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Houston Al-Anon | Al-Ateen
Event Publishing Guide

For Our Website and Newsletter

For Houston and Surrounding Areas

Introduction
We provide this guide, drafted by Houston Intergroup — the local Al-Anon Information Service, to explain how to advertise an Al-Anon/Alateen event with us, and to explain which events we consider suitable for publication using our News Email List, our Events Pages, Al-Anews which is our quarterly newsletter, and at the Intergroup Office.

Notice
Please send your notice or questions to updates@houstonalanon.org, and include service needs or opportunities if they are available. Please give us a day or two advance notice.

Flyers
If you send us a flyer, please send it to us in Microsoft™ Word format, or a PDF document. If you send us an image or scanned image, it should be saved as either a JPG or GIF file / 72 dpi resolution. Please note - if it contains text, that too will be part of the image, therefore not searchable as text.

Contact Information
We do not publish an individual's last name or personal, work or business contact information, email address, etc. The reason for this is online privacy and anonymity. For questions about this, please see Contacts Removed.

Alternatives If contact information is required, such as for registrations, please use a non-identifying address/phone/email such as a club; the Intergroup Office contact information is also available, whose staff can collect event registrations if needed. We can provide you with a temporary email address if necessary — Please ask us.

Criteria For Listing
General In general, we list all events that are sponsored or created by:
A.A.
Only if there is Al-Anon participation, such as a speaker meeting or other participation, do we list A.A. events sponsored by an A.A. service arm or registered A.A. group, such as an A.A. convention.

Speaker Meetings and Club Events
We list Al-Anon speaker meetings or A.A./Al-Anon club events provided they include Al-Anon. The clubs themselves are not affiliated with Al-Anon, so the events must be sponsored by a group registered either with A.A. or Al-Anon Headquarters, or sponsored by an A.A. or Al-Anon service arm, provided there is Al-Anon participation and no other affiliation (except A.A).

Outside Organizations
We do not advertise events that are sponsored by outside organizations (see Service Manual 2006-2009, p. 107), even if the event is mostly or wholly attended by Al-Anon or Alateen members.

Furthermore, we believe that outside events should not be "promoted before, during, or after Al-Anon/Alateen meetings by use of leaflets or announcements." (see Service Manual 2006-2009, p. 107)

"Retreats"
We may advertise a "retreat," but only if the event satisfies all other conditions on this page and is not sponsored by an outside organization nor introduces religion or outside philosophies.

For our purposes, it is suggested that events not use the word retreat in the event name or advertisement, as the word often has "religious connotations" (see Service Manual, p. 106).

As well, the word suggests outside affiliation, which we avoid, per Tradition 6.

Informal Gatherings
An event must be sponsored by a registered A.A. or Al-Anon group or service arm, and must include Al-Anon participation. Otherwise, we don't list it.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Q. Is a collection of Al-Anon members who come together to create a "retreat," or "conference," an "outside" organization?
Answer: Our criteria requires that a registered A.A. or Al-Anon group (or many groups), or an A.A. or Al-Anon service arm sponsor the event, provided that there is Al-Anon participation and no other affiliation. Otherwise, by definition, we must consider it an outside organization. By having this sponsorship, we can best determine that the event will abide by the Traditions of Al-Anon and use the name properly. Otherwise, we have no way of knowing, and cannot justify the listing.

This condition also applies to a recurring (such as annual) event that may have had A.A. or Al-Anon sponsorship at one time, but does not have it currently.

Q. Should I attend an "Outside Event?"
Answer: Al-Anon has no opinion on outside events, so we feel that we should not advise you, either way, or help you make that decision. It is our policy, simply, to not list, publish or advertise outside events, and we discourage their promotion before, during or after an Al-Anon meeting or event in the form of an announcement or leaflet.

Q. Do you list "Chapter 9 Meetings?"
Answer: We don't because these groups are not registered with Al-Anon and do not include Al-Anon participation, even though Al-Anon members may attend. Please note: we neither endorse nor oppose these meetings, nor can we determine the nature of any outside meeting or event. We can only say that they are not within our organization.

Q. Do you list all events that use the A.A. or Al-Anon words or symbols?
Answer: For us to list an event, the event must be sponsored by a registered A.A. or Al-Anon group or service arm, and include Al-Anon participation with no other affiliation. It is not enough that an event flyer or promotional contains the Al-Anon or A.A. words or symbols. Furthermore, these symbols are registered trademarks, so they should not be used freely by outside organizations to publicize an event without prior written permission from Al-Anon or A.A. Headquarters.

Q. Do you list events held at camps or retreat locations?
Answer: The location is usually not a determining factor. As an example, our Meeting Schedule lists meetings held at many different locations and types of venues. However, the event must not introduce, nor allow to be introduced, any religion or outside philosophy. Please see the previous question and answer.

Q. If I decide to start an Al-Anon event, how can I get it listed?
Answer: By working with a registered Al-Anon or A.A. group or service arm and have them sponsor the event.

Q. Can my Al-Anon group host a Speaker Meeting or other event?
Answer: Yes! We encourage speaker meetings and more events in our area.
Please see our Speaker Meeting Schedule and Speaker Volunteer page!

Q. What if someone said Houston Al-Anon/Alateen won't post an event, but I disagree or it is unclear? Answer: Please contact the Intergroup Board so we can resolve the matter! You may also contact your District Representative. Our desire is to list all of the events that we can as long as the event meets the above criteria. If you feel that the event may meet our criteria or it is unclear, please let us know! We are here to encourage Al-Anon and A.A. events with Al-Anon participation! We use this criteria so that the Al-Anon message does not get diluted and that the Al-Anon traditions accompany the Al-Anon event, for the benefit of the entire membership!

More Questions?

Please pose your questions to the Intergroup Board or contact your District Representative for clarification on any event. The Intergroup Board will be more than happy to address your concerns and consider your event as we feel that Al-Anon/Alateen-sponsored or A.A.-sponsored events with Al-Anon participation, along with meetings, are how we help families and friends of alcoholics, which is our one purpose! (Tradition 5)

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