Tradition 11 · November 19

By Episode Forty

Daily Traditions · November 19

How a group breaks it

Two members start a podcast, because the meeting genuinely changed their lives and they happen to be good at talking. They record after the Thursday meeting in the same hall, and they name it after the group, because that is where it happened and calling it anything else would feel like a lie. It is good. People in three countries listen. By episode forty there is a sponsor read at the top for a sleep supplement — thirty seconds, and it covers the hosting. Nobody got rich. Nobody claimed A.A. endorsed anything. But there is now a commercial product advertised on a programme carrying an A.A. group's name, recorded in the room where that group meets, by two men who open every episode by identifying themselves as members. Every single step was small enough to say yes to. The long form (Big Book, p. 565) asks that our public relations "should be guided by the principle of attraction rather than promotion" — and by episode forty, the thing being promoted was not A.A.

Sit with

Every step was small enough to say yes to, and by episode forty the thing being promoted was not A.A. What have I agreed to in increments that I would have refused if it had arrived all at once?

Grounded in: Long form, Tradition 11.

Tradition 11

"Our public relations policy is based on attraction rather than promotion; we need always maintain personal anonymity at the level of press, radio and films."

Read the Long Form (pp. 563–566). The short form on pp. 561–562 is the one everybody quotes — but the Long Form is where the Traditions actually say what they mean. Tradition 3's "no other affiliation" clause, for instance, exists only in the Long Form. That single clause is why no treatment centre can own an A.A. group. Most of what circulates online skips it.

And a distinction worth keeping straight: the Traditions are governance, not theology. They bind A.A. groups and the Fellowship — not individuals, and not outside businesses. They were adopted in 1950 to keep A.A. from being owned or co-opted. They are not a rulebook for your personal life.

What the Traditions actually say → The Long Form, p. 563 → Search the Big Book → Every day this month →

Ask Recovery Einstein about Tradition 11 → Get the app →

← November 18It Was Tottering and It Had to Fall Tradition 11All of November November 20 →The Machine Only Carries the Ones Who Do

Daily Traditions is an independent educational resource from Recovery Starts — not official A.A. literature, not affiliated with Alcoholics Anonymous World Services, and not medical advice. The Twelve Traditions are the property of A.A. Page references are to Alcoholics Anonymous (the Big Book), 4th Edition: short form 561–562, long form 563–566. If you're in crisis, call or text 988 (Suicide & Crisis Lifeline).