to make the Alcoholics Anonymous message available to everyone.
Archives – Collect, classify and care for literary works and artifacts.
Cooperation with the Professional Community (CPC) – Establish and maintain better communication between A.A.s and community professionals
Corrections – Carry the AA message to alcoholics in correctional systems
Finance – Discusses Area 79 self-support and the Seventh Tradition.
Grapevine – Develop awareness of the many benefits that can be derived through the Grapevine and La Viña (Spanish version) subscriptions
Grassroots – Oversees the production and distribution of Grassroots Forum, the BC/Yukon Area 79 Newsletter.
Literature – Promote Conference-approved literature, audiovisual material and other special items.
Public Information – Communicates to the public what AA does and does not do.
Remote Communities – Creates awareness about and assists those who are unable to make it to regular face-to-face meetings on a consistent basis
Treatment/Bridging the Gap – Assists members and groups who are interested in carrying our message of recovery to alcoholics in treatment facilities
Website – Maintains the Area 79 Website.

Additionally – Grassroots Committee Chair: Responsible for the Area Newsletter (Grassroots Forum) and leads the committee responsible for the format, content and distribution of this quarterly publication. Motion passed in October 2016 reads….

“The Area 79 chair will be free to assign Grassroots, or any other standing committee, as an additional responsibility to any member of the GSC, based on committee workloads and GSC members’ skills”.

Please note; if you are planning on applying for an appointed position, please be aware of the following:

Communications between members of the Area Committee are generally via email and therefore it is essential to have access to electronic communications in order to be considered for a position.
The transitional General SC meeting held on the first Wednesday of December, (after the election assembly) is mandatory as are all monthly GSC meetings of the 2-year rotation.
The time commitment required is substantial and will vary from position to position, and also with the particular skills possessed by the member. Generally, some time will be spent every day to check and respond to emails and phone messages. Some jobs have workloads that are heavier at certain times than at others.
We encourage you to speak with members of the GSC (current or past) to ask more specific questions if you are considering applying for an appointed position.
General Service Committee membership may sound demanding, but, as we so often find in A.A., the rewards are far greater than time and effort put in.
For more information please read “duties common to all” on the job description page.

How to apply for appointed positions:

Email your resume using the Service Resume form to TBD
You will receive an immediate confirmation of receipt of your application and a response from the Area 79 Chair within 48 hours.
Resumes must be received at Resumes at BC/Yukon AA by October 31st to be considered. When sending your resume, you can include additional information that may help the Selection Committee.
Resumes are reviewed by the Selection Committee the evening of the first Tuesday of November. The Chair will call you that evening with the results. Please be sure that you are contactable by telephone.
Successful applicants will be required to attend a transition meeting held the first Wednesday of December at the BC Yukon Area office in Vancouver (travel expenses are covered by Area 79).
Successful applicants will be ratified at the January Quarterly. At that time, they will present their resumes (2 minutes maximum) to the fellowship.

To submit a resume to BC Yukon AA please download, fill out and email your service resume to: TBD

Download Sample GSC Resume (pdf, 1 page)

Download GSC Resume (Word) (docx, 1 page)