A place to start.
A way forward.

Recovery Gala is an evening set aside to celebrate recovery, express gratitude, and get to know one another across fellowships. The hope is to leave feeling encouraged, with new friendships and a wider circle of people who understand the recovery journey.

It carries the warmth of dinner after a meeting, with time deliberately made for a shared celebration and unhurried conversation. This is a social gathering, not a fellowship meeting: there’s no meeting format or expectation to tell your story.

Fellows from any 12-step fellowship are welcome. There is absolutely no abstinence or sobriety requirement to attend—just membership in a 12-step fellowship. Website membership still requires the organizer’s separate approval. You can keep your fellowship private, leave that RSVP field blank, and use a nickname. The gathering is independently organized and does not represent any fellowship.

Signing in verifies that you can receive a code at your email address. Your RSVP records whether you hope to attend and your preferences. Membership is the organizer’s separate approval decision.

RSVPing Yes does not automatically approve membership. RSVPing No does not cancel membership. An approved member can still answer Maybe or No.

Yes. Approved members can use “Invite a friend” and either email it through the site or copy its link into a message. Each invitation names the member who created it. Anyone with that link can view it, so share it thoughtfully.

Your friend signs in, saves an RSVP, and requests the organizer’s approval in the usual way. An invitation does not grant automatic membership. We record which invitation led someone to sign in and RSVP; the inviter sees counts, and the organizer can review referrals. An inviter can turn off a link at any time. This does not remove accounts or RSVPs already created.

Yes. On an iPhone, open the site in Safari, tap Share, then choose “Add to Home Screen.” The shortcut uses our rosette icon and the name “Recovery Gala”; you can edit the name before adding it.

The saved app opens the homepage. Use the app’s navigation bar to go home, return to a previous site page, open the Pages menu, or reload. Photos and videos have a Close button; the PDF reader has “Back to chat.” If you’re asked to sign in, use your usual email address to return to your RSVP and membership.

Enter your email address and we’ll send a six-digit code. Enter it in the same browser where you requested it. The code expires after 10 minutes and can be used once.

There’s no password to remember. Your email address identifies your account, so use the same address when you return. Signing in restores your existing RSVP and membership status.

We send your sign-in email immediately, with no intentional delay. Your email provider may take a little longer to process it or place it in your inbox. Check the email address you entered, then look in spam, junk, and All Mail. If needed, use “Send a new code” on the verification page.

Use the newest code: requesting a replacement invalidates the older one. Keep the browser that requested it open and enter the code there. If a code expires, request another. If the site asks you to wait after repeated attempts, give it a little time before trying again.

Logged in only

Your email is verified, but membership has not been requested or granted.

Awaiting approval

Your membership request is waiting for the organizer’s review.

Approved member

The organizer has approved your membership. This does not set your attendance answer or mean a venue has been booked.

Currently denied

The organizer has denied membership for now. You can still update your RSVP and request another review.

We immediately notify the organizer by email when you request membership or ask for another review. He reviews each request personally and will do so promptly, without undue delay. Approval is not automatic.

Yes. While signed in, you can change your name or nickname, attendance answer, preferred time, preferred location, fellowship, and note. This is available in every membership state, including awaiting approval and currently denied.

A nickname or name and a Yes, Maybe, or No answer are required. Nicknames are welcome and encouraged to respect 12-step anonymity; use the name you’d like us to call you. Use up to 30 characters: letters, numbers, spaces, periods, apostrophes, or hyphens. # is reserved for chat tags. The other RSVP fields are optional. For fellowship, you can use abbreviations such as AA, OA, NA, or GA, and list more than one. Like your other RSVP answers, this is visible only to you and the organizer. Saving changes does not automatically appeal a denial. Your sign-in email is your account identity; changing it or merging accounts is not available here.

Change any RSVP field to enable the save button. “Fill out your RSVP” means you haven’t entered any answers yet. “RSVP already sent” means the form matches your saved answers. If you undo all your edits, there’s nothing new to save.

