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Frequently Asked Questions about Meeting Lists

This is just the start of a FAQ for meeting lists supported by AllOne Services. Please realize that I welcome comments and discussions from all in an ongoing effort to make it a better service.

• Why are meetings shown deleted (with strikeout) instead of being removed?
• Why are pictures shown before a meeting?
• Why are there so many options? This seems complicated!
• Why doesn't my organization, or AA, or Al-Anon list their meetings on the web?

Why are meetings shown deleted (with strikeout) instead of being removed? It makes the listings messy and sometimes show that lots of meetings are disappearing.

Yes, it does look a little messy, but I believe that it is worth it. It is actually harder to list meetings deleted instead of just having them not show up on the web. However, there is nothing more frustrating than going to a meeting that no longer exists. If you were a newcomer, what would you think if you went to a meeting that no longer existed but that you found on a meeting list or had heard about from someone else? Would all newcomers try another meeting?

Here are some other general reasons:

• There are constantly old meeting lists floating around. Showing deleted meetings gives a "heads up" to all and helps to raise awareness of volatility and not relying on old lists.
• People who make announcements at meetings can easily point out that a meeting in their area has been deleted.
• Someone, for example, may see a list and say, hey Josie, don't you go to that meeting on thursdays in town X?
• It helps to catch mistakes. It shows the person who asked to have the meeting deleted that it was indeed deleted.
• It helps to catch mistakes. What if the meeting got deleted by an organization by mistake? What if someone gave the wrong information to the organization?  What if an Intergroup made a mistake and called it deleted? Maybe a member of a meeting will see it as deleted.
• I think it's important for folks to see (if they used to go to a meeting) that it no longer exists. Not showing the meeting won't convey that message.  People might think, "gee, maybe I could have helped to keep it going, it was a good meeting". Or they might say "hey, that meeting should still be going on!"   After all, what if someone says a meeting is deleted, but it really wasn't. Maybe they had all chosen to take a month off, or one night? Strikeout highlights important changes.
• It makes a statement. Meetings are great, but to keep them going people need to help out just a little bit.
• One thing to realize is that if your organization is just starting on the web, then initially there may be many more meetings shown as deleted as really old meetings finally become accounted for. The web opens the lists to many more people, so initially, you may see more meetings deleted. This would normally taper off with time.
• By seeing a deleted meeting, it offers an incentive to start one again.
• If you are looking at a place to start a meeting, check out places that used to have a meeting. The place it was held at already was open to having a meeting and might quickly welcome a new one.
• Remember, that the length of time that a meeting is shown as deleted can be varied, both the default value by the organization as well as the person using the meeting list. Look at the yellow section. If someone wants to print out a list without showing deleted meetings, they only need to set that variable to 0.

Here is a simple example. Pretend there are several pages of meetings for a particular area, (which may be hard for some folks, but what you think about expands :)

Which list will better prevent people from going to a meeting that no longer exists? (Especially important for a newcomer)

meeting 9 meeting b meeting a34 meeting g3

--- OR ---

meeting 9 meeting b meeting 13 meeting a34 meeting g3

What are all those pictures shown before a meeting?

Why are there so many options? This seems complicated!

I think the art, and it is art, is to find the best way to make it simple for the novice just find a meeting, but have the options that I know will help get people to meetings.

To some people, less is more, and in some cases, that is correct. The goal is to provide the best services in the easiest manner. If you extended the "less is more" principle to the one end, you would simply list all meetings in the world on one huge page. For people who do not have special needs, a simpler approach might work better for them. But here are some special cases where "more is more":

• Specific search options provide power to those who need it. What if you required wheelchair accessible meetings? If you could only go to a meeting if there was child care, you might be willing to travel a bit further to get to one that has it. The same goes if you are gay or lesbian, and don't relate to other meetings.   What if you are willing to go to great means to get to a 12 Step meeting? What if you are a newcomer?
• Different ways to zero in on meetings that meet your need may just get people to meetings that might not otherwise. In some areas there may not be many meetings. Offering specific days of the week lets people search a broader range of cities for example. Allowing users to put in multiple cities helps as well.  For those lists that have counties, the same logic applies. Some day, it is hoped and strongly believed that an affordable solution will exist whereby someone can enter the city they live in and it will list meetings within so many miles from that city. Until that happens, other options are aids to help the best that they can to give the flexibility some may want.
• The "Power" button tries to offer more flexibility for those who want it, hiding it from the person first using the list service.
• Sort options are other ways to help people get the information they want quicker. Have you ever tried to hand pick through a large meeting list printout to find a particular type of meeting in your area on a particular day? These options are there for those who find one way easier to use than another.
• Forcing people to select from a country or state (for example) offers hidden powers! Have you ever misspelled something?  (I shre have:).  What if someone types in a misspelled location, and then thinks no meetings exist?
• Providing a list of valid countries, states and so forth visually shows people options they may not have thought of in the first place, or may not have wanted to exercise in the first place. For example, if they are looking for meetings in their city, but don't see their city listed, then they will see other cities listed and may say "well, maybe I would be willing to drive to that city". Get the picture?

Why doesn't my organization, or AA or Al-Anon list their meetings on the web?

First, check to see if your organization does list their meetings. You can check 12stepmeetings.org to see if it already exists, and check the search engines.  Be leery of any information from websites that are not run by the organization, but list meetings!  That information may be old or incorrect!  Find out from your meeting the official address of the organization and contact them.  If they say they don't support a meeting list on the web, keep reading!

An important point that can not be overemphasized is that: