WHAT I LEARNED: 1. Just like group meetings, district meetings can vary widely.  Hence the autonomousness nature of the program (see Tradition 4).

2. FYI: The Greek word autonomos means “having one’s own laws,” from autos: “self” & nomos: “law.”  That’s your word origin of the day! 🤓

━━━━━▼━━━━━

**UPDATE (5/5/17): This guideline was revised in 2014 & the changes are substantial & seem to offer more clarity.  Listed below are a few update examples:

• • • An explanation of the District Representative’s & Group Representative’s roles now appears at the top.
    • Sections of the “Al-Anon/Alateen Service Manual” (item # P-24/27) that were previously mentioned as “Part II” & “Part II” are now specified as: “Groups at Work” & “Digest of Al-Anon & Alateen Policies.”
    • Sending meeting reminders via “postcards” now says: “via e-mails, text messages, or phone calls.” 
    • There’s a reference to the World Service Conference (WSC) summaries being available on the “Members’ Web site.”
    • The reference to the guideline “Taking A Group Inventory” has been updated to reflect that it is now in 2 parts: “G-8a & 8b.”
    • The World Service Office’s (WSO’s) website address (www.al-anon.alateen.org) now appears for the first time on this guideline at the bottom of page 2. 

My favorite line is: “Keep it fun!  Make it interesting!”

If you’d like to see all the changes that were made, I’ve highlighted them on this 2014 Version of G-15.

━━━━━▼━━━━━

2021 Version

***UPDATE (10/13/21): This guideline has been recently revised in 2021 & the changes seem to be for clarification purposes & keeping up with the latest trends in technology.  Listed below are a few update examples:

• • • The reference to the “Group e-News” newsletter has now been changed to: “In The Loop.”
    • The word “district” is now capitalized.
    • The words “web site” & “e-mail” now appear as one word: “website” & “email.”
    • A reference to the “Members’ Web site” has been replaced with the World Service Office’s (WSO’s) shortened website address: al-anon.org – without the “www” prefix oh by the way – & it’s a clickable link which is a first I’ve seen on a guideline!!! 🎉
    • Both the shortened WSO website & the email address (wso@al-anon.org) now appear for the first time on this guideline at the bottom of page 2. 

Maybe on future updates, anytime another guideline is referenced within the text, hopefully it will be a clickable link since WSO’s hyperlink addresses for the guidelines don’t change even though the documents behind them do.  It would be nice to see these guidelines a little more interactive – just sayin’!

If you’d like to see all the changes that were made, I’ve highlighted them on this 2021 Version of G-15.  And a clean, unmarked electronic copy of this new 2021 version can be downloaded directly from the World Service Office website by clicking this link: G-15 Guideline