s m i c y p a a . o r g

What are SMICYPAA and ICYPAA?

In 1958, young people in A.A. from the U.S. and Canada met for a convention. This convention became known as the International Conference of Young People in Alcoholics Anonymous, or ICYPAA. It has met in a different city each year since then. The purpose of ICYPAA is to celebrate sobriety among young people, the young at heart, and to carry the A.A. message. Since its inception, ICYPAA has depended on A.A.'s three legacies of Recovery, Unity, and Service in order to survive. Click here to be read ICYPAA's Facts, Aims, and Purposes.

For the conference to come to a particular city, a bid committee must be formed in that city. The goal of a bid committee is, obviously, to get the next year's ICYPAA to come to their city. Chair positions are formed and elected, and events are held in order to gain funding for the necessities that are required for the conference to come to that particular city. This brings us to SMICYPAA.

SMICYPAA stands for "Show Me ICYPAA." We're aware that that is putting an acronym within an acronym, but we're doing the best we can. As you might have guessed, SMICYPAA is the bid committee for Missouri, sometimes called the "Show Me State." Basically, we want to bring ICYPAA to St. Louis. Our meetings are held in St. Louis, Missouri, on the first Saturday on every month. We meet at the Central Services building located at Manchester and Big Bend Road (see directions on front page). We have outreach events going on once a month, so come and join us.

Do you follow A.A. traditions and procedures?

Yes. With respect to SMICYPAA, the answer can be found in its Procedures Manual, specifically, the Statement of Purpose, which includes the following: “The Show Me ICYPAA Bid Committee (“Bid Committee”) shall be ever governed by the ideals expressed in the Twelve Traditions, the Twelve Concepts and the A.A. Service Manual.” With respect to ICYPAA, the answer can be found in its Bylaws under the heading “Structure” which states: “It is suggested that all members of ICYPAA conduct themselves within the 12 steps, 12 Traditions, and 12 Concepts of Alcoholics Anonymous.” The Bylaws go on to provide: “The Archivist shall at all times act in accordance with the Twelve Traditions, being especially concerned with protecting members' anonymity, and in accordance with the Twelve Concepts for World Service, exercising appropriate authority while always remaining accountable to the guidance of the Advisory Council.”

What are the requirements for bidding?

The following is a list of requirements that bidders must fulfill and present to the ICYPAA Advisory Council at each year's Conference. Bidders are asked to advise the Advisory Council Chairperson at least 30 days prior to the Conference of their intent to bid. If you have any questions, please write to the P.O. Box, or to the website listed below.

• Three AA members with a minimum of one year of sobriety must represent the bidding committee. Bids must be presented in a manner that is consistent with the 12 Traditions of AA. Each bidding committee will be allowed 20 minutes for their presentation. Bidders also may elect a Bid Committee Representative as its representative for the site selection deliberation. The Bid Committee Representative must meet the criteria outlined below.
• Bidders must have commitments from at least two appropriate facilities (hotels, universities, convention centers, gymnasiums, etc.) so sized as to be able to accommodate the entire Conference. Please include the proposed dates and diagrams of the available meeting space. All costs, both to the Committee and to the attendee, must be outlined.
• Bidders must have available a temporary pre-registration flyer with a mailing address.
• To ensure that ICYPAA operates in the spirit of cooperation, bid committees will show that no large-scale AA activity will be held in their city 30 days prior and 30 days after the proposed Conference dates. This should be demonstrated with a letter from the AA Area Chairperson, and a list of any large-scale AA events and activities that are scheduled near the proposed Conference dates.
• Prospective bidders will be required to provide financial records from committee activities, demonstrating financial autonomy and responsibility within the spirit of AA's Twelve Traditions.
• The Committee must advise the ICYPAA Advisory Council that they have compiled the necessary research to determine the effects of federal, state, provincial or local tax laws on the Conference, should they be awarded the conference.
• Prospective bidders must read, understand and be prepared to agree with the requirements as written in the Host Committee Responsibilities.
• Bidders must provide a concise statement illustrating their reasons for bidding.

Keeping this in mind, experience has shown that the long holiday weekends are good dates for ICYPAA, allowing extra time for travel.

Committees who meet all of the Bidding Requirements are encouraged to send a representative (BCR) to participate in the site selection, where they will have a voice and a vote. The BCR must have been actively involved in their committee's bid, have at least 2 years of continuous sobriety and have a service background. BCR's should be fully informed on all of the bids. They will have right of decision, and should be aware that the commitment that they undertake includes participating in the open-forum discussion (two minutes per person; two rounds of discussion) and participating in the 3rd Legacy vote that follows. BCRs should be prepared to vote for a city other than their own in the event that their own city is eliminated from the ballot. In the event of a tie after the fourth or fifth round of voting, the winning city will be pulled from the hat after the Saturday night meeting.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

International Conference of Young People in AA - Advisory Council
P.O. Box 46078, Denver, Colorado 80201
Email: advisory@icypaa.org

How do I get on the contact list?

Send us an email with your contact information. Make the subject line say something along the lines of "Addition to the SMICYPAA contact list", or you could just click that handy email link in the first sentence of this paragraph.

What the heck is this .PDF file?

The files that you want to look at on our site are PDFs. PDF is short for "Portable Document Format", which Adobe created to allow the Formatting of Portable Documents. Clever, eh? The point is, it makes it easy for you to read our stuff. To be able to see these files, you need the Adobe PDF Reader, which is conveniently free. Get it here.

Is ICYPAA part of A.A.?

According to A.A.'s co-founder, Bill W., and G.S.O., yes. See letter from Bill W. to ICYPAA dated June 12, 1969, letter from G.S.O.'s General Manager dated October 15, 1998 responding to a query regarding ICYPAA, and letter from Lois of the G.S.O. staff dated March 19, 1991 responding directly to this question.

Is ICYPAA an A.A. event?

Yes; for instance, although not an endorsement, you'll find ICYPAA listed on the Grapevine Calendar of Events.

How can I help?

Want to help? Drop us an email. Come to our business meeting on the first Saturday on every month, and/or come to our outreach events.