This guide provides essential protocols for service teams facilitating Newcomer meetings during the convention.

Newcomers and returnees with 90 days or less in OA are enthusiastically invited to join the Convention free of charge through the Newcomer Welcome Center.

Technical & Pre-Meeting Setup

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Multilingual and Interpretation Protocol

• Breakout Room Note: Zoom breakout rooms do NOT have a language interpretation function.
• Multilingual Support (Español, Français, German, Greek, Portuguese):

• Secure a bilingual speaker to be present in the Newcomer Welcome Center at least 15 minutes before your meeting begins.
• It is strongly recommended that this fellow remain in the Newcomer Welcome Center throughout your meeting to assist with multilingual queries, but do your best to secure this support.
• If you are unable to secure a bilingual speaker, please reach out to us and we will attempt to find a volunteer.

• Fellows’ Translation Tool: Explain that fellows have the option to use the Full Transcript View setting in Zoom. This feature allows them to read the meeting text in the language of their choice via immediate translation. This enables participants to attend meetings in any language and still receive the content.

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Meeting Flow and Content

• Security Note: The main security measures for the meeting are managed by the Host in the Newcomer Welcome Center. The chat is open, and fellows are permitted to unmute themselves. Reach out to the Host if you require assistance.
• Script Usage (Reference Only): Use 1) the basic script (opening and closing) or 2) the full generic script, available in English and Espanol, for reference (to cull talking points) if you wish. The full generic script has some dead links and should be used for reference only.  Your meeting is autonomous—feel free to run it as your team sees fit. Contact for script access: pipochair1@oavirtualregion.org

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Data Collection & Post-Meeting Actions

• Attendance Count: Assign one team member to count the total attendees and the total number of newcomers at the height (peak attendance) of the meeting.

• Instruct newcomers to raise their hands at the height of the meeting for an accurate count.

• Reporting Data: Assign a team member to transmit this attendance data to the PIPO chair via one of the following prioritized methods:

• Post the data in the designated WhatsApp group.
• Inform the Zoom Host in the Newcomer Welcome Center directly.
• Email the data to pipochair1@oavirtualregion.org.

• Closing Instructions: After your meeting formally ends, instruct fellows who are remaining for the open house on how to:

• Select another newcomer meeting.
• Return to the Newcomer Welcome Center.
• Register for the full convention. Newcomers and returnees with 90 days or less in OA are enthusiastically invited to join the Convention free of charge through the Newcomer Welcome Center. 

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