OLGA Board Link

Hello benek,

Thank you for your note and questions.

We will be posting this information after we have finalized it.

Liz

benek wrote:

Plenty of OLGA members have not yet moved over to CGAA; some may never. It is currently still possible to be a member of one community, and not the other.

If I was still a denizen of the internet, I would use the meme of doctor zoidberg shrugging with the caption "Olga? CGAA? Why not both?"

The idea that anyone has moved anywhere is false, but I understand where that thinking comes from. Of you, or anyone really, wants to discuss this, feel free to email me 000dusty000+AT+gmail.com

The most important thing is recovery.

So if CGAA helps you recover, GREAT! GO!

If OLGA helps you recover, GREAT! STAY!

If CGAA AND OLGA helps you recover together, GREAT! DO BOTH!

*high five's mudphud*

I'm also a member of AA. AA has lots and lots of meetings. I go to several. The fellowship of recovering gamers go to both sites. It's not an either/or situation. It's two places doing the same thing. The fellowship is one with two meeting and posting sites.

Thank you Dusty, I appreciate your correction. "Moved over" was a poor choice of words. What I meant to say was: plenty of OLGA members have not yet registered at CGAA, and some may choose not to. And yes, it is possible to be a part of both. But it is also possible to be part of one, or the other, currently. Being part of OLGA is not the equivalent of being part of CGAA. That was my point.

This is a very good point. This is time of change: The OOWS board is apparently working on some changes, through a process that apparently doesn't involve the fellowship, and will report those when complete. 

At the business meeting last Sunday, those present felt that we should have business meetings every Sunday for a time, simply because there is so much going on. Because the notice is short, the chair and co-chair have decided that the next business (group conscience) meeting of the fellowship will be held June 1, 2014. All members are welcome. The agenda is flexible, as many things are changing now; for example, by then we may have heard from the OOWS board about the actions they are taking. However, if you have something you would like on the agenda, please send it to dan1. Thank you.

Edited. Removed advertising. Liz W.

benek wrote:

I'd like to submit a proposal to the board and the community for a link on the homepage that provides the following information:

Who is on the board

How board members are elected/appointed

How decisions affecting the organisation are taken

The legal foundation for olganon: any charter, by-laws, and so on

The relationship between OOWS, OLGA, and OLG-Anon

Perhaps this information already exists somewhere on the website? I've looked, and I haven't found it. I've managed to gather answers for a couple of these questions during the two months I've been here, but it's been piecemeal, picking up this or that tidbit from someone. I'm still not clear on whether OOWS is incorporated as a business, or registered as a non-profit.

I don't think that kind of mystery is healthy for the organisation. The situation that happened last week brought my discomfort with a hidden organisational structure into stark relief. Maybe there is a very good reason for the opacity of this information that hasn't occurred to me. If someone can share with me why this information is not transparent, I'd be happy to hear it.

I too think that this information should be public, including a disclaimer that olga does not follow the traditions (unless it does?)

ANNOUNCEMENT FROM THE OOWS BOARD (not my own opinon, necessarily)

The Board of OOWS wishes to make the following information to all members. The Board also wishes to state the following:

The Board, OOWS, the Olga fellowship and the Olganon fellowship are in a period of transition.

Recently the Board agreed that the fellowships, should and will be self-governing and responsible for their own memberships, leadership, goals, and traditions. OOWS Board sees it's role as providing facilities, fund-raising, websites, literature and support.

We do not seek to determine how the fellowships are run - Olga, Olga-anon or OLGA Outreach. This is for the members to decide. We believe it is important to let group conscience decide what each fellowships' traditions should be and how they are worded. A caveat being that both fellowships must be open all regardless of religion, race, gender or sexual orientation. And we will not permit the fellowships to change the structure of the fellowship OR the organization or change the name or any legal entities. Such changes must be approved by the board of OOWS.

A more far-reaching review of OOWS key values and mission is being undertaken. Such a review which will include articles of incorporation which date to 2009 (see below).

Board members are appointed by the existing Board. Current Board membership reflects the requirements of it articles of incorporation. A medium term goal is to make the Board more representative of the membership and fit for purpose.

Active Board members at the moment of writing are Liz Woolley and Peter Thomson with Andy Doan providing guidance and insight.

OOWS is a registered non-profit corporation. See below the articles of incorporation.

The membership* of the board is as follows:

Peter Thomson - President
Andrew Doan - Vice President
Liz Woolley - Founder/Treasurer
Crystal Beer* - Secretary
Tony Woolley** - Member At Large
* Daughter of Liz Woolley
** Son of Liz Woolley

High on the list of priorities for OOWS are (in no particular order):

Updating the websiteEncouraging the fellowships to become more independent and accountable to their membersA major push for face-to-face meetingsLiterature to support face-to-face meetingsA review of how the Olga-anon fellowship can better serve its membersFundraising to support all the above

The OOWS Board will meet with the OLGA and OLGA-Anon Fellowship's Trusted Servants, on a regular basis, to work out how we can work together to share the resources that we have (literature, website, etc), so that we are united in helping the Gaming Addict who is still suffering. Trusted servants report back to fellowship what was discussed.

