Poll: What type of AA meeting do you like the most?

Tanin · MIP Old Timer

Poll: What type of AA meeting do you like the most?

StPeteDean · MIP Old Timer

12 and 12 Study meetings, followed by an "As Bill Sees it" meeting. The later is where the chair person asks for or chooses a one word topic (such as resentments), then lists all the pages in the index, of the book, referencing that topic on a post it note. The the book is passed round the table till all the pages are read. Balance of the time discussing the topic. This leaves very little room for off topic discussion like
"my boy/girl friend cheated on me over the weekend..."

-- Edited by StPeteDean on Sunday 5th of August 2012 09:37:44 AM

Pythonpappy · MIP Old Timer

Actually all the different types are good here in this area ... but for me personally ??? ... I'd have to say our Sat. 9a.m. Beginners Meeting is one of my favorites (although with my new meds, it's hard for me to attend now) ... It's a panel meeting and it's well attended ... usually 25 to 30 ... about 60 to 70% there are under 1 year sobriety ...

I find it refreshing to see newcomers and I am also there to make myself available to serve as a sponsor, should anyone be in need ... This meeting also serves as a great reminder of where I came from ... I see the desperation and confusion on the new faces and it puts me in their shoes immediately ...(as I said, this meeting is hard for me to get to any more, but I did like it a lot) ...

Pappy

Pythonpappy · MIP Old Timer

I like that format StPeteDean ... the uh, "As Bill Sees It" meeting format ... I will have to take this up with 'group conscience' ... we need a little something to spice things up around here !!! ... thanks ...

Pappy

Ruhig · Senior Member

#s 4,6,8 and 12&12 studies.

Ruhig · Senior Member

(did you purposely put 12 options down... Or is that subconciously what we do once we get enough time put together?)

Pythonpappy · MIP Old Timer

Good question Ruhig, ... I was wondering the same thing !!!

Stepchild · MIP Old Timer

Big Book and Beginners....But any meeting that talks about the solution is fine with me.

mikef · MIP Old Timer

HeyTanin!

My home group up North,before we moved here to South Florida was a beginners Step 1/2/3 meeting with a speaker each week and 4th week a repeat of Steps 1/2/3/ from a speaker.Grab bag meetings were also cool.pull a recovery topic from a hat and share on that(helped keep' the my dog has fleas stories' from dominating)unless there was something someone definitely needed to share about recovery .I also shared at many H&I meetings where we could carry the message of recovery inside various institutions and facilities for those who couldn't get out.Showing up any different number of meetings and seeing someone from an institution beginning to work their own process is truly a blessing.I continue to remain focused and work to the best of my ability to remain teachable at all meetings.Sometimes easier than others,but I take what I can use and save the rest for maybe another time.... smile

StPeteDean · MIP Old Timer

Pythonpappy wrote:
I like that format StPeteDean ... the uh, "As Bill Sees It" meeting format ... I will have to take this up with 'group conscience' ... we need a little something to spice things up around here !!! ... thanks ...

Pappy

Pappy, we had the ABSI meeting in our AA club in Falls Church VA. When I moved down here to FL, I'd just chair meetings and spring it on them in a discussion meeting. Heads would wag and eyes would roll till we started reading. Then people really got how action packed that little book is. Most haven't read it before.

-- Edited by StPeteDean on Sunday 5th of August 2012 08:04:18 PM

justadrunk · MIP Old Timer

WOw - you guys have a lot of different meetings in your area!

I like a variety personally. I currently go to a topic meeting (home group) Monday nights - noon meeting 2x per week which is a beginner/topic - try to catch big book and 12x12 meetings whenever possible - and the sat. night speaker if I can. The womans meeting ended last week due to no attendance, but I liked it the few times I went. We do not have a lot of woman in recovery unfortunately, but I think that would be my favorite type of meeting by far if it were possible. It was a "journey meeting" and I liked the format, and lack of men, no offense to men, I just liked that it was free of men and woman in AA for the dating scene. I loved knowing we were all just there to recover.

I do know that I get bored with any one thing over and over and variety is best for me : )

Neophyte · Senior Member

Step tradition and living sober. Not a fan of speaker meets.

Tanin · MIP Old Timer

It's a tough call, but I'll say my favorite meeting format is As Bill Sees It. There are some really good excerpts of B.W.'s writings in there.

I like looking up the full articles of the Grapevine quotes. There is a book titled Language of the Heart that has ALL of Bill's Grapevine articles .

My second choice is Beginner's meetings. Especially when it's mostly newcomer sharing.

(It was an accident that it turned out to be 12 meeting types for the poll. There really are more.)

Bryan39 · Senior Member

i live in southern iowa and not a huge variety mostly open discussion meetings there is one beginners meeting that is awesome

chris · Senior Member

Beginners/Living Sober (same thing in these parts)

leeu · MIP Old Timer

I'm way overdosed on speaker and speaker/discussion meetings right now, so for my own selfish self I must say that any and all study meetings are what I like most these days. I like the mix of staying within the written heart of AA, where I learn how to "do it" and "why" it works if I do, yet also still having room to share our ESH.

Pythonpappy · MIP Old Timer

StPeteDean wrote:
Heads would wag and eyes would roll till we started reading. Then people really got how action packed that little book is.

-- Edited by StPeteDean on Sunday 5th of August 2012 08:04:18 PM

Yeah Dean, ... I get that, but a couple years ago I tried a little 'Joe & Charlie' style meeting that I chaired and the old guys frowned on it while the one to two year people loved it ... Ya see, I didn't discuss it with group conscience prior to just doing it ... and old guys can get a little touchy when they get surprised ... LOL ... It's all good, but I did learn a valuable lesson ...

And now that I think about it, our group mentality here would be such that I'd have to chair that particular meeting for at least three months to kick it off ... which is not a problem if the idea has good support ...

I was just looking at the book ... Ya know, I'd forgotten that there was a "Discussion/Study" guide in the front ... ... ... WOW, that answers the question I was about to ask ... Looks like a person could make up 3X5 cards with 'subject words' and their corresponding pages on them, instead of your 'post-it' notes, and put the cards in a basket and simply 'draw a card' at the appropriate time and start the readings ... I like it ... ... ... hummmmm ... .... ...

(there's a 'spin-off' group that has two noon meetings a week that just this month came to be added to our groups weekly schedule ... they lost their accomodations ... so now instead of 2 noon meetings a week, we now have 4, in addition to 3 weekly evening meetings ... ... ... I'm thinking that I could grab one of the noon slots for a trial, if group okays it ... )

Thanks for the idea ... ... ... I'll let you know how this all turns out ... I just got to get my meds under control so I can make a commitment ...

Thanks Dean, ... Pappy

Mr_David · MIP Old Timer

"Step" meetings all the way. I also like "tradition" meetings and "as bill sees it", like Dean just said. Any format is fine with me, just don't put me to sleep, okay. Can you hear me snoozing?