Participation

CouchSurfing is made possible by the members. Get involved.

The CSC, with the support of the community launched v. 2.0
How we did it!

You may have seen the webcam during the rebuild and relaunch and wondered who are all those crazy people? And what were they doing? Don't they sleep? Some people you saw once, some people you saw ALL the time, some people you wish you could have seen a little more of more of... and some people you may have never seen on cam, but they rock none the less!

This is the crew that helped launch Version 2.0. If you want to put a face with a name, send a shout-out, or just find out what they did, read on:

Alex Goldman United States Florida Gainesville "Designing and writing content for the CS organizational model, the Human Resources page, the Sugar (volunteer management software) tutorial, enhancement proposals, the CS survey instrument, editing copy and resident contrarian. The resident "Muffin Man" cooked muffins for breakfast every morning." Aldo Golja Netherlands Zuid-Holland Rotterdam Jesse Fenton United States Massachusetts Boston DUKE Finland Etela-Suomen Laani Helsinki "Provided community support by monitoring and responding to websites, posts and e-mails. Worked with the Collective in realizing the mission of 2.0." Allan Grant United States California San Francisco "Arrived at the Collective with great skills and a team behind him. Worked on programming, designing and creating a proposal for the Community-Driven Development project. He extended his stay in Montreal in order to help launch Version 2.0." Allain "Helped keeps the community communication going by responding to posts and e-mails. Brought breakfast and office supplies to the crew at the Collective." Amylin Loglisci France Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur Avignon "I helped with the re-design for 2.0, made the flashy new CS logo, helped write and edit some of the new content, corresponded with remote CouchSurfers post-crash, and cooked dinners back at the Collective Headquarters." Blake Gregory Canada Quebec Montreal "First time he stopped by with coffee to keep us going through the night. Then he came back and read and responded to e-mails, all in between packing for a summer CouchSurfing trip through Europe." Casey Fenton United States Alaska Homer "I'm a robot, doing robot things." Chris Burley United States Vermont Brattleboro "For me, the CS Collective has been about the unique interactions. Entering the house post crash, I entered the group just as they were turning from despair to determination. It wasn't just hope for a better website, but a conviction that the project WILL come back. Coming very far from my job as an educational designer I am used to working with some of the best in the web design industry. I found it inspiring and invigorating to see the huge potential of members spanning the gamut of experiences. My contributions mostly involved keeping people motivated along with trying to leverage my technical and web design background in order to lay a strong foundation for others to build upon. The details of my work are insignificant, the experience gained... immeasurable." Claudia Bérubé Canada Quebec Montreal "I'm the official camerawoman of the Collective, often passing by to document, the whole CSC experience. Oh, and I also made their education, Quebec cheese wise. Current project: the official video of the events surrounding the crash and the relaunch." Daniel Hoffer United States California Menlo Park Leonardo Silveira Brazil Espirito Santo Vila Velha "Working remotely we were about to help provide guidance at the Collective. We also helped brainstorm what to do immediately after the crash and where to go from there. Version 2.0 was a collaborative and member-driven concept." DANI! Canada Ontario Toronto "I see my most important role in the recovery as being a good friend to all CouchSurfers involved in and affected by the end of CS. I also offered my advice and support during many decision phases, communicating with other founders, admins, and CouchSurfers over possible next steps. I visited the CSC on the critical weekend, and contribute to content writing, brainstorming on policy and how we can best strengthen the network, and I offered both my praise and constructive criticism in several of the discussions and meetings. I have also participated in expounding the greater potential and meaning of CS. I have been reading and noting the discussion on the BB, and going into chat to see old friends and offer reassurance. I also remain a true couch surfer, making sure that CouchSurfers that just joined the site felt welcome and really got to experience some CS love. But I feel weird saying 'I', this is so much more than individual contributions! This is a team effort, and our team is spread across the world!" Daniel Caitlin "aka 'The Vermont Crew.' They have both (along with Amylin) cooked almost every meal lately and washed the vast majority of the dishes. Reorganized the cupboards, refrigerator and even took out the enormous pile of recycling. Their help in the daily upkeep of the house has been unprecedented. Oh! And did we tell you they can dance." Francis Bourgouin Canada Quebec Laval "I've been half cooking and half coding! I fixed some problems with chat, I created a diagram of the network and helped out in the effort to reach out to the community by communicating in CS chats. Mmmm.... omelets!" Frederic "He worked extensively on programming content. He left for a few days and then came back to help out. Programming was key and he was amazing." Giancarlo Russo United Kingdom Wales Cardiff "Finally we did it...I crossed the ocean to join this wonderful Collective with the firm will to elevate CS to a higher level. And then the crash. Our plans changed then, but not our passion, not our desires. It's a pleasure to join Casey and the other amazing people here, trying everyday to do my best in what we friendly called the 'TechTeam', the bit of us who are coding, editing and reformatting previous site content and merging it with new content, recoding site content, help with new page design as well as redesign efforts. Thanks to this and to the outstanding response from the CS all around the world, we focused on our priorities, and the priorities of the whole community, and now the CS project is alive again! Hugs to everyone. " Heather O'Brien United States California San Francisco "I have been dreaming about the possibilities of the Collective since February. I could see the potential it had to totally transform the CouchSurfing Project from a centralized and often bottlenecked organization to a fully self-sustaining, member-driven organism. When we started the CSC group, I wrote in my reason for joining, 'I'm from the future and I know how important this was back then'. Little did I actually know how true it would turn out to be! I'm so grateful to have a collective; I don't know how a rebuild and re-launch could have happened otherwise. I've been participating the rebuild effort by collaborating in defining and honing the mission of CS v.2.0, writing and editing massive amounts of content, discussing and debating policy, coordinating volunteers, reaching out to the community and just plain not resting until we had a site back up! I have never felt so energized on so little sleep. Thank you to all the participants, whether here in Montreal or around the world. Thank you to all who wouldn't take demise for an answer." SUNDANCECID Canada British Columbia Victoria "Wrote content for the safety and tips section. Participated in discussions and answered shunyata emails." Jim Stone United States California Berkeley "Organizing volunteer activity, managing the bulletin boards, editing site content, public relations, participating in brainstorming groups on new ideas as well as fixing and enhancing features already available and locating and organizing needs of the volunteers (office supplies, desks, places to sleep, etc)." John "I arrived at the collective on the night of the crash and left at the time of the relaunch, so I witnessed the complete progression of moods through the stages of illness, death, and rebirth. What a ride! The best part was being with a community that pulled together during a crisis because they believed in each other and in a greater cause. I could not accept that the CouchSurfing project or community or movement, whatever word best describes the phenomenon, had died. I knew it would continue on in some form. So what really concerned me, and became my highest priority, were the (potentially) thousands of CouchSurfers who were stranded in lands far from home, many on a tight budget, as well as the many who had planned their summer vacation around the availability of the website. Peak travel season was just going into full-swing. My first thought was to get a message board started. With Jim's help and good ideas, that happened quickly and was immediately helpful to many. That done, the next priority, it seemed to me, was to get the site up at the earliest possible time. Whether through persuasion or assistance, I did what I could to expedite the rebirth of CouchSurfing.com. Several of us monitored the message boards, observing some very interesting and humorous behavior. But what I will remember most is the outpouring of generosity and support from all over the world. It was very heartwarming, and made all the late nights worthwhile." Julie "Showed up at the Collective with a big backpack full of food! Wow!" Julienne Lottering Canada Ontario Toronto "During the crash I was inspired by the fragility and strength of CouchSurfers. I listened to the collective's personal narrative and began composing a story documenting this rite of passage that I'm thinking of shaping into a larger media project. When the wind blows against you, one can't help but lean forward." Promitheus United Kingdom England Norwich "Helped rework policies, aided in bring together hospitality exchange communities on our members' support, organized with stranded CouchSurfing "refugees" to find a place in several countries and brought some new friends and volunteers to our crew. I do think this is an honor for you people who are physically at the collective and although my mind and efforts are with you I am not sure I deserve it." Marc-Andre Verner "I helped with reading and responding to the incoming Shunyata emails, brought and cooked food at the Collective for the volunteers, answered questions on the bulletin board, helped with the writing/editing of site content, and participated in several meetings." Martin "He dropped in late one night with a watermelon, served it to the crew working on the computers, shared some ideas and headed out." Mathieu Groulx Canada Quebec Montreal "Stopped by the Collective many times with food and helped by reading and responding to e-mails to keep the lines of communication open." Mercy "I started off at the beginning of June dedicating a few hours a week to the Collective. Little did I know what I was in for, how many late nights/early mornings I would be up writing and editing site content, facilitating communication with various support websites/groups, initiating and collaborating with the daily blog on the bulletin board. I kept thinking as I would bike home with the sun coming up in front of me 'If I can just sleep for 5 hours I'll be good to go for another 19'." COSMIC GIRL Canada Quebec Montreal "Being a supportive, good friend was my primary role in this crash and recovery. Assisted in reunions, discussed the possibilities of starting from scratch to a 2.0 version - or not -, talking about consequences and giving feedback as a member of CouchSurfing. I also participated in the making of the 'Welcome home to CouchSurfing 2.0' page and the New Members' Welcome to CS 2.0 page. I also re-wrote/edited/adapted the new definition of 'What is CouchSurfing?' to make it more in line with the focused CS 2.0 mission and helped to create the new Frequently Asked Questions page." P-Y Beaulieu Canada Quebec Montreal "He's co-directing the videos that are going keep trace of the first CSC in the history! PY has also been very active on the forum during the crash crisis, reading hundreds of posts and giving some answers about what's happening from the inside." Rachel "Editing existing site content, writing new content and organizing tasks for new volunteers." MrRico Canada Quebec Montreal "When CouchSurfing crashed I tried to be emotionally supportive as I could to Casey at first, and everyone else at the Collective. I went there, trying to collect, to connect our spirits In the following days I contacted our European Admins and some ambassadors, seeking their thoughts to share with the Collective. I answered media requests and contacted a few of the new 'CouchSurfing' BBS webmasters, insuring they were preserving the CS spirit. I gave my support to the community in every way I was asked and/or could: answering phone calls, emails, collecting media reports and helping out at the Collective. Then I tested the entire Project features to make sure all the essential parts were ready for the CS 2.0 launch. All that I've seen, all that I've felt, all I have heard and everyone I have met in the past week has been tremendously inspiring for the future. And only CouchSurfing, as a community, could have done that. Big thanks to everyone that cared, helped and supported us. Without you, this community would not exists." Sebastien Le Tuan United States California San Jose "Monitoring activity on the bulletin boards and internet blogs, organizing and relaying those ideas and thoughts back to the Collective, aiding in the effort to retrieve profiles and friend links, helping with design-related efforts, making sure we take the opportunity to refine and improve the user experience we had in CS 1.0. I will also be coming over to the collective in August, for a more hands-on and interpersonal experience in helping out and am very excited at what the future holds for the CouchSurfing 2.0!" Thomas Hatfield United States Arizona Oro Valley "Came by the day before the launch and tested site, checked every page for edits and claimed he didn't really do anything He's modest, and he brags about it! " Tyler Natalia "Arriving right at the tipping point they helped create the mission and the task of decentralizing Version 2.0. They read and answered shunyata emails. Not only were their ideas innovative and creative, they can also stock a fridge and cook. Natalia even got Heather out of the house for a 1/2 an hour walk one day! A serious feat." Dave Mitchell New Zealand Canterbury Christchurch "He showed up, donated money, washed dishes and got us excited about the potential of a Collective in New Zealand." Monetary Contributors         "Thanks for all the donations. Some people couldn't make it to the Collective so around the world monetary donations flooded in. Here is the most current list of donators; we hope we got your name right and we are sorry if we missed you! Asa Bjork, Alain, Alessandro, Alex, Alex, ALINE FOS, Allen, ANDREA, Andrew, Andrew, Anna, Anne, Ari, Ariel, Avi, Ayse Isik, Ben, Bianca, Bjoern, Bonnie, Bradley, Bruno, C A Crone, Catalin, Chaine Cl幦ent, Christeen, Christel, Cristeta, Dagmar, David, David, David, Debbie, Debora, Debra, DIMITRIOS, Drayton, Ebba, Elefterios, ELISA, Elizabeth, Emelia. Kim, Emma, Eric, Eric, Eric, Frederic, Frederic, Gabrielle, Gauthier-Aquilin Janssens, Hania, Harini, Heather, Hiers, Horst, Ian, In Comm, Jacob, Jacqueline, James, James, Janis, Jason, Jeffrey, Jennifer, Joacim, Joel, JOHN, Jonathan, Jordan, Joss, Kaia, Karen, Keith, Laura, Laura, Leduc-Primeau, Loren, Luca, Lucas, LUIS, Maja, Manuele, Marat, Marcel, Maria, Mark, Maryanne, Matteo, Matthew, Matthew, Michael, Michael, Michelle, