Originally Posted by
sailorjohn 
Last thought, have never heard of an Alanon meeting either advertised or introduced as being 'closed'.
They don't generally advertise meetings as "closed" meetings, but all the schedules state that "All meetings are closed unless labeled 'open'" - of course some meetings enforce this more than others, too.
Part of this, of course, may be because Al-Anon is more of a "wide reaching" program than AA. What I mean is, in AA you have to at least have an "alcohol problem," whereas in Al-Anon you just need to
know someone with an alcohol problem. If could be anyone - spouse, child, parent, friend, co-worker, boss, underling, neighbor, cousin, aunt, anyone - as long as the alcoholism is affecting you, you're welcome to attend.
I would also wager than 98% of the population of the world knows at least one person with an "alcohol problem" - it's such a prevalent disease - but whether or not you recognize it as such depends upon how close you get to the disease. There's obviously a giant difference between spouse/parent/child and "that new guy who works with Joe in Accounting".