Blaine Alano Hybrid Meeting Policy

Hybrid meetings - meetings where some people attend on-site at the Alano and others attend remotely through some form of phone or web conferencing - provide a great way to connect with people and include in meetings people who might otherwise be unable to meet at the Alano. However, we must be thoughtful about protecting the anonymity of all involved when hosting hybrid meetings, because anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all our Traditions.

At Blaine Alano, there is a policy governing Hybrid meetings, intended to help balance the need to make meetings available remotely to those in need and the need to protect the privacy and anonymity of all involved.

  1. Hybrid meetings are not allowed in the main room due to privacy concerns.

  2. Hybrid Meetings must allow meeting attendees an option to attend on-site but NOT be exposed to the camera at any time, including when first entering the room.

  3. Hybrid Meetings must have a sign posted on the outside of the door notifying attendees that a Hybrid meeting is in progress and a camera is in use, so that people can make an informed decision whether or not to attend.
    Room 4 works well for this, with the second door being a viable entrance for those who wish to stay off-camera.

  4. Hybrid meetings may not be recorded. Please ensure that these settings are disabled for both the host & the attendees in the video conferencing software that is being used.

  5. At the start of the meeting, hosts must review the importance of anonymity in AA and require that all attendees agree to proceed with this in mind.

  6. Remote attendees must take precautions to maintain the privacy of others in the meeting – preventing those near them from seeing & hearing the meeting.
    This includes such actions by remote attendees as using headphones, closing the door to the room they are in, moving to a private room, etc.

    If the meeting host has concerns that there is a potential for anonymity breach, they should address this immediately with whomever needs to take corrective action.