Media Category: Public Information

• Purpose of OA events
• Types of events
• Guarding our Traditions
• Committees
• Finances
• Sale of merchandise
• Program and choosing speakers
• Additional suggestions

These guidelines have been developed through the experience of OA members and the Board of Trustees, who have contributed to their creation. They reflect OA Traditions and Concepts of Service as reflected in our OA Conference-approved literature. These guidelines are strong suggestions based on the experience of those who have gone before. The guidelines do not replace the group conscience of local OA members, but we encourage OA groups and service bodies to consider carefully before acting contrary to these suggestions.

Purpose of OA Events

The reason for OA gatherings held outside of group meetings is to provide more recovery opportunities for members. Such get-togethers remind us that we are part of a larger whole, that we are not alone. The focus of such OA events is recovery from compulsive overeating through the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of OA. Many groups and service bodies hold events in conjunction with International Day Experiencing Abstinence (IDEA), Unity Day, Sponsorship Day, or OA’s birthday. Some host only one annual event, while others hold monthly or quarterly events.

Retreats, marathons, and conventions offer the laughter, warmth, understanding, and support of the OA Fellowship. They introduce members to a wider circle of individuals and to the experience, strength, and hope of others who share our disease.

These events can also benefit OA by raising much-needed revenue for OA as a whole. The income helps groups and service bodies to carry the message of recovery to the still-suffering compulsive eater.

Types of Events

All OA events address recovery from compulsive overeating through the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous. Any OA event should not be connected with any outside issues, including religions, politics, therapies, non-OA literature, or other Twelve Step fellowships. The following events are the types most commonly held by OA groups and service bodies, such as intergroups and serviced boards.

Conventions

Most conventions are weekend events that are hosted by a service body rather than a group. They are held in hotels or conference centers that can accommodate the event’s space requirements. The activities are focused on OA recovery and fellowship, meetings, workshops, speaker sessions, and entertainment, such as dances or breaks for relaxation and fun.

Retreats

Retreats are usually held in a quiet location, such as a camp or retreat center. Retreat activities may include speaker sessions, small group discussions, one-on-one sharing, time for writing and reflection, as well as free time for members to experience fellowship.

Marathons

Marathons are usually one-day events. They consist of back-to-back speaker meetings or workshops with various, scheduled topics, allowing attendees to choose according to their needs. OA’s virtual community provides marathon phone meetings on many holidays.

Fellowship Meals/Banquets

Lunch or dinner meals with an OA speaker provide another way to combine recovery and fellowship. This type of gathering can be held at a local hotel or restaurant where the meals are purchased, or it can be as simple as a gathering where OA members provide the food.

Public Information Meetings

Special public information events are held to raise awareness of Overeaters Anonymous for the public, the professional community, and OA members’ families and friends.

Service, Traditions, and Concepts Workshops

These workshops are usually conducted by members with a thorough understanding of the Twelve Traditions and the Concepts of OA Service. A region trustee and/or regional board members can offer these workshops to intergroups and service boards as part of their service to OA.

Guarding Our Traditions

Use the following guides to observe the Traditions when planning an OA event. Remember to honor “principles before personalities” (Tradition Six).

• An OA event must be sponsored by a registered OA group or service body. An event that is not sponsored by an OA group or service body is considered an outside enterprise, and, as such, may not use the OA name or mailing list (Tradition Six).
• The name “Overeaters Anonymous” and the name of the sponsoring group or service body should appear on all flyers, newsletter articles, registration forms, and other announcements and forms for the event (Tradition Five).
• Only OA members may be invited to act as event and workshop leaders or speakers (Tradition Six).
• Printed materials should not contain endorsements of outside enterprises, such as books, publishers, treatment facilities, professionals in the field of eating disorders, hospitals, and other non-OA entities. This includes any materials or information regarding non-OA enterprises or activities with which the leader or speaker is personally involved. Refrain from printing the names or non-OA titles of speakers and leaders at OA events in all information materials. OA service titles (but not names) may be used when a speaker or leader is performing the service responsibility of their OA office (Traditions Six and Eight and OA Business Conference Policy 1990).
• Ask OA members who work professionally in the field of eating disorders or are members of other Twelve Step programs to speak only about their personal experience as recovering compulsive eaters in Overeaters Anonymous (Tradition Five).
• Reimbursement to a speaker beyond travel, food, and lodging is not appropriate (Tradition Eight).
• Only OA-approved literature should be offered for sale at an OA event. For a list of books and pamphlets, see the OA-Approved Literature List at oa.org/document-library under “Guidelines” or contact the World Service Office (WSO). Locally produced literature should be used with the greatest discretion (Tradition Six).

