Hello NC Region,
This report primarily provides updates from World Services. See the summary section for a quick synopsis, or use the quick links below to jump to each more detailed section.
Quick Links:
Summary
The World Convention took place in Washington, DC. It was an excellent convention, but attendance was lower than expected, so it lost money. The time and place of the next World Convention has not yet been determined. Click for more.
A new literature item, the NA Survival Kit, has been added to the NAWS Online Store. It is a repackaging of the steps from the Basic Text, It Works, and the Step Working Guides, and is available for $20. Click for more.
The na.org website has been completely redesigned. It looks great, works better, and is easier to maintain. Click for more.
There are two surveys for you to take: the 2024 Membership Survey, and a survey about the development of new step working materials. Click for more.
The first Interim Virtual WSC will be held Feb 28 – March 1, and we will be voting on a few things. Stay tuned for upcoming workshops. Click for more.
We participated in the RBZ process for WSC elections by recommending Jacob for the position of WSC Cofacilitator. Click for more.
World Convention
The 38th World Convention of Narcotics Anonymous took place in Washington, DC from August 29 to September 1. Most who attended agree it was an excellent convention packed with inspiring workshops and speakers.
There were just over 18000 in attendance. About 17000 of those were paid registrations, and about 1200 were free newcomer registrations. We reported earlier in the year that the break even point was calculated at 24000 registrations. NAWS is still paying the bills and waiting for expenses to settle before releasing the final numbers, but it is clear that this convention lost money. NAWS had around $6.8M in the bank as of September, and we have been assured there is enough cash to pay the bills. We hope to have final numbers for you late this year or early next year.
Despite the many rumors that have been circulating social media, the time and place of the next World Convention has not yet been decided. At WSC 2023, we suspended the convention rotation policy to allow the World Board to make an informed recommendation about the time and location of the next convention in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Board has been exploring options, and we are hopeful they will seek our approval for a recommendation in the coming months. More will be revealed, and we will keep you apprised.
NA Survival Kit
The NA Survival Kit was released, and is available for $20 at the NAWS Online Store. It consists of five booklets: Steps 1-3, Steps 4-5, Steps 6-7, Steps 8-9, and Steps 10-12. Each step contains the chapter from the Basic Text, It Works, and the Step Working Guides. The questions from the Step Working Guides are numbered instead of bulleted.
NA.org Website Redesign
The na.org website has been completely redesigned. The design is cleaner, more modern, and easier to navigate than the old website. It is based on WordPress, which allows staff to more easily make changes without paying contractors. The staff did an amazing job, and we expect the website’s search functionality to be rolled out soon.
Jonathan participated in the Focus Group that provided guidance for the special workers tasked with the redesign, and other members of our region were able to assist the office with copy editing before the rollout.
Surveys
There are a couple of important surveys that every member is invited to take. You can find them both at na.org/survey.
2024 Membership Survey
The first is the new membership survey. Thousands of us took this survey in-person at the World Convention. The data collected is used to inform our public relations efforts. It is one of the ways we show those outside of our fellowship that NA works. Please take the survey at na.org/survey!
Survey on Step Working Material
The survey on step working material will be used to inform upcoming projects to develop new step working material, which was a high priority in the WSC 2023 CAR Survey. This is our first chance to directly influence this project, so please take the survey! You will also find it at na.org/survey.
Interim Virtual WSC
At WSC 2023, we voted to change the conference cycle from two years to three years. We also agreed to hold a virtual conference in the middle “for decisions that are legally necessary and those that conference participants choose to address”. The virtual conference will be held February 28 – March 1, and we will be participating.
The Interim CAR/CAT, which contains the list of motions that we will decide on, will be released on November 28. You can expect us to publish blog posts and hold workshops about the motions. This is the first Interim Virtual WSC, so we are still discussing how to best include the groups in the decision making process, but rest assured – the groups will be included.
RBZ Process for WSC Elections
At each World Service Conference (WSC), we elect members to service positions at World Services. There are three positions: World Board, Human Resource Panel (HRP), and Cofacilitator. The World Board oversees NA World Services, the HRP nominates members for world service positions, and the Cofacilitators facilitate the sessions at the conference.
The process works like this:
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- Regions, the World Board, and Zones (RBZ) recommend qualified candidates to the HRP. This is known as the RBZ Process.
- The HRP conducts interviews with each recommended candidate.
- The HRP nominates those candidates deemed qualified.
- At the WSC, conference participants vote for the nominated candidates they deem most qualified.
- The World Board nominees that receive the most votes above the required 60% majority are elected to the available positions on the World Board. The HRP and Cofacilitator nominees that receive the most votes above the required 50% majority are elected to those available positions.
At the last RSC meeting, we chose to give Jacob, our Regional Delegate, an RBZ recommendation for Cofacilitator. It was formally submitted, and we are hopeful that we will see his name on the ballot at WSC 2026.
Thank you!
We appreciate you allowing us to serve, and please feel free to reach out with thoughts, questions, or concerns. You can reach us via email at wsc@ncregion-na.org.
Jacob S (Regional Delegate) and Jonathan B (Alternate Delegate)