Several years ago my sister-in-law sent a text to her children when their grandfather passed away. It said, “Grandpa just died. LOL, Mom.” Coming from the SWAK generation (Sealed with a Kiss), I knew she meant “Lots of Love”. To the children’s horror, they thought she meant “Laughing out Loud”. You can imagine how that played out. In Al-Anon, we use many acronyms, especially in service and it can be daunting to the most seasoned member, let alone the newcomer. When I was new to service I was too embarrassed to ask anyone what these acronyms meant so I collected my own little list, which I’m going to share here. I will add to it as I uncover new ones. I hope they help.
AAPP Area Alateen Process Person
AFG Al-Anon Family Group
AIS Al-Anon Information Service
AISL Al-Anon Information Service Liaison
AMIAS Al-Anon Member Involved in Alateen Service
AWSC Area Word Service Committee
BOT Board of Trustees
CAL Conference Approved Literature
CMA Current Mailing Address
COB Chairman of the Board
CPC Cooperating with the Professional Community
DR District Representative
GR Group Representative
GSO General Service Office
HP Higher Power
IAGSM International Al-Anon General Services Meeting
ISR Information Service Representative
KBDM Knowledge Based Decision Making
LDC Literature Distribution Center
PI Public Information
PO Public Outreach
PSA Public Service Announcement
RT Regional Trustee
SAC Service Action Committee
TAL Trustee at Large
WSC World Service Conference
WSO Word Service Office
Chris C., Utah Area Website (Utah-Al-Anon.org)
May reprint with attribution