- The Public Information Committee is responsible for creating greater understanding of/and preventing misunderstandings of, the A.A. program through the public media, electronic media, P.I. meetings, and speaking to community groups.
- The Chair of the Public Information Committee shall be appointed by the Maine Area Chair following the Election Assembly in October and serve a two-year term beginning in January of the following year.
- The Public Information Committee shall include District and Group P.I. Chairs and any District or Group P.I. Committee members.
- The Area P.I. Committee Chair and District Chairs shall be responsible for compiling lists of those willing to speak to community groups. The lists from each district shall be provided to the Area Chair who shall maintain and update the overall list which will be used to contact AA members. The policy of the P.I. Committee shall be that AA members will be asked to do speaking commitments in communities other than the one in which they reside, recognizing the importance of anonymity.
- The Area P.I. Committee shall meet at all Area 28 Committee Meetings (4 per year) and all Area 28 Assemblies. The P.I. Chair may call a special meeting if the need arises.
See the General Service Office Guidelines for Public Information Committees.
There is also a Public Information Workbook.
Area 28 Public Information chair is Bob H., who can be reached at [email protected]
Since our guidelines suggest that school speakers come from districts, setting up programs for students can be challenging. The area28 contact and coordinator to help arrange speakers for schools is Mike L who can be reached at [email protected].If you have a request for a school speaker or are trying to arrange a program for students, please feel free to contact him for assistance.
The PI Committee has an school initiative to form a link with and place literature in every high school and middle school in Maine. Take a look at our initiative and step-by-step guidelines to join this initiative: PI school suggestions.
Doing presentations is an important part of CPC and PI work. Here are some Notes on Doing Presentations from the CPC Workbook and a model/sample/template presentation adapted for Area 28: in a PDF file for presentations.
The PI Committee is working on a special presentation for schools/young people. A draft copy is posted here for comments and suggestions. Please send your ideas to Mike L at [email protected].
Anonymity is a major issue in doing both Public Information and Cooperation with the Professional Community (CPC) work. The AA Pamphlet, Understanding Anonymity is an important resource and here is an excellent recent article on anonymity.
Anonymity online is becoming and increasingly important and difficulty issue. Here is a service material from GSO on Anonymity Online.