A New Friend

I'm happy to say that there is a new relationship between all of the Anonymous Review projects (including Sponsor Magazine) and Silkworth.net, a long-standing source of academic and scholarly documentation for recovery and its history.

There are two other sites that as important for any serious student of 12-Step history and I hope to announce similar relationships with those excellent sites.

I am transcribing the talk by Dr. Harry Tiebout from the 1960 3rd International in Long Beach, California. It should appear in SPONSOR #3, which may make it out before Thanksgiving.

What Dr. Tiebout has to say is important, but he speaks in the academic, 1930s kind of language which becomes difficult to follow. The phrases loop around each other with many conditional statements inserted in the same sentence. It was clearly a paper intended for an academic audience, to the casual reader.

He had a special viewpoint as therapist for Bill Wilson and also for Marty Mann, a significant early member of AA and co-founder of the National Council on Alcoholism (now the National Council on Alcoholism and Addiction).

But it is worth reading so I will plod away at starting and stopping the recording so I can get the words on paper (or on the screen).

Dancing, Dancing

Dancing as fast as I can. But things are moving again. SPONSOR MAGAZINE #3 should be out by the end of October. The first of the CD Disk projects should be up about the same time - possibly two of them. I'm putting off podcast production while I deal with medical and automotive problems. And a former sponsee was found dead in an abandoned building last weekend - keeps me grounded and focused on the real result from Step Twelve.

Preparing the Discs

I'm going to take advantage of the work I've done preparing for these disks over the past two years and release four of them very quickly. All will be posted for free download as an iso disk image (for the real geeks out there), and through the print-on-demand service that handles CD duplication.

The disks are self-paced computer disks with and easy to use "web page" interface to allow you to reach any file with just a couple of clicks. The first four disks are:

• THE SPONSOR DISK with lots of speakers and a resource library.
• THE STEPS GROUPED with lots of speakers on the Steps as they work together, and an in-depth exploration of the Traditions. Includes the bookmarked PDF for A Recovery Reader and the Inventory Guide "Simple Directions" as a printable PDF.
• The first two volumes of ANONYMOUS REVIEW, which includes all 27 podcasts from Volume 1 ("In their own words, in their own voices") and 50 podcasts from Volume 2 (The Virtual Speaker Meeting).

The fifth disk will be devoted to the Inventory process, from Steps 4 to 9, treated individually but really in-depth.

Meanwhile, progress has been delayed on the next podcast series because of time spent re-engineering the sound files for the first series of CD disks, but it will happen.

Pleasure of the Past

Before mastering the disks for the new series of CDs, I am re-engineering each episode of the podcasts and am enjoying a) hearing them again and b) removing the "voice of doom" from the beginning of each podcast. They are all going to be on one disk so the repetitious announcement is not required.

The whole series is also available for free download through archive.org - links to the archives are posted at the home site: http://anonymousreview.org.

A Door Opens

Last spring our primary Print-on-Demand manufacturer ended their program of "CD-on-demand". The plans to release a series of disk that are self-paced teaching systems based on a simple "web page" front end came to a screeching halt.

But we have found a new company who have stepped into the void to provide a new CD-on-demand service that will fill that void.

The disk project is back online.

ALL OF THESE DISKS WILL BE AVAILABLE AS ISO (DISK IMAGE) DOWNLOADS FOR FREE!! The option of buying a disk from the CD-on-demand service will be there for people who either do not understand how to use a disk image, or don't want to bother with the geekwork.

The first disk is about 90% done: a Sponsors Resource Disk which includes 36 talks on the many speakers experience of Sponsoring and guiding someone through Steps, several with a special focus on Inventory. In addition, several hundred pages of PDF and text documents (Including the full PDF of A Recovery Reader) are provided to help a Sponsor expand their own recovery while helping the newcomer. The Sponsor Disk should be available by the end of September.

The second disk will work exactly the same way as the first (web page front end) and offers a variety of talks on the Steps as they are grouped by many people in 12-Step Recovery. The Steps/Grouped disk should be available in November. This disk will also offer a library of PDF and text documents to support students of 12-Step Recovery.

