Section 3 Only -- Commentary on Regional Representative (5.6 and 6.4.9)

(Originally 5.6 just called for members of the Board of Directors and officers to be delegates.  6.4.9 is new.)

The Board will have to decide the geographic or other nature of the reach of the Regional Representatives.   LifeRing has four different situations which may require different handling.  

First, Northern California has a heavy concentration of meetings. We might have multiple Regional Representatives -- perhaps as many as 10 -- or one Regional Representative assisted by Area Representatives.   The Bylaws language is open-ended on this, but 6. 4.9.2 specifically allows for two levels of regional/area representatives.

Second, we have a few regions where there are clusters of 3 to 10 of meetings: Denver, New York/Connecticut, Southern British Columbia, and Ontario. Each might naturally have one Regional Representative.

Third, we have broadly scattered meetings. Here Regional Representatives might cover large purely geographic regions such as the U.S. Pacific Northwest, Western U.S. (other than Nor. Cal., Pac. NW, and Denver), U.S. Midwest, U.S. South, U.S. East (other than the NY area), Asia, and Europe. The Officers and Service Center may still have primary connection with some isolated meetings and primary responsibility for establishing meetings in wholly new areas. Regions would, of course, be subject to adjustment at any time to reflect changing realities.

Fourth, we have on-line activities, including the e-mail lists, forum, chat, and NING.  One or more "Regional" Representatives may coordinate all the various moderators and convenors.  Here too, there may be value in having a second tier of Area Representatives for specific types of on-line activities.

The purpose of creating the Regional Representative position is to remove as many burdens from the President and the Service Center as possible, and to create a cadre of experienced leaders for the future growth of LifeRing.   Section 8.2.2 of the By-laws lists the responsibilities of the Service Center and many of those could be undertaken at a regional level. The Regional Representatives would also provide a communications channel within the organization. We would expect the Regional Representatives to be in regular contact with the convenors in their area, with other Regional Coordinators, and with the LifeRing Officers and Board.  The Board and Officers would need to define the form of that "regular contact".  One can imagine at minimum expecting the Representatives to talk in person or by phone with each convenor monthly. One can imagine monthly reports by phone, chat, or e-mail with the Board and/or Officers. One can imagine some form of regular phone or chat roundtable involving all Representatives. Filling the positions will not be easy and may not be possible in some regions at the present time.

It is envisioned that Regional Representatives will play a key role in expanding the reach of LifeRing and so it seems appropriate to make them automatic delegates to the annual Congress, as was suggested in the proposed By-law amendments.

Note this bylaws change does not make Regional/Area Representatives officers, and thus does not automatically subject them to the requirement of having a year of sobriety.  The committee, in its discussion, generally viewed the Regional and Area representatives as a tier between convenors and vice presidents.   The board may choose to make these people Officers via the powers granted in Section 7.1.   The Board may choose to define organizational policy on sober time, independent of the bylaws, as is currently done for convenors.