An Open Meeting

Any member of the public can attend an Open Meeting. You do not have to be an alcoholic, nor have a drinking problem to attend an open meeting.

The Open Meeting has a chairperson, who conducts the progress of the meeting. Those who take part in the meeting have been chosen beforehand, so a newcomer need not feel intimidated.

Meetings in Hamilton generally begin with a moment of silence, followed by The Serenity Prayer. The chairperson or someone s/he has chosen then reads the Preamble What is AA, qualifies briefly as an alcoholic, notes the importance of anonymity, and may mention that AA is a spiritual, as distinct from a religious, program of recovery.

Someone then reads How it Works, someone else The Twelve Traditions. After some meeting business (announcements about upcoming events, handing out "chips" to mark milestones in early sobriety), one or more people tell their story, which usually takes about 30-45 minutes. Each group is autonomous and may order the events in any way the group's conscience sees fit. However, most open meetings generally last about an hour and a half, although attendees are encouraged to stick around, have coffee and talk to people for a while afterward.

Open meetings are a good place to get literature about AA, the city-wide list of meetings, and hard-cover publications such as "Alcoholics Anonymous" (The Big Book) and "12 Steps and 12 Traditions" (the "12 and 12").

A Closed Meeting

Closed meetings are exclusively for those who admit they are alcoholics; and for those who think they may have a drinking problem.

Closed meetings may take many forms. The most common are 12-Step discussion meetings where attendees discuss the Steps, ask questions, or share how they've used each Step in their daily lives and what results they got when they did. Many "Step discussion" meetings will have multiple rooms with a "Step 1-2-3" room appropriate for beginners; and another rotating step room. Many groups read each step before discussing it and it's often useful to have a copy of the book, "12 Steps and 12 Traditions," available from many open meeting library tables throughout the city.

Other closed meeting formats include "Open Topic" discussions, where attendees may discuss the Steps, or raise any topic they feel may affect their sobriety. Here, too, the meeting is a mixture of questions and sharing of experiences.

"Big Book Study" discussion meetings focus on the contents of the book, "Alcoholics Anonymous" from which the organization takes its name. Groups normally have additional copies of the Big Book for participants to use during the meeting.