Also, a two disk set of all of the Anonymous Review podcasts, which will run on the same simple "web page" front end, is in the works. That will included all 27 of the History podcasts, voices the voices of the people from AA history ("In their own words, in their own voices") as they tell their own story and viewpoint of the growth of the Program. And, of course, the disk will also include PDF and text file resources for programs students and teachers.

All four disks will be previewed online and a we have a target price under $7.50 per disk (less for the 2-disc set, if we can get that option) - including shipping - with bulk discounts for groups who may want to use the disks.

You can sign up for email updates from the blog - use the "Follow by eMail" option on the right side of this page. And, if you can, please let a friend know about the various faces of Anonymous Review project - podcasts, books and disks.

Response

My previous post "REALITY - PHOOEY!" had an immediate response. Two donations and $60 helps tip the scales. MUCH appreciated. I think I should post a "Donations to date" with details on the use of the donations on the home page.

Now ... if I can get the authors who said they would write something for Sponsor Magazine #3 to actually WRITE something ...

Mobile Access

Anyone using a mobile device can get quick access to all things Anonymous Review in a new mobile page: http://m.anonymousreview.org

The Realities - Phooey!

I don't like reality. That is probably why I drank. One reality I don't like is that people want to get paid for their work. And I think they should be compensated for things that don't relate to personal 12-Step work. But the phone company needs to get paid, the web hosting service needs to get paid and if something is printed or duplicated physically, the people who do that work need to get paid.

What I contribute is done without expectation of reward, but there are costs to set up and maintain domains, and some of the new projects will require some basic support. Filthy lucre. I have supported the project out of my disability income in the same way others might go to a movie or eat in a restaurant with friends. I eat at Taco Bell with friends and I don't see movies in theater. In the past year I've cut back on driving, eliminated cable and cut costs where ever I could. But I've reached a limit for my so-called "fixed" income (I think it's still broken).

The 27 Volume 1 podcasts of ANONYMOUS REVIEW are available as free downloads through archive.org.

The 50 Volume 2 podcasts of ANONYMOUS REVIEW - THE VIRTUAL SPEAKER MEETING are available as free downloads on archive.org.

The book A RECOVERY READER is available as a free download in several editions, including PDF and ePub formats. The printed version is availalbe as a print-on-demand item in paperback and hardback, but is not available through Amazon because of their pricing structure. (This means Amazon requires a 50% discount, which means we would have to cover all the printing costs from the print-on-demand service, which translate to a 100% price increase to place the book on Amazon!)

SPONSOR MAGAZINE is available as a free download in PDF format and is also available as a print-on-demand item through MagCloud.

The new projects come at a time when I am looking beyond limited resources to something much more precious - limited time.

I want to make a series of RECOVERY GEEK CDs available. These will first be posted for free download as ISO images for people who know how to mount a disk image and free to share. There are many MP3 files on each disk, plus support files as graphics, text and PDF formats. The MP3s can be shared as computer files or burned to regular CDs. These will be added to the ANONYMOUS REVIEW page for the recovery geeks who can use them. It would be nice to get a small stock of them available to people who may not have the computer skills to download, mount and burn the images to CD.

I foresee two more volumes of the podcast. While I have shown very few followers to the Blog, over 2,000 downloads from the various podcats have been made, and many more hits to the pages. These files will circulate and will, I hope, be of service to new alcoholics long after I'm gone.

The first is a series of podcasts on TOPICS IN DEPTH. First I see a series of 2-3 podcasts to hear Bill Wilson give a new version of his stories pulled form the few dozen recordings we have of him telling that story. Not just "Bill's Story" but a more behind the scenes and defining details. Then a series of speakers discussing the steps in grouped format. This means for Step One you hear 8-9 people telling their comments on the beginning of Step Work, and for the next podcast you hear a different 8-9 people giving their take.  Maybe 35 speaking comments on Step Four.  20 Speakers on Sponsorship... all available for download through the main page.

The next is a series based on a format used by a local mental hospital, before speakers were allowed to come in to share meetings with patients. It is called SPEAKER IN A BOX which could be used by isolated alcoholics who need a speaker (similar to Virtual Speaker meeting) but restricted to a tight 35-45 minute talk to give time for discussion after the speaker. This could be used as a format for locations with just a few alcoholics to gather, who have heard each other's story too many time and need some fresh input. 60-minute and 90-minute formats could be provided and groups are free to use the speakers in any way they feel appropriate.

But the final project would be with a new technology to allow a free ANONYMOUS CHANNEL with ROKU to provide audio and video productions related to recovery. Not just AA but all 12-Step programs, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. No charge, really! And not just Anonymous Review items, but productions from the dozens of other Recovery projects on the Internet.

To move forward with any of this, ANONYMOUS REVIEW needs to work within its means. Its means have always been meager, but now the means would mean to stop completely.

If you use or share the materials on this podcast site, please consider a small donation - $5 from the people who have downloaded programs would be great. $25 would pay three month's web hosting. $100 would sponsor the creation of the first disks for direct sale at a low price - like $5 plus shipping.

Yes, its the crude money-whine. If this project has to go away, I'll have to adjust myself to that reality.

If you agree with the purposes of ANONYMOUS REVIEW, please forward the blog address to those you think would be interested. This is not a Facebook "Post this to your status..." demand, but a request for help from those who would like to move the project forward.

Frustration on the Disks

I've staged four disks for the series I've mentioned for a long time. And suddenly the print-on-demand service I've been using decided it no longer wants to do Print-on-Demand html disks.

Poo.

I can set these up to download as .iso disk images for the geek, but what about the civilian working drunk? I can't afford to back runs of duplicated disks, then housing them and being a "business" of sales and fulfillment.

It's a shame because the disk means you can insert the disk, get 30-50 individual speaker files, in context, with a variety of supporting documents / movies, PDFs, text files, etc.

Sigh.  I will finish staging these disks and wait until some answer comes on how to get them out there.

Sometimes I have to wonder if I'm really wandering around the world with Asperberger's Syndrome and convinced things are important that no one else on the planet thinks is important. I fail in the basic diagnosis because I really do give a poop what other people think of the project - no so much of me. They know I'm nuts, so someone finding out I'm wacko is not a feared revelation.

But I think the idea has merit.

Oh well. Trudge, trudge, trudge.

The Disks

Anyone who has followed the Anonymous Review project for a while know that I have intended to issue some CDs - computer disks that open like a web page. The entire disk image will be downloaded from the Geek Page at Anonymous Review, and the first disk is available.


The first focused Geek Disk will be on Sponsorship, you can preview the new disk through a Geek Disk page. The disk includes 35 speakers on Sponsorship, 13 tools (text and PDF), and two special bookmarked PDF files with the first four sections of A RECOVERY READER, and a second bookmarked PDF with the Class section of A RECOVERY READER.

The intent for the Sponsorship disk is disk for Sponsors – or anyone seeking more background on Sponsorship – with

• a) a free disk image download through Sponsor Magazine, 
• b) a disk sold through our print-on-demand service (Lulu.com) which includes CD reproduction, and 
• c) Direct sale through a "Buy it Now" page on eBay.  

Price is $9 and the disk is issued under a Creative Commons, Share Alike, No Alerations, Non Profit license, meaning you can copy the disks to give others, download the MP3s to your computer player, your MP3 Player, or to burn as CDs for friends.

For SPONSOR MAGAZINE #3

We are trasnscribing comments from Dr. Harry Tieboult, one of AA's greatest non-alcoholic supporters in the critical first two decades. The talk was given in Long Beach at the AA International and it is not the full text of the speech, just a significant section on the "Self-Healing Ego."

Time to Start the New Podcasts

I've never been good with straight lines. I juggle and try to dance in my life.

So there will be two new podcast series.

Podcast #1 was the original Anonymous Review, based on AA Historyand key aspects of the 12-Step Recovery program.