If you’ve already saved an RSVP, “Undo changes” appears while you have unsaved edits. It restores all the saved answers loaded on this page without submitting anything, sending email, adding history, or using your hourly allowance. It isn’t shown before your first RSVP is saved, and it doesn’t undo a version you’ve already submitted.

You can save up to five changed RSVPs in any rolling hour, across all your signed-in sessions. Unchanged answers and invalid submissions don’t count. If you reach the limit, we keep your edits on the page and show the exact time you can try again. Leave the page open so you don’t lose those unsaved edits. Your last saved RSVP remains in effect.

Yes. The decision may be a mistake. On your RSVP page, choose “Ask for another review.” You may include a note, but you do not need to give a reason or share personal recovery details.

Submitting that request returns your membership to Awaiting approval. You can continue to update your RSVP while the organizer reviews it.

Yes. The organizer can review any verified guest account, including an account that has not submitted an RSVP yet. They can approve a pending or denied account, or change an approved membership to denied.

Membership and your RSVP remain separate. Changing a decision does not erase your saved answers.

Your RSVP is visible to you and the organizer. It is not shared with other guests. The organizer page shows your most recent RSVP.

On your own RSVP page, open “RSVP history” to see your full saved versions, newest first. The version marked Current is your authoritative saved answer. Older versions remain available for you to review. Updating an answer does not erase that history.

Yes. The organizer receives a BCC copy of every site email, including sign-in codes, RSVP confirmations, membership messages, and organizer notifications. This means the organizer can see the sign-in codes sent to you.

Each changed save queues its own confirmation for immediate sending, with no intentional delay. Your email provider may take a little longer to process it or place it in your inbox; check spam or junk if you don’t see it. The site retries temporary delivery failures.

Saving the same answers again does not send another email. An “Email sent” status means the email provider accepted the message, not a guarantee that it is already in your inbox. Your saved RSVP remains available on the site even if email delivery is delayed.

You stay signed in for one year unless you log out or clear this browser’s cookies. Logout ends the session in this browser immediately. Your RSVP, history, and membership stay saved. A session expiring has the same effect on access: simply sign in again with the same email address.

You return to your saved membership stage. You do not need to RSVP or request membership again, and logging out does not cancel anything.

Approved members share one chat room, with text, photos, short videos, and PDFs. PDFs show a preview of their first page, and videos show their first frame. Tap a photo to view it or a video to play it without leaving the chat. Closing the viewer stops playback. PDFs open in a reader with page controls, zoom, and “Back to chat.” Your conversation position and unsent draft stay in place. “Scroll to bottom” brings the conversation to its latest message. New messages and changes appear automatically while the room is open. Add a nickname or name to your RSVP before posting. First-come nicknames appear on their own. Later duplicates receive a short #tag so you can tell people apart. Your earlier handles remain reserved for you if you change your nickname. Your email address and RSVP answers are not shared in the room.

A nickname change updates the name on all your old messages. You can remove your own messages and choose “Restore” to bring them back. The organizer can remove or restore any message or room notice. If the organizer removes a message or chooses “Keep removed,” only the organizer can restore it.

A “[Message removed]” marker remains with its author. The content and media become unavailable through the chat and are retained in private storage; restoring the message makes them visible again. Earlier messages can be loaded in the conversation.

Only approved members can read the chat and its attachments. Signing out or losing approval ends that access. Chat messages do not send email notifications. There are no private messages, reactions, or read receipts.

Hosted and fully paid for by a grateful fellow. Dinner and all gala expenses are covered. There’s no charge to attend—just bring yourself.

No payment or contribution is expected. Any support you choose to give a fellowship is entirely optional and separate from attending the gala.

If you wish and are able, you can support a fellowship you belong to. The Seventh Tradition expresses self-support through members’ voluntary contributions; follow each fellowship’s own guidelines.

Approved gala members can find contribution information on our Fellowships page. You can also support your home group or local service body directly. Recovery Gala collects no money and does not track donations.

Event details are available after you sign in. The final time and place are still to be decided; your RSVP preferences will help shape the plans.

Your RSVP preferences remain private to you and the organizer, even when you use the members’ chat.