Committees

An event sponsored by a group or service body is an opportunity to involve many members in Twelfth Step work. The larger the event, the more members needed to share the workload. The following are examples of service needs and opportunities:

Program volunteer	Plans the program and obtains speakers or leaders.
Registration volunteer	Handles preregistration and on-site registration.
Treasurer	Deposits receipts, pays bills incurred by the event, and furnishes detailed accounting of income and expenses when the event is over. Funds may be collected via check or electronic funds transfer (if available to group/service body).
Decorations volunteer	Responsible for signs and decorations.
Public Information volunteer	Sends information about the event to local newspapers, radio and television stations, and nearby groups, unaffiliated groups, and service bodies.
Literature volunteer	Handles OA literature to be sold at the event.
Hospitality volunteer	Provides greeters and arranges for refreshments.
Entertainment volunteer	Arranges for songs, skits, dance music, or other entertainment.

Finances

There are no dues or fees at meetings; however, it is not against the Traditions to charge fees for OA events. Events should be self-supporting to enable groups and service bodies to carry out their primary purpose, as many are held, in part, as fundraisers. Estimating both the total expenses and expected attendance should be part of event planning in order to calculate the suggested registration fee.

Items to consider when estimating expenses are: meeting room rental fees, publicity costs (printing, postage, posters, etc.), programs, name tags, decorations, and other handouts. Speakers’ expenses may include transportation, lodging, and meals. For a single-day event, consider asking a local member to host the speaker if they must stay overnight, which will lower this cost. Estimated expenses divided by estimated attendance will indicate the appropriate amount needed per person to cover costs. A registration fee is then added to that amount if the purpose of the event includes fundraising.

Many events encourage preregistration by charging less for those who register early than those who register at the event. This makes event planning easier and allows for the event’s cancellation if there is an indication that costs will not be covered. Like meetings, all OA events should be self-supporting. Collecting a Seventh Tradition at the event is another way to increase contributions.

It is customary to turn no one away from an OA event for lack of funds; however, it is not necessary to provide meals and lodging. Event organizers may wish to suggest to those who feel they cannot afford the registration fee to honestly decide how much they can contribute and accept it with no further questions. It is also possible to ask these members to give service at the event in order to practice their Seventh Tradition. Some service bodies set up “scholarship” funds to help those in need.

Good financial practices for OA events may include the following (depending on the size and complexity of the event):

• Set up a separate bank account for OA events.
• Require two signatures for authorization on all expenditures.
• Pay all expenditures and refunds, if any, by check.
• Require receipts for all expenditures.
• Keep a log of all registrations received, recording check or cash information.
• Appoint three knowledgeable OA members to an audit committee to verify the financial report to protect both the treasurer and the sponsoring body.
• Issue a financial report itemizing income, expenses, and net profit or loss soon after the event. The income section should detail the number of people who registered and the amount received. Receipts and expenditures for items should be separated by category, such as literature, refreshments, fundraising, etc.

Sale of Merchandise

The following statement was adopted by the delegates at the 1984 World Service Business Conference (amended 2014): “It is the will of the Business Conference that sale of merchandise, per se, is not prohibited by the Traditions. With regard to sale of merchandise, ‘Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or OA as a whole.’ If you choose to sell merchandise, the following guidelines are suggested:

1. All sales be made by and for OA service bodies.
2. Each sale item be approved by group conscience.
3. Sales at OA events and functions should be conducted in such a manner so as not to divert or distract from our primary purpose to carry the message to the compulsive overeater who still suffers.”

