The following guidelines are to be used by the SAA Webmaster in determining whether or not to list an SAA on-line meeting or chat room to the SAA Web site as an additional resource.

Two (or more) people who are interested in starting an SAA meeting online. In the online medium, there is generally one person who chairs the meeting and one person who privately contacts each newcomer (someone unrecognized by the person assisting the chair) to be sure that he/she has entered the chat room with the idea of attending the meeting; the third tradition is often quoted.

A commitment by both people starting the meeting to follow the 12 steps and 12 traditions of SAA to the best of their ability. At a minimum, it is suggested that the steps and traditions be "read" one at a time at the beginning of each meeting.

1. Attendees need to have computers with modems, a SLIPP or PPP connection to the internet via some commercial provider, and some type of "Chat" software. Although MIRC is by far the most common form of chat software, we (as a fellowship) need to be careful not to promote it in view of the traditions.
2. Unlike face to face (F2F) meetings, in an online meeting, individuals can easily be expelled from the current meeting, or, for repeated violations, permanently expelled from that particular meeting, at the chair's discretion. These tools can be helpful in making a meeting "safe," but can also violate the traditions and lead to dominating chairs if they are not used sparingly.
3. A knowledge of the basics of how to run a 12 step meeting and how to use the tools available in the chat room environment is very helpful. Toward this end, encouraging people who would like to start a meeting to both order the standard SAA Starting a New Group guide/packet and either attending, or communicating with someone who has attended other online 12 step meetings, is recommended. SAA might also put out either a separate sheet, or an addition to the new group guide that would cover some of the technical details of running a meeting in an online environment. Again, this would be tricky because software specific commands might constitute endorsement of the software.

If you feel that your meeting meets these guidelines and wish to register the meeting with SAA, please complete and send the Group Registration form to SAA headquarters. You must have two members of the Group sign the form before it is mailed to Headquarters. You can download a copy of the form in AdobeÒ AcrobatÒ format by clicking on the following icon:

Meeting Registration Form.

To get a free copy of the AdobeÒ AcrobatÒ click on the icon

Note: It is the meeting's responsibility to keep its information current with SAA headquarters and to re-register your meeting at least once per year. As a registered SAA meeting you will receive the same information (via surface mail) as do face-to-face SAA meetings.

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