Hello Area 46!
We were asked what our committee thinks about utilizing existing young people’s videos developed by ICYPAA, the International Conference of Young People in Alcoholics Anonymous, to carry the message to young newcomers in AA. The first issue we found was that the videos wouldn’t play directly from the ICYPAA website on the laptop in our breakout room. This raised questions about where people would be going to access these videos, how they would find the links to watch them, and where the videos would be posted. They need to be prominently displayed somewhere on the homepage of aa.org for the easiest access, in a way that is compatible with all browsers and devices, and linked to QR codes on paper or electronic copies of a revised pamphlet. The important point here is that we need to find modern connections between the media and the young newcomer. To utilize these existing young people’s videos, we have to know where and how people look for their information.
After some troubleshooting, we watched several video clips using Adolf’s laptop and finding them on a different site–the Grapevine’s YouTube channel. One video was awkwardly scripted with real-life actors, one had puppets that sang cheesy songs about anonymity, and some were short animated recordings of someone telling their experience, strength, and hope. The storytelling with animation was the only type of video well-received by our committee. Many of us found it realistic and touching; if it touched some of us, it would touch others. We reflected on the lack of diversity in the ICYPAA videos. There was consensus around having more ethnographic diversity across the videos to reach more people and communities, increasing the likelihood of contact between young newcomers and AA.
Our committee was also asked about other ideas for possible cost-effective media options to revise the pamphlet “Too Young”. For the animation videos, we discussed the idea of cutting costs by using a silhouette and having less animation throughout the video clip. The question of how ICYPAA made their videos was raised. Can we learn from their institutional knowledge of creating videos for young newcomers? How do they create media and keep their costs low? We also discussed making a call for submissions to elicit work from AA members who have skill-sets in the digital media arena that they are willing to offer to the fellowship.
Our literature and media discussion got us thinking about how to reach newcomers directly in the rooms. We considered suggestions to tap into the alateen community to reach the young newcomer, and heard from different districts about the presence of alateen in their communities and the potential for outreach to them.
We ended with a round-up of upcoming young people’s events in the Area. The official dates for SWACYPAA are August 17th-20th. This conference functions not only to unite young people in AA across the southwest, but also for AAs of all ages to carry the message to young people in AA. This conference is a great opportunity to show young people what we do in the general service structure of Alcoholics Anonymous. We need more young people participating in our Area 46 committees, and to make that happen we need to get them interested in general service. This conference is a perfect opportunity to get young people interested in general service, and we need your help to do that by participating in the conference with us. You and your Area committee or district or group can tell young AAs why your service work is important and help carry the message by bringing a workshop, panel, or meeting to the conference. Please reach out to me at ypaa@dev.aa-nia.org or 505-440-0373 if you are willing to be of service in this way on August 17th-20th of this year in Albuquerque. Thanks for allowing me to be of service!
In love and service,
Lindsay M.
YPAA committee chair