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After Bill W.’s visit to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1943, a lasting friendship and productive correspondence developed between him and Nic N. of Oakland. Nic had a brother and sister who lived in Washington, D.C. Each year he made at least one trip East to visit them; and while there, he visited Bill and Lois at their home in New York State. Much of their correspondence concerned Bill’s plan for what later developed into the General Service Conference.

Late in 1946, Bill wrote to Nic, suggesting a division of North America into four sections from which delegate representation could be developed to facilitate contact with the Headquarter's Office in New York. Bill suggested that the South West Quadrant consist of California, Arizona, Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, Utah, Nevada and Hawaii and the North West Quadrant include North and South Dakota, Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, Alaska and the provinces of Western Canada. Nic was a member of the San Francisco Group, and he discussed Bill’s suggestions with the San Francisco and Oakland Central Committees. They tried to contact representatives in parts of the South West Quadrant, but the AA members in Southern California were non-responsive.

At this time, many requests for information about group operation and personal pleas for help were pouring into the San Francisco and Oakland post office boxes. In fact, there was a problem solving/solution meeting at the Oakland Alano Club in early 1945. In attendance were the representatives from the approximately thirty active groups in Northern California. In June 1946, Oakland opened its first Central Office; and in January 1947, the San Francisco Central Office was established. Out of the discussions that began in 1945, a decision was made to form some sort of informational organization for AA groups in Northern California.

Among those involved in these discussions were:
From San Francisco:	John C. Fred C. Ray H. Bob G. Pete B. Les F. Don H. Clarence R.
From Oakland:	Nic N.
From Alameda:	Ed A.
From Marin County:	Horace B.
From Palo Alto:	Dave D.
From Sacramento:	Ray P. Vic S.