Onward&

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We did it stl 2030

On Monday, October 29, 2018, Eastern Missouri delegate Ian S. received the call from representatives of the General Service Board letting him know that the bid from St. Louis was accepted for the 2030 International Convention.  This altered a process that had started in 1993 by the late Virginia “Ginny” J. and the late Ed M., who wanted our fellowship to revisit the principles established at our 1955 International Convention in St. Louis on its 50th Anniversary.  Alcoholics Anonymous Comes of Age: a Brief History of AA gives a detailed account of the event and what transpired, along with the many in attendance who helped shape our fellowship, and what they did for us.

St. Louis bid for the 2005 and 2025 events before succussfully bidding on the 2030 event.   While interest in hosting the event never waned within the fellowship, drastic improvements to Downtown St. Louis after 2005, plus a new level of assertiveness from the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Bureau and Downtown STL, inc. have made St. Louis a viable candidate.

Those invovlved in St. Louis AA are ecstatic about hosting the 2030 International Convention.   Many can’t wait, but unfortunately they’ll have to.   Unlike all the local conventions that require work and adminsistration throughout the year, the International Convention is almost entirely conducted between the event management company (Talley Management Group) and Explore STL, (the St. Louis Convention Bureau) with direction from the General Service Office.   Local participation won’t begin until a host committee chairperson is appointed by Eastern Area of Missouri, probably a few years before the event (2028).

Special Thanks goes out to everyone that helped:   Explore St. Louis staff, Downtown STL, Inc. , all the Downtown St. Louis hotel Staff that showed support at the arch grounds on July 12th,

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Downtown Hotel Management and Staff, plus 2 drunks

the Soul Cracker Band, and all those AA members (who shall remain anonymous) that attended informational meetings, visited groups, passed out flyers, and helped plan the BIG EVENT on July 11th.   This was a BIG WIN for the region and was a major GROUP EFFORT, just like AA itself.

There are rumblings within the fellowship about a celebration, or possibly holding another event like our 2018 Street Party Extravaganza each year as a reminder, and really, as time and place for St. Louis and Southern Illinois AA to come together and have fun!   Keep an eye out for news…….

YAY STL!!!!

Downtown Trip Planning

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With the STREET PARTY EXTRAVAGANZA just street party parkingdays away,   people are talking to me a lot about their plans to fill up cars, hop on the train and more.   People are asking a lot about parking.

Parking

Saint Louis downtown has more parking garages than just about any other major city, so parking shouldn’t be a problem at all.   The 9th Street Garage entry is at 923 Olive St. which can be accessed from 11th street or Tucker (would be 12th street) .   The Convention Bureau also pointed out that there is a great parking garage at the MX – south of Washington on 7th Street.

Sharing

So now is the time to talk to your homies about doing this party TOGETHER and sharing transportation.   In the modern world, we tend to isolate more when we drive, compared to years ago when more people shared rides.   Enjoying the ride downtown with friends would be a much better way to enjoy the event and stick together.  DO IT NOW!

Metrolink

Walk the Walk to the Street Party

For those taking the Metrolink, the closest stop is 8th and Pine — 2 short blocks away.   Its a beautiful walk too, seeing the fully restored Arcade Buliding, then the fully restored Old Post Office on the left.  We’ll have greeters pointing the way to make sure people don’t get lost in those two short blocks.

Free Ride!

For those of you coming from Illinois, there’s a free bus ride leaving St. Clair Sq. for 56 lucky partiers!   Contact us at 314-884-8599 for a connection.

Come Hungry!!!!

The Convention Bureau has 5-6 Foodtrucks there to make sure we can enjoy the event and have dinner downtown — just like Food Truck Friday’s!    There is a minimum that these trucks have to make, otherwise the cost will be more, so please support the vendors if you can.

Arrival Time

Getting downtown is different from going to the local Applebees.   We’d like EVERYONE there by 7pm, and volunteers to arrive by 6pm.   Add an extra 10-15 minutes to account for parking / walking etc.

There’s no other major event downtown that night, so things shouldn’t be too busy.  Call us at 314-884-8599 if you have any questions!

Meeting Makers……WE NEED YOU!!!

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Meeting makers have always been popular in AA, and we definately like em.     How else would our flyer for the STREET PARTY EXTRAVAGANZA get out.   Sort of like bee’s pollinating flowers, meeting makers can help us with the vital leg work to help us bring folks downtown and help bring the 2030 International Convention home for the 75th Anniversary DIAMOND JUBILEE of the 1955 Convention in St. Louis.

SIGN UP TO HELP GET the WORD out!

We Have Talent

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rock band promo

The makings of a good party has always been great music – all the way back to the days of Mozart.

Today we had a talk with the band.

Just like our event is getting better, so is the talent.

Without naming anyone, we got word that our band was bringing some friends along for the show that were no strangers to the doors of AA.   I’m more pumped up than ever.

Our goal is to get the 2030 International Convention here in St. Louis, but its ok if we have a little fun while we’re at it…..right?

Busy Week it HAS BEEN

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street party flyer 2Getting ready for the Eastern Area Assembly this weekend and thinking about how much we’ve accomplished in the past 7 days!!!

Last Saturday we held our
first planning committee meeting where we selected an Area 21 Liason, four donation / volunteer committee members (two from each area), and made some important decisions about funds and what we should cover.   Great Stuff!  Lots of people came out and we should be well taken care of.

Sunday we locked in on a GREAT ROCK BAND!!!   The Soul Crackers

Monday we wrote and submitted a Gratitude Gazette article about the progress of late.

Thursday we (FINALLY) completed a flyer for the STREET PARTY EXTRAVAGANZA.

Today (Friday) we visited the Old Post Office Plaza to think about how we may be setting things up and taking advantage of the awesome space!

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Eastern View from OPO Plaza
OPO Plaza 1
Northern View from Old Post Office

All the days and times between, we’ve been in constant communication with the committee and with the Convention & Visitors Commission (Explore St. Louis) to parse out responsibilities and figure things out.

As alway, email the committee at info@2030InternationalSTL.com or leave a message at 314-884-8599 to discuss anything about the event and PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE print out the street party flyer (<<<link to pdf file) and bring it to your meetings so EVERYONE gets it, not just the electronically inclined 😃