Podcast #2 was 50 "Virtual Speaker Meetings" offering a dose of shared experience, strength and hope for people who need a meeting but can't get to one immediately.

All of those podcasts are available from archive.org. The links can be found at the home page, http::anonymsousreview.org.

Podcast #3 will deal with topics "In Depth" - the first one will examine Bill Wilson's story with extracts from his various talks to better understand "Bill's Story." That will take several podcasts. After than the intent is to examine individual Steps in Depth from various speakers.

Podcast #4 will be "Speaker in a Box" based on a format used by a local institution to provide meetings to its clients. It will consist of a suggested format for a small meeting where people already know each others story and need some fresh input by an outside speaker, or simply a continuation of the "Virtual Speaker Meeting" to provide speakers for people to use in their MP3 player, burn to CDs or listen live to their computer. A group is free to use or change any of the suggested format materials, or simply use the recorded talk as part of their existing format.

The entire Anonymous Review project is a result of one old drunk with a lot of gratitude and the ability to support the minimal costs of maintaining a website, the domain names from the limited Disability income. There has been a PayPal link on the website to donate to help the project with contributions, and that has produced exactly $0.00 in donations to date. I don't expect to make money on the project, but it would be nice if it were self supporting.

Trudge - "to advance with burden or obstacle."  Trudge, trudge, trudge, y'all.

PDF Problem for Second Issue Solved

The PDF for issue #2 ran into a problem during transfer of material from different programs into the final layout and all the diacritical marks for the French version of "The St. Francis Peace Pary" were garbled, making a complete hash of the text. Also, all quote marks went ka-blooey.

They are all repaired with a new version of the PDF is up at http://sponsormagazine.org and the corrected PDF will mean the printed copy with MagCloud will be corrected tonight.

Sorry for any problem.

Sponsor 2 - oops

There was a typesetting problem with Sponsor Magazine #2 so it is going back into layout to clear up the problem with quote marks and apostrophes. Sorry about that.  But a free download shouldn't be too difficult to correct. I'll post when the corrected version is up at http://sponsormagazine.org

Simplification?

I have been thinking - run for the hills.

So far, as Anonymous Review, there have been two volumes of podcasts over three years (77 individual podcasts), a booklet on Inventory, which was absorbed into A Recovery Reader, and the first issue of Sponsor Magazine was released (Issue #2 will be out the first week of June).     

A third volume of the podcast is in development, and a fourth podcast is in discussion.

The third podcast will topics in depth. For example: three or four podcasts with snippets from dozens of speakers on a single topic (such as a single Step); or a single personality telling his or her story in depth by pulling various recordings together (such as Bill Wilson). This may involve reducing the size of the podcast to 30 minutes creating many more podcasts to cover the material. But who's in a big rush? The working title is "_____ in Depth".

The fourth podcast would be a meeting format that was tried locally at a meeting which is no longer around. I do not think the meeting failed because of the concept, I think it failed because it was too closely linked to an institution and wasn't perceived as a "real" AA meeting. The format is called "Speaker in a Box" and offers a speaker recording for 25-30 minutes, followed by discussion. I am used to 90 minute meetings (out West), and locally meetings are 60 minutes. There would be materials for anyone to use Speaker in a Box for either time format and it would be published as podcasts to fit the format and provide topic. The vision is to provide smaller groups, who have heard each others story over and over, some fresh input from the wonderful speakers available - or to allow a tiny meeting with 3-4 people to enjoy the benefit of hearing speakers from around the world with thousands of flavor of recovery.

Such a format would allow the people running the group to pick and choose speakers (such as women or men only, particular classification speakers only, certain topics only) or to allow the random train of speakers you would get at any big-city AA Speaker Meeting. An optional format would be available as a PDF download. The format would not link the format to anything other than an optional meeting format for a group - it would not carry a brand. (Not "Anonymous Review" and not "Sponsor Magazine." but would be available through those sites.

But as all this is being done the question comes up: does any of this Keep it Simple?

