The Girl Talk conference began in 1988 in Dallas, Texas when Vannoy S, Suzy J, and Kaye G decided that the Dallas and Fort Worth area could benefit from a woman’s Al-Anon and AA conference. They chose a place outside of Dallas called Lake Levon. In 2001, the Dallas conference was moved to Hawkins, Texas, due to some scheduling conflicts.
Fast forward to 2004 when Dannielle H-T was a speaker at the 2004 Michigan Al-Anon Convention. One of our founding board members, Steffi K, befriended her and later attended the Dallas Girl Talk Conference in October of the same year. At that conference, Vannoy S suggested that a Girl Talk conference be started in Michigan with seed money from the Dallas group (this money is not to be paid back but paid forward so that other Girl Talk groups can be started). With that inspiration, upon returning home, excited with the unique quality discovered in Dallas, Steffi enlisted Kathy W (formerly Kathy H) who started researching the possibilities & helped gather a full board of directors. Planning continued in 2005, and our first conference was held in January 2006, at Colombiere Conference Center in Clarkston, Michigan.
This conference started like most women’s conferences – out of a need. Women of AA and Al-Anon can come together to get away for a weekend free from all the worries and cares of home and work. A place to come and share with other women what recovery has meant to them, from both sides. A place where women can share feelings and ideas on a deeper level than what could be shared in a regular hour-long meeting. Even the speakers that have been asked to come can share on certain situations that they might not share in a regular conference because there is no taping and no men.
There are many bonuses that come out of these weekends. AA and Al-Anon women find out that they are not so different. Whether the medication be people, places or things like alcohol we find that fears are fears and pain is pain. Due to low self-esteem and low self-worth, some of us women have forgotten or maybe never even had the chance to learn how to be women. From actions to appearances, these things can be learned at conferences such as these. Let us not forget the fun and the laughter, from playing games, from staying up too late, getting up too early and the skits and games that the board members and trustees dare to put on.
Some of the ways this is accomplished is by setting the tone of the conference in as safe and lovely a manner as possible. It is a primary objective of all board members and trustees. Out of this have come traditions such as following the Twelve Traditions of AA and Al-Anon. These traditions have been tried over the years and found to work best for this conference and are not to be changed. Maintaining these traditions also helps to keep the operating of the conference simple.
Have a great conference!