-----------------snip--------------------------

The following are the articles of incorporation for OOWS. As stated previously they are currently under review.

Article 1: The name of the Corporation is:

OLGA/OLG-Anon (Online Gamers Anonymous) World Services, Inc.

Article 2: The post office address of the initial registered office of the Corporation in the Common Wealth of Pennsylvania is 104 Miller Lane, Harrisburg, PA 17110.

Article 3: The Corporation is incorporated under the Nonprofit Corporation Law of 1988 of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania to receive and accept funds, whether income or principal, and whether acquired by gift or contribution or otherwise. All funds shall be administered permanently and exclusively for educational purposes, including but not limited to the following purposes:

A. The purpose of Online Gamers Anonymous is to carry the message of recovery to the gamer who still suffers. Under the protection of anonymity, the message of recovery can be brought to those who would not otherwise have made contact.

B. Our purpose at Online Gamers Anonymous includes supporting the family members and friends whose lives have been adversely impacted by gaming.

C. We provide resources for education of the general public of the possible problems associated with gaming and the potential for recovery. Unless otherwise defined for purposes of these articles: the term "educational purposes" means charitable, religious, educational, and scientific purposes under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or corresponding section of any future federal tax code.

Article 4: The Corporation does not contemplate pecuniary gain or profit, incidental or otherwise.

Article 5: At all times the following shall operate as conditions restricting the operations and activities of the corporation:

A. No part of the net earnings of the Corporation shall inure to any member of the Corporation not qualifying as exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as now enacted or hereafter amended, nor to any Director or officer of the corporation, nor to any other private persons, excepting solely such reasonable compensation that the Corporation shall pay for services actually rendered to the corporation, or allowed by the Corporation as a reasonable allowance for authorized expenditures incurred on behalf of the corporation;

B. No substantial part of the activities of the Corporation shall constitute the carrying on of propaganda or otherwise attempting to influence legislation, or any initiative or referendum before the public, and the Corporation shall not participate in, or intervene in (including by publication or distribution of statements), any political campaign on behalf of, or in opposition to, any candidate for public office; and

C. Notwithstanding any other provision of these articles, the corporation shall not carry on any other activities not permitted to be carried on by a Corporation exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as now enacted or hereafter amended.

D. The Corporation shall not lend any of its assets to any officer or director of this Corporation or guarantee to any person the payment of a loan by an officer or director of this corporation.

Article 6: The term for which the Corporation is to exist is perpetual.

Article 7: The Corporation is organized on a non-stock basis.

Article 8: The Corporation shall have no voting members. The management and affairs of the Corporation shall be at all times under the direction of the

Board of Directors, whose operation in governing the Corporation shall be defined by statues and by the Corporation's by-laws.

Article 9: Upon the time of dissolution of the Corporation, assets shall be distributed for one or more exempt purposes within the meaning of section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code, or the corresponding section of any future federal tax code, or shall be distributed to the federal government, or to a state or local government, for a public purpose.

Thanks Tommi!

One question? As the Olga fellowship grows, there will be many groups formed in face-to-face and online for meetings, just as AA has thousands of face-to-face and their online intergroup has lots of online meetings. Each calls itself by whatever they choose to name it based on tradition 4 which we have also adopted here in Olga/Olganon:

4. Each group should be autonomous except in matters affecting other groups or Olga as a whole.

As you know I have been working very hard to establish a Cleveland Ohio chapter for face-to-face meetings and was going to call it the "Grateful Group" as one of the main AA meetings I go to in real life here has that as it's name, and I liked it. I expect there will be more than 1 face-to-face meeting in real life here in Cleveland over the next year, and I can't as AA couldn't, call them all the same name. AA also has an online intergroup with lots of different online meetings each day that have different names.

http://www.aa-intergroup.org/directory_venue.php?pageNum_rsMeetingsAll=1&totalRows_rsMeetingsAll=25&code=ch

I am not attempting to change OOWS structure or names. Will attending face-to-face or online meetings of Olga where the groups call themselves by their own name be violating what you are saying? Again, thanks for posting this!

I second Benek's point, we can't claim to allow the fellowships to organize themselves, as long as their remain on this website, call themselves with the same name as the other 2 organizations and have their elected leaders fall under the direction of another board. In addition the way in which the OOSW is set up violates a number of other traditions, and concepts.

In addition, while this announcement seams to say that the OOWS has a voting board of 7 members, in reality the bylaws are not shared here, and I am under the impression that the board can be instantly overruled at all times by one individual. This is in direct conflict with paragraph 4 of this announcement "We do not seek to determine how the fellowships are run - Olga, Olga-anon or OLGA Outreach. This is for the members to decide..."

While I thank the OOSS for making this announcement, perhaps it would be appropriate to update the home page, and not claim that olga "provide a 12-Step Program of recovery", when this is not a traditional "12 step program" at all.