PI Within NA

This page last edited on Sunday, May 23, 2004

PI Within the NA Service Structure

The Group
We can raise the fellowship’s awareness of Public Information service—and its spiritual rewards—through direct communication with our groups. When we educate the groups directly, we ultimately increase their involvement with Public Information service.

One way PI committees can interact with the fellowship is by making a PI presentation to the group itself. We start by announcing, through flyers and at meetings that, upon request, our PI committee is available for group presentations. We can use set formats for presentations at group business meetings, or specially scheduled meetings, to share our PI experiences.

Members of NA groups can, and often do, perform some basic PI work to help carry the message of recovery. Groups sometimes help us by posting bulletins, distributing meeting schedules and fliers within the community, and by assisting staff PI booths at health fairs.

Although groups may be useful by helping PI committees communicate within the fellowship and with the general public, they should certainly focus their chief efforts on their own primary purpose. It is extremely important that groups not make statements or commitments which overstep their abilities. Our spiritual foundation of anonymity can be seriously damaged by group members acting alone, or at least independently of their group and the fellowship.

The Area Service Committee
The Area PI Committee is a subcommittee of the Area Service Committee (ASC). It serves the ASC, the fellowship, the groups and the NA community. The members of the Area PI Committee are responsible for answering requests for information and presentations, both from the public and from the fellowship. The Area PI Committees must be ready to respond to referrals from their local Helpline, from the Regional PI Committee, and from other subcommittees. It also reaches out to the public through mailings and phone calls.

Billboards, Public Service Announcements (PSAs), bulletins, flyers, and bus posters are some other ways in which Area PI committees communicate with the public.

The Area PI Committee is also a key member of the Regional PI Committee. Area PI Committees help promote effective communications within the fellowship by regularly supplying written reports. Through interaction with other areas at the Regional PI Committee meetings, Area PI Committees help each other by sharing their experiences and resources.

The Regional PI Subcommittee
The Regional PI Subcommittee serves the Regional Service Committees (RSC), the fellowship, the groups and the NA community.

In addition, the RSC PI subcommittee is responsible for coordinating area PI efforts and for cooperating with other regions in joint PI efforts. The RSC PI subcommittee is the communication link between the areas, other regions and the World Services. This means that the RSC PI subcommittee should provide all information and material developed for Public Information at World Services to their areas.

Area and Regional PI Committees can help each other by sharing resources and experience. Area and Regional PI Committees can assist each other by providing the personnel and/or experience necessary to give a PI presentation or staff a PI booth. They can also support each other at workshops and learning days. In some cases, the financial burden involved with larger projects may be shared by several area PI committees.

Here is an example of such mutual cooperation. At the regional PI meeting there was much discussion about placing a PI billboard somewhere within the region. A location was agreed upon which would be seen by the communities of two neighboring area PI committees. The cost of the billboard was $300 for three months, far exceeding the budgets of either area PI committee. They agreed that each Area PI Committee would contribute $150 ($50 per month for three months) in support of the PI billboard project. The area PI committees involved also agreed to share the setup footwork. One area PI committee offered to contact the billboard company, while the other one agreed to create and submit the artwork for the billboard.

Regional PI subcommittees can respond to inquiries or requests received from outlying areas, or ASCs without a PI Committee, and can assist by forwarding such requests to neighboring ASCs that are willing to help.

World Services
NA World Services serves and is responsible to the fellowship through the World Service Conference (WSC). The World Service Office (WSO) receives information about events or requests about PI subjects, these are passed on to the World Board if they are not handled by Fellowship Services. If a request can or should be handled by a local PI committee, attempts are made to forward the communication. It is important that area and regional PI committees register with World Services to receive this information in a timely manner.

Next: Working With Other Committees

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