Conference Calls

LifeRing member Mona H., who also serves as our East Coast Coordinator of Outreach, has been using a combination of old and new technology to provide a new way for members to meet together and support one another. Using an Internet conference call website, interested members can dial a number on their telephone to get to the website’s automated system, and then enter a code to become part of the group call. Regular long-distance rates apply, but there is no extra charge for it being a conference call.

The “Sunday Call meeting” began 3 years ago within the LSRsafe e-mail group and runs in the same way as a ‘How was your Week’ Lifering FTF meeting. She’s expanded the concept to the LifeRing Convenor’s e-mail group, offering a chance for convenors to come together on the phone, exchange ideas, and support one another.

The LifeRing Board of Directors has recently been holding their monthly meetings by conference call and most participants seem to prefer it to the ‘chat’ (group instant-messaging) format that has been used in the past.

Mona publishes information about the calls a day or two ahead of time in the appropriate e-mail group to remind people of the time and phone number involved.The call format has been warmly received as an outreach for recovering people too far from Lifering meetings, yet needing contact with others in a more direct way than the internet allows. The participants feel more groups would benefit from this and encourage more convenors to start additional call times and convene more call meetings. Mona can be reached with questions or comments at LSR.East@gmail.com .