and 30 members, and the mailing listand group listkeeper become attractiveoptions at that point. (Also, some emailsoftware limits the number of cc:recipients).

Getting Registered

A big step comes when the group iswell established, and decides to berecognized as a member by the OnlineIntergroup of AA. This is the only pointat present where an online group can be"identified." OIAA was created byonline groups, and provides a freewebpage directory of online meetingsof all kinds. Listing on that directorymay provide the group with a source of

new members from anywhere incyberspace, which is anywhere in theworld.

Group Size

Some groups have grown to more than600 members, while others like to staysmall and break off into new groupswhen they have 30 or 40 online members.

A group which becomes a memberof the Online Intergroup of AAprovides a representative to that listwho takes part in the service businessof all of online AA. This provides arich background in AA service as it ispracticed on the internet all over theworld.

Getting Organized

Some online groups add service positionsas they seem needed---

A listkeeper to keep the addresses current, an Intergroup representative (IGR) for its OIAA membership, a secretary to keep order in the meetings and take care of whatever new problems the group may encounter, a treasurer to handle Seventh Tradition funds, and so on. It is entirely up to the group toorganize and manage itself as it sees fit,but there is much experienced advicefrom other online groups availablethrough the Online Intergroup. Younever have to be alone in cyberspacewith Online AA.

Practicing the Twelve Traditionsin Cyberspace

Experience has shown us that groupswhich use the Twelve Traditions havethe best chance of maintaining unity andensuring their ability to be there for thesick and suffering alcoholic whoreaches out for help. Groups stick toour single purpose - recovery fromalcoholism, protect the anonymity oftheir members, avoid affiliation with orendorsements of outside enterprises andare self-supporting.

Further Information

Further information is available fromthe OIAA Web Site at:

or from:

mailto:

Online

Intergroup of

Alcoholics

Anonymous

Getting

Started in

Online AA

Getting Started in Online AA:

History of AA in Cyberspace

Computers and Lists

Email and Realtime Meetings

Organizing for Service in the

Group (Role of online secretaries,

Listkeepers, IGRs, etc.)

Tips on Getting Started

Resources

Introduction

Alcoholics Anonymous meets on theinternet now. As soon as people began totalk to one another using computers and"bulletin boards," AA members began toband together in the interests of sobrietyin the AA Fellowship.

A Little History

The first AA meetings online usedBulletin Boards and were around 1986.Email groups started forming in the earlynineties and the development of theworldwide internet rapidly fuelled thegrowth and variety of groups. The first

online AA group, Lamp-lighters, wasformed in 1990, and has met by emailcontinuously since then. By the turn ofthe millennium, there were well over 150online AA groups with more than 6,000members and an Online Intergroup ofAA, most using email, but some usingreal-time chat or web page technologies tocommunicate the experience, strengthand hope of recovery in AlcoholicsAnonymous.

What is an AA Group?

Any two or three alcoholics gatheredtogether for sobriety may callthemselves an AA group, providedthat, as a group, they have no otheraffiliation.

Getting Started

The mechanics of starting an onlineAA group are not difficult. All ittakes is two or more members withconnections to the internet and abilityto communicate. Sometimes oneposts a topic and others add theirexperience and thoughts. To makethings easier, most groups begin withemail software which permits copiesto multiple addresses. Then onemessage can arrive at everyone'scomputer "mailbox" from a singlepost. No matter what time of day eachmember reads or posts, the messageremains in his mailbox until therecipient picks it up, so after there area few members, the meeting appearsto be continuous.

After a period of time, if the list ofcopy (cc:) recipients gets too large orthere are too many new addresses tokeep up with, the group may begin touse commercial mailing list software,either as part of a sponsored list(which means all members receiveadvertising), or as part of a paid list(which means there must be contributionsto pay the "rent"). There areseveral sources for each type of mailinglist, and there are groups which useeach type.

Open/Closed ?

Recently a need has been found for theestablishment of some open meetings.At this time guidelines have yet to beconsidered for such cyber-groups.Such meetings would need to beinclusive of email and real-time.

Some Service Positions

Besides the traditional service positionsof Chairperson, Secretary andTreasurer there is a new post in AAservice in the online group. It is a

"listkeeper," a person who administersthe list of members and often mustwork with the technical aspects ofwhatever technology the group uses toenable meetings among the membership.

This takes some time, and is veryvaluable to the growing group.Usually, the group goes through some"growing pains" as they discover thatthe cc: list gets confused as newmembers are added and older memberschange Internet Service Providers (andaddresses). While using cc: lists, thegroup's cohesiveness depends uponeach member carefully keeping upwith all changes to the list, so that allmembers get all the shared posts. Itgets to be a chore usually between 10