How to Join One Corona Too Many Meetings

There are two ways you can join our group meetings. One is by dialing in with phone. This is the easier option — not much different from calling your bank and entering an account number. However, you will not be able to see or be seen by other members.

The other way is by using the Zoom app on a computer or smartphone. This allows you to interact with other members visually, but is a bit more complicated. If you are unsure about how to use Zoom, we suggest joining the call before the meeting begins (we’re usually on the line ~30 min before and after) and getting help then.

Phone Dial In: Dial 669-900-6833, Enter Meeting ID: 415-164-1212 Followed by # key. Then enter meeting password: 121212
Do not enter participant ID (just push # again). (If you have trouble remembering our meeting ID, it is 415 — SF Area Code — 164 (164 pages of Big Book) — 1212 (12&12))
Zoom App Join Link (Supports Video): https://zoom.us/j/4151641212?pwd=YUgySURuL2VFRmlqWUhqbDVpOHpZZz09

It is suggested to mute your microphone when not talking so we do not hear background noise.

Meeting Resources

Meeting Formats

One Corona Too Many Meeting Format

AA Preamble
How it Works
12 Traditions
A Vision For You
AA Daily Reflection

Suggestions for Hosting Virtual Meetings:

• Everyone should mute their phone unless they want to share, or want to interject a laugh or other nondisruptive sound.
• Designate multiple cohosts and ensure the you have cohosting on in your Zoom Account to help moderate the meeting, and ensure that trolls are removed.
• To prevent trolls, whose only intent is to disrupt meetings and possibly violate anonymity by posting videos of their exploits to YouTube, make use of Waiting Room and password features. (See below for thoughts on passwords)
• If two people try to share at the same time, the secretary can break the tie if needed.
• Due to lag in conference calls, it’s probably best to have one person lead the opening / closing prayers. Otherwise a hilarious discord will ensue.
• An example phone meeting format is above, for the One Corona Too Many Group
  • Feel free to use your group’s regular format, adapted for phone
• You may consider doing a “Hybrid Meeting” if your meeting has older members that want to attend, or people who are sick. Someone could bring in a laptop and join the conference via computer so they could join.
• For the 7th tradition, you can use Venmo, Paypal, or just send money to your fellowship’s general service office
  • AA GSO Contribution Form
  • If desired, a generic 7th Tradition can be set up on this page that will be distributed to the respective fellowships.

We are a newly formed virtual AA group formed in the South San Francisco Bay Area, created to carry the message of recovery using modern technology, as physical meeting places become unavailable or unsafe due to the coronavirus outbreak.

We welcome and encourage visitors from all over the world! One of the wonderful side effects of this crisis is that we now get to meet alcoholics across huge geographic divides, and come together to share love, experience, strength, and hope.

Useful Resources

Bay Area

San Mateo County AA Hotline Info
Phone numbers in English and Spanish for 24/7 Help.

Santa Clara County AA Corona Virus Info (Including Hotline)
24 Hour Helpline and Coronavirus recommendations.

San Jose Central Office and San Mateo Central Office

Bay Area Zoom Meetings

Online Meetings

Suggestions for Dealing with Zoom Bombers
How to make your meeting accessible and yet also be secure.

Online Meeting Set Up How To
Set of videos being created for groups which may want to create their own virtual meetings.

Super Long List of Online Meetings Around the World

AA Phone Meetings
Useful website with lots of meetings on the phone throughout the week.

AA Online Meetings
Listing of various online meetings around the world.

e-AA Group
Discussion forum for talking about AA topics online.

Recovery Subreddits
List of subreddits related to recovery from Alcohol as well as other addictions.

Official Guidance from GSO on how Coronavirus affects AA Meetings

FAQ

I want my meetings to be public for newcomers, but I want them to be safe. What do I do about Zoom Bombers?

This is a difficult issue because we have to find a balance. Keep in mind, the ability for a newcomer to go online and immediately find 1000’s of meetings on a website is relatively new. In the past, one had to know someone, call a hotline, be referred, etc. It’s doubtful that Dr. Bob published his home address around town and said “come on in, the door is unlocked!”

The problem we’re facing now is that all AA structures have been built around the idea of brick and mortar meetings, with local directories and listings online. Going to a church and finding a room and then disrupting the meeting is a high barrier to entry. Online it’s zero. Thus we need to find ways to ensure alcoholics who need meetings can find them, but that people with an intent only to disrupt are blocked.

There are multiple ways to approach this contingent on group conscience. Some initial thoughts.