As a whole we try to focus on particular aspects of recovery - our relationships, our money, our families, our job, our sex lives, our service work, but we have to do it all. Does this collection of projects need the same isolation? Does it make sense to make them simple with a "one site fits all" approach - go to one place, get access to everything and links to more?

As the producer/editor I am in a rare position where I can devote almost full time to these projects. I'm a bad capitalist because I'm not looking at ways to cash in on recovery - just want to contribute something while I'm still around.


Anonymous Review has been a wonderful project, but the phrase "anonymous review" has a very distinct meaning in academic circles ... to review a paper without identification to allow the reviewer more latitude to speak freely. But that also means when someone goes to a search engine to look for "Anonymous Review" they get 1,050,000 results - and my project doesn't show up until around page 15. (To be fair, if they enter "anonymousreview" the home page is the #1 result - right after they ask you if you meant to search for "anonymous review" as two words.)

I am wondering if it might serve this project better to bring everything under one banner - and that banner to be "Sponsor Magazine."  Sponsor Magazine is a project that has immediately shown that it "has legs" - it can get up and walk around on its own. It has been well received and some high-powered authors have made their material available for future issues. It is a free eZine - free to download and free to share with others - and has an option for a print-on-demand hard copy (which I think is overpriced, but some people prefer to hold the magazine in their hands). The articles for the second edition have just been edited and should be available the first week of June, and #3 is in process.

Would it be simpler to offer the magazine, to make the second edition of A Recovery Reader a project of Sponsor Magazine, and then do the new podcasts as Sponsor Magazine podcasts?

So far this has all been a tiny storm in my tiny little brain, so I am asking for your thoughts; first impressions and the more sober responses after some time reflecting on the idea. I know that alcoholics don't like change, but I'm feeling the Anonymous Review banner has too much baggage to make it useful. Sponsor Magazine seems to be moving under its own steam.

But therein lies the rub - that's what I think. And my thinking got me to AA.

What do you think?  Please feel free to respond by comment or by email.

Back into the World

After two surgeries and some health adventures, I'm back in and getting gearedup for the next round of ANONYMOUS REVIEW projects.

... The book A RECOVERY REVIEW is getting very nice support from the people who have been most important to me in the development of the project. Again - free to download, free to share, six editions for various uses, including a new ePub version, and an option to buy a hard copy from print-on-demand.

... The second issue of SPONSOR magazine will be out in June. Now accepting submittions for #4 and #5. Free to download, free to share, with an option to buy a hard copy from print-on-demand.

And the Anonymous Review Tweet was just revived. I haven't used it in a year or so it may take a bit to get back up to speed. And I will try to include the feed on this blog. Anyone have any suggestions on how to do that?

A Pause in Access

The websites for anonymousrview.org and sponsormagazine.org are down at the moment - migrating to a new hosting agreement. Should be back up and working within 24 hours.

How to Reach Writers

I have some submission guidelines put together and am trying to find the right places to post them. The idea is to attract people who actually write, finish what they write, and let other people see what they have to offer.

Unfortunately, I am completely capable of writing lots of stuff to fill up the pages of the new print ANONYMOUS REVIEW, but the then I am not surprised. It is all one flavor. It is boring. And it may not be a flavor someone needs to read at that particular moment.

Any suggestions of places to post a call for submissions would be greatly appreciated.

Print Version of Anonymous Review

From the beginning a magazine for Anonymous Review as planned, and it is time to make that real. I am issues a call for submissions and if you have any good ideas on how to reach authors involved with 12-Step work, I'd love to hear it. Guidelines for articles, prose, poetry, cartoons and photos are now available.

Anonymous Review on Facebook

I've never been an early adopter. I don't try the new thing right off ... I let it settle a bit and let other people tell me about there experience. And I was not happy with MySpace ... just too old, I guess.

But a friend told me about Facebook, and after two years with my personal account, I decided to go to a Facebook page for Anonymous Review. Go to http://www.facebook.com/pages/Anonymous-Review/180948351923961 and send a friend request.

Couldn't hurt.