Group Outreach Policy Procedures 12/14/2015

Purpose

This committee contacts member groups, organizes visits to groups, maintains information about each group, and ensures the Triangle Intergroup serves the member groups. Group Outreach is responsible for updating the phone line with face to face meetings in the Intergroup. Group Outreach is also responsible for contacting all the groups and representatives on a regular basis, at least yearly, and monitoring the OA website for new groups in our area. Group Outreach is responsible for keeping a master list of group information and making sure the web, the newsletter, the phone line, the OA website, and any information used by Public Information for outside media is current. Group Outreach is responsible for maintaining the list of Intergroup representatives and coordinating with Newsletter_Liaison to maintain the mailing addresses used for the Newsletter Distribution.

Email Address

The mailing address set up for this committee is groupoutreach@triangleoa.org. Click on the following link to learn about setting up and using mailing addresses for this committee. Read important information about starting a service position , reporting to Intergroup and leaving a service position

Contact the Vice Chair for the pass codes, account numbers, and document resources associated with Group outreach.

Document Purpose

This document is designed for and by the Triangle OA Intergroup's Group Outreach committee and describes the policies and procedures past members used.

Information relevant to all committees and committee chairs is in the Triangle Intergroup Bylaws. It is recommended that all committee chairs review committee information in the bylaws at the beginning of their terms to understand basic Intergroup committee policy for budgets, authority, and responsibilities. Click on the following link to review the bylaws section on Standing Committees.

The abstinence requirements for committee chairs are contained in Qualifications for All Committee Chairs

Budget

The Group Outreach budget has been used to reimburse the cost for miles driven in support of visiting member groups. See Reimbursement Policy for more information. federal charitable rate for driving to meetings for group outreach visits.

Resources

This committee has the following resources

A copy of the spreadsheet is stored on the website as a document by the vice-treasurer. Send an email to the treasurer requesting a copy of the document.

Suggestions on Visiting Groups

Ask a meeting to arrange a visit to another meeting. Consider having sister meetings. Send a note to Intergroup and invite others to go to a specific meeting on a specific day. Arrange car pools. Consider asking groups to sponsor events and consider working with the 12 Step Within committee to create a skit and take it on the road.

Links to Group Outreach Resources from OA World Service

The following links are from world service

Maintaining Group Information

Groups are asked to send a note to updates@triangleoa.org with changes in meetings and if the group outreach chair has sent the webmaster an email and the webmaster has updated the forwarding address, the update message will go to groupoutreach@triangleoa.org, the webmaster and the newsletter. Update the master sheet with the new information, change the appropriate message in the phone. The meetings are group by cities that are close to each other to make it easier for a person calling for information on meetings. One of the reasons group outreach is responsible for contacting meetings is to find out if the meeting is still happening and if so if the contacts are still valid and the time, day of week and location is the same as all our resources.

Checking the OA website for meetings

Click on Find a Meeting and enter the search criteria. Our Intergroup number for the OA WSO search is 09314. This will give you a list of meetings that are linked to our Intergroup. Search for meetings near our Intergroup area. This may reveal meetings that are not associated with our Intergroup either because they did not know how to do it or were not aware that Triangle Intergroup is a common resource for them.

Information Check up

The committee should contact every Intergroup rep and every phone contact and verify the information. Compare the newsletter to our website, to the OA website and to the phone messages. Update the text of the phone message and the actual message and send changes to the vice chair for inclusion in this document.

Changing the Messages on the OA Phone System

The Phone system is set up and needs to be changed when groups start meeting, stop meeting, change dates, times, or locations or change contact information. It is the responsibility of Group Outreach to monitor group information and make sure all sources (the OA website, the Triangle OA Intergroup website, the newsletter and the phone line are current, consistent and accurate.

The Triangle Intergroup phone line is set up with 10 slots for grouping meetings. The

To change the main message:

  1. Dial (919)406-9300.
  2. When the current message begins, press * to interrupt it.
  3. After operator stops talking, enter pass code: XXXX (Ask the Vice-chair for the password. Notify the vice-chair if you change the password.
  4. Press G (4) to change the greeting.
  5. Press R (7) to record the greeting:

    6. “Thank you for calling Overeaters Anonymous. This message is current as of December 12, 2014. We are a fellowship of men and women from all walks of life who meet in order to help solve our common problem of compulsive overeating. The only requirement for membership is a desire to stop eating compulsively. There are no dues or fees. You can get information about meetings around the world by visiting www.oa.org and meetings in this area visiting www.triangleoa.org. You can also get information about meetings in the following cities (Aberdeen,Apex, Cary, Carborro, Chapel Hill, Dunn, Durham, Fayetteville, Fuquay-Varina, Greenville, Hillsborough, Raleigh, Rose Hill, Pittsboro and Wade)by using a touch-tone phone to select any of the following options.

    Following each list of meetings are numbers of people you can call to get more information. Thanks again for calling. We hope to see you at a meeting soon.”

  6. Now you can work with the greeting you have:

To review it, press R (7).

To discard it and start over, press D (3).

To change messages in individual mailboxes:

  1. Dial 406-9300.
  2. When the current message begins, press the number of the mailbox whose message you want to change.
  3. When that message begins, press * to interrupt it.
  4. After operator stops talking, enter pass code: _____ (Ask the Vice-chair for the password)
  5. Press G (4) to change the greeting.
  6. Press R (7) to record the greeting:

    7. The greetings for each option are shown in the following meeting information scripts. See the following sections for the recorded scripts as of 10/22/2014. Change the scripts when you change the recordings and update the date recorded in this document and in the main recording. It appears we are currently allowed 10 options. You can change what cities are associated with what options and the which cities are associated with which option. For each meeting give the day of the week, city, time (including a.m. or p.m.), location and room number or other special instructions. Add contact information such as "For more information about meetings call (name) at (phone number)."

    The scripts and recorded phone messages need to be checked against the newsletter, the website and the WSO meeting list periodically. Most changes should come to the PIPO chair through the updates function but there may be changes that aren't sent.

    Option 1 “The following are the meetings in Raleigh on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday". All meetings on these days are held at Grace Lutheran Church, 5010 Six Forks Road in the Fellowship Hall.
    Option 2 The following are the meetings in Raleigh on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday.
    Option 3 The following are the meetings in Apex, Cary and Garner.
    Option 4 The following are the meetings in Durham.
    Option 5 The following meetings are in Aberdeen, Dunn, Fuquay-Varina and Sanford.
    Option 6 The following are meetings in Carborro and Chapel Hill
    Option 7 The following are meetings in Hillsborough and Pittsboro
    Option 8 The following are meetings in Fayetteville
    Option 9 The following are meetings in Greenville
    Option 10The following are meetings in Rose Hill and Wilmington
  7. Now you can work with the greeting you have:
    • To review it, press R (7).
    • To discard it and start over, press D (3).
    • To save it, press X (9).
  8. After you have saved the greeting, press X (9) again to exit the System.
  9. Hang up. You must dial again to change messages in individual mailboxes.

IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS, call the (888) number below. You will need to know: Our name (Triangle Intergroup); Address (P.O. Box 20356, Raleigh, NC 27619. Our phone number which is (919) 406-9300. They will ask for your name and may ask for the account number. The Intelliverse invoice has a customer service number (888) 554-7835. The website for support is www.olam.intelliverse.com and in order to change the number of options we have create a request to cs@intelliverse.com. The basic website for the service is www.Intelliverse.com. Our account number is 032-7958. (Fax line) 1-877-604-2139. The main message and each message box can have different pass codes.