The first approach is to rely on meeting moderation, by selecting multiple cohosts and ejecting people once they reveal their intent is only to cause distress and disruption. The unfortunate consequence of this is that Zoom doesn’t allow chat history to be deleted, so for the remained of the meeting your meeting’s chat may be filled with the N-word posted over and over. Trolls may also be able to play violent and/or shocking videos that can be deeply disturbing for some members, and can make it a very unsafe environment, even if ejected quickly. Another consideration with this approach is that many trolls have uploaded their exploits to Tik Tok and YouTube, creating anonymity concerns. If this approach is taken (moderation), our group has chosen to adjust the format to warn people that if they’re concerned about anonymity, they can turn off video and choose to display their name as first name only.

The other approach is to keep passwords more private. There are many ways to do this. For example, there can be Open Meetings where information is provided to participants on how to get the password to closed meetings. Participants can email in advance to get a password. Passwords can be distributed via private Facebook groups and text messages to those who need them.

The problem here is of course the question of what is a newcomer to do who needs a meeting? This is where AA has to adapt to new structures. Like in the old days, we must ensure that people who staff AA hotlines and professionals have access to lists of passwords. Thus we’re not a secret society, but we’re a safe society. Rehabs, professionals, volunteers, need to have the information, but perhaps random people on the internet don’t.

We’ll never find a perfect balance here, but we can still find ways to carry the message.

For other suggestions, see: Suggestions for Dealing with Zoom Bombers

Will you sign my court card?

Sure — we can send you an email after the meeting from our group email account saying you attended. Check with your Probation Officer or Attorney to see if this will be acceptable during this unusual time period.

Do you have a business meeting / 7th tradition / IGR / GSR / etc?

No, we’re very much in the “all you need to start a meeting is a coffeepot and a resentment” stage. We will figure these issues out shortly to bring us fully into line with standard AA practice and tradition.

Why do you have a webpage?

This allows us to carry the message and show our meeting times (while central offices can get these listed)

I want to start a virtual meeting. Can your group share experience with me to help this?

Yes — please email us at OneCoronaTooMany@gmail.com

Why are you making such a big deal out of this?

Our common welfare comes first. If 12 Step meetings become hotbeds for a dangerous virus, unity will be fractured and recovery will be endangered.

We don’t need to panic. Instead, we might take reasonable precautions and find new ways to carry the message of recovery for the time being.

When you read statistics like “80% of people have a mild illness”, that’s true, but if you are above 65, or have a pre-existing condition (like Diabetes), you’re at increased risk of needing to be hospitalized. In Italy right now, because so many people downplayed the risk, hospitals are overwhelmed and people are dying. (See an account here). So let’s practice the principles while being sensible and adaptable. As the expression goes: “Trust God with everything, but tie your camel.”

For a more scientific take on this, see: Coronavirus: Act Today or People Will Die

Shouldn’t Meetings be in Person? How will I stay sober without going?

While nearly all of us prefer the personal connection of going to meetings, holding hands with others, and experiencing the simple and personal beauty of this program together, AA has been designed since the beginning to work with or without classical meetings to go to. When the Grapevine says it is a “Meeting in Print”, they’re not kidding. AA members in WWII were able to stay sober while abroad in hell on earth, while AA’s traveling on long voyages over the years have depended on written meetings to maintain the crucial unity aspect of our three legacies.

We don’t typically rely on online meetings and phone meetings because we would only be doing so out of laziness, not necessity. When someone says “I stopped going to meetings and I drank” — what often underlies this is that the person could go to meetings but chose not to because recovery simply wasn’t important anymore. We are, however, dealing with an unprecedented situation. God did not bring us here to fall. We must prioritize our recovery above all else, but we must also find ways to adapt to the new circumstances, to hunker down and support each other while this thing passes.

God of our understanding did not lead us to this point to be helpless when confronted with a viral disease that will (hopefully) die down given a few months time. In the meantime, we need to think creatively so we can carry the message to the still sick and suffering alcoholics, some of whom may be quarantined at home for weeks at a time.

AA is a “design for living which works in rough going.” Let’s allow God to cheerfully demonstrate omnipotence through us.

Isn’t the Coronavirus an Outside Issue? Why do you mention it so much on this page?

Yes and no. AA GSO doesn’t provide guidance directly on what we should or should not do in this case — that’s best left to authorities on health (which AA is not).

However, the unity and safety of our members have been determined to be inside issues that affect the ability for alcoholics to get sober. While a young person may be at minimal risk of this disease, older alcoholics may be gravely endangered by it. We don’t want older alcoholics, who may have other health conditions, to feel they’re in a position to choose between sobriety and safety, so this site was created.