In accordance with our Traditions, each group and service body may determine whether to sell merchandise. Overeaters Anonymous must be ever mindful of our Traditions, which warn against endorsement of outside enterprises.

Program and Choosing Speakers

Recovery events are centered on a theme that is related to the OA Twelve Step program. Topic ideas may be taken from OA-approved literature. Only OA members may be invited to act as event and workshop leaders and speakers.

Some event planners invite a guest speaker, while others rely solely on members attending the event. The sponsoring group or service body determines the eligibility requirements for leaders and speakers. Most events have abstinence requirements for lead speakers but encourage all attending to share if that is a part of the event agenda. Groups and service bodies are encouraged to dialogue with potential and selected speakers to ensure both that there is a mutual understanding of expectations and requirements of the materials they will present when sharing their recovery with the OA audience and that they will conduct themselves fully within the Twelve Traditions of OA.

We suggest that the following OA Speaker Statement be read at all OA events:

“OA speakers do not represent OA as a whole, but speak from their own experience, strength, and hope. OA recognizes there are individual approaches and different concepts of working the Twelve Step program of recovery. We all are reminded that our common disease and our common purpose unite us; differences in approaches to recovery need not divide us. OA is strengthened when we honor and respect all by practicing unity with diversity.”

Unfortunately, some speakers promote outside enterprises, such as eating disorder centers and counseling services; sell their own literature and tapes; or require signed contracts, use of outside services, or other actions that raise concerns. One way to verify a speaker’s respect for the OA Traditions is to seek a recommendation from another OA group or service body for which the individual has spoken. Another method is to ask the potential speaker for a copy of a recording from a previous event where the speaker has shared.

Additional Suggestions

• Contact other groups, service bodies, the region trustee, or the World Service Office with questions or for assistance. They may have more detailed information on how to plan for events.
• Keep it simple.
• Consider handicapped access and the comfort of attendees.
• Schedule plenty of breaks and time for sharing.
• Plan ahead. Include a variety of topics to accommodate all attendees.
• Avoid scheduling on holidays, either national or religious, unless that is the purpose of the event (e.g. some groups and service bodies choose to hold events on holidays where large meals tend to be part of the celebratory aspect of the day). Check with nearby intergroups and service boards (as well as region and the WSO) that may be planning an event on or around the same date. This may hurt attendance at both events.
• Focus on this event, not last year’s or what some other area has done.
• Remember to “let go and let God” and enjoy the event.

OA Responsibility Pledge

Always to extend the hand and heart of OA
to all who share my compulsion;
for this I am responsible

---

OA Board-Approved
©1990, 1996, 2017, 2019 Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All rights reserved. Rev. 5/2023
#570

Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. World Service Office
Location: 6075 Zenith Court NE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144, USA
Mailing address: PO Box 44727, Rio Rancho, NM 87174-4727, USA
Telephone: +1 505-891-2664

Digital communication was unforeseen when the Twelve Traditions were written. It is important to consider how the use of electronic media might impact our own or anyone else’s anonymity as we recover and help to carry the message of recovery offered by the Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous. These guidelines build on our Fellowship’s experience and offer solid suggestions on the importance of maintaining our personal anonymity and the anonymity of OA members in the virtual world.

Pertinent OA Literature and Policies

Traditions

Tradition Eleven: Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio, films, television and other public media of communication.

Tradition Eleven addresses the need for members to be anonymous outside the Fellowship at the level of public media. By following this Tradition, we guard against the assumption that any one person’s recovery represents OA as a whole. We also guard against the temptation for an individual to seek public recognition. Members who ignore our Eleventh Tradition can cause damage to OA’s spirit of fellowship, which is essential to our personal healing. Such breaks of anonymity may bring the OA name before the public, but they can also bring jealousy and competition for publicity and financial rewards. We must be willing to surrender our need for recognition to protect our recovery and OA as a whole.

AA’s Twelve Steps and Twelve Traditions cautions, “At this altitude [public], anonymity—100 percent anonymity—was the only possible answer. Here, principles would have to come before personalities, without exception” (p. 187).

Tradition Twelve: Anonymity is the spiritual foundation of all these traditions, ever reminding us to place principles before personalities.

Within the OA Fellowship, members have the right to decide for themselves what they reveal. At the same time, we share a responsibility to guard the anonymity of our fellow members.

Overeaters Anonymous Statement on Public and Social Media Policy

While Overeaters Anonymous has no opinion on outside issues, including social media, the delegates of the 2019 World Service Business Conference (WBSC) recommend that any OA member, group, or service body using social media for OA public information and public awareness maintain the personal anonymity of OA members.

Members of Overeaters Anonymous are anonymous. The Fellowship is not. Members of Overeaters Anonymous are responsible for maintaining their anonymity and respecting the anonymity of other OA members. When attending an OA meeting, whether face-to-face or virtual, members are encouraged to seek appropriate means to protect their own anonymity and that of fellow members.

All registered virtual meetings shall inform members that their anonymity is not fully protected when attending a virtual meeting.

(WSBC Policy 2011a, amended 2016 and 2019)

Standards for Various Forms of Digital Media

We need to use caution in OA-related emails. We are publishing at the public level when we post on social media or blog. What we send or post may easily be seen, even repeated, by others within and outside the Fellowship. When we break our anonymity in digital media, we may inadvertently break the anonymity of others. Others may rightly or wrongly assume that our “virtual friends” are OA members.

Email

Electronic mail is a method of exchanging digital messages.

• Avoid the use of your full name as a part of your email address.
• Avoid the use of your business email address. It implies affiliation with an outside interest.

Service Email Correspondence WITHIN the Fellowship

It is advisable to set up a second email address for OA correspondence. If a service body has ongoing service positions that use email, we may create email accounts for the positions, such as chair@servicebody or newsletter@servicebody. Accounts can then be passed on to the next person filling that position simply by changing the forwarding information.

Many service providers allow one email address to be linked to another for convenience, so managing email is simple. Email can be forwarded from the service body account to our personal account. We can then see all of our email without having to log into a second account, unless we need to send a reply.

When sending service body correspondence to multiple members at once, it is important to maintain their anonymity. Use the blind carbon copy (BCC) line or create a distribution group or list with a meaningful title. Don’t use program words, such as “Twelve Step,” in the title, which might compromise anonymity when the message shows up in the receiver’s email in-box. For help in finding the BCC feature or in creating a distribution list, check the email provider’s instructions.

Service Email Correspondence OUTSIDE the Fellowship

It is also a good idea to have an email address that reflects our service position if we have responsibilities that require us to contact professionals or members of the media. It is appropriate to use our full name in such correspondence. This is the exception; we use our full name as this is the standard when conducting business, including when contacting the media and public information contacts. If we are then asked for an interview as a result of this correspondence, it is our responsibility to inform/educate the person doing the interview of our anonymity policy and that no last names or pictures may be used. For more suggestions and resources for contacting the media about OA, find the Public Information and Professional Outreach (PIPO) Resource List on the OA website (oa.org/document-library under “Public Information”).

Personal Email Correspondence and Contact Lists

When we add a member’s name to our personal contact list or electronic address book, we do not place personal reminders in the name field, i.e. Kathy (OA). If information is forwarded, the name is displayed and anonymity may be broken.

Blogs

If we mention our membership in Overeaters Anonymous, then we do not use our full name and/or photo on the Blog page. If we want to use our name and/or photo, we do not mention our association with Overeaters Anonymous, nor make references that would disclose our membership.

Messaging Applications

These applications use the internet to send text messages, documents, images, and video and audio messages to other users of the same application.

When using an application in a closed environment, where we are communicating with a single login (meeting), it is okay to use our name and share images. However, if we are using the application in a shared environment, where we have followers who are able to view the postings, then we do not mention our membership, nor that of any of our followers.

Podcasts

When podcasts of speakers are posted on OA websites, it is important to practice the Eleventh and Twelfth Traditions. To protect the anonymity of the speaker and keep the level of celebrity in check, it is suggested that fictitious names be used, reminding us to place “principles over personalities.” When posting recordings, list by topic rather than by speaker. If speaker names are listed, do not use full names; use only first names or first names with last initials. Before posting a taped speaker, review the recording for Tradition breaks, especially anonymity. If an issue arises, consulting with the speaker may allow for the recording to be edited and the share posted.

Social Networks

Social networking sites allow users to share ideas, pictures, posts, activities, events, and interests with people in their network.

Overeaters Anonymous Public Outreach on Social Networks

Although OA members carry the message of OA, the World Service Office (WSO) is responsible for the production and distribution of all worldwide communications. Service bodies are encouraged to post WSO announcements on their local websites or create links to oa.org and any social media pages that the WSO creates. All forms of social media are an opportunity for public outreach and information.

If a service body chooses to create such an account, it is encouraged to keep the account free of all personal pictures and comments that would reveal the identity of OA members. It is suggested that a disclaimer is put on the page such as “We appreciate that people who like this page are showing support of our Fellowship, but this does not indicate that they are members of Overeaters Anonymous.”

Individual Personal Pages on Social Networks

It is strongly recommended that we not share that we are members of Overeaters Anonymous on our social media accounts. While we may not care who knows we are in OA, we may inadvertently disclose another person’s membership in our posts.

Be careful that posted photos do not reveal that we or others in the photo are at an OA event. Be aware of visible backgrounds, badges, or banners.

Avoid posting an OA flyer on a personal site or talking about OA in a video. If we do post OA information, some may assume, rightly or wrongly, that anyone who likes or supports our site or post is an OA member.

Social Network Groups

OA members may wish to explore the possibility of making a private group on a social network site. Such a group would be password protected and individuals join by invitation only. Privacy policies for social network sites are often changed. It is important that the members feel the security of the group is adequate. They need to be aware that there is a risk to their anonymity when using social media. It is recommended that the group read the privacy policies of the site regularly to ensure the group remains private.

Some social media sites are just for sharing information between select friends. This type of site is a good one to use as an information page. Other websites may offer networking forums and social groups, but they also have a product to sell. On this type of site, there is a chance of the message of OA being confused with that of the website. While we are free to participate on such sites, it is not a good idea to use the OA name or logo in any way. It could be mistaken that OA is in some way affiliated with and promoting the site and its products.

Using a social network site to let people know about OA is a great way to inform the public that OA exists. It doesn’t have to be complicated. Just a page that gives the name and purpose of OA with a link to the Fifteen Questions from the OA website page “Take the OA Quiz” (oa.org/quiz) may attract interest.

Use of OA Name and Logo

OA, Overeaters Anonymous, and the OA logo are registered trademarks, and all OA literature is copyrighted. The OA name, logo, and literature should be used for OA group—and service body—related sites only. Permission is required to use the logo or OA literature in any medium, including in print or electronic materials. For complete information, visit the “Copyright Requests” page on the OA website.

A good idea to remember about anonymity in all environments, digital or otherwise, is to never share anything that you would not want to appear on the front page of the newspaper. While you may keep the anonymity of others, you cannot ensure that other people will keep yours.

OA Responsibility Pledge

Always to extend the hand and heart of OA
to all who share my compulsion;
for this I am responsible.

---

OA Board-approved
©2016, 2019 Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. All Rights reserved. Rev. 5/2023
#570

Overeaters Anonymous, Inc. World Service Office
Location: 6075 Zenith Court NE, Rio Rancho, NM 87144, USA
Mailing address: PO Box 44727, Rio Rancho, NM 87174-4727, USA
Telephone: +1 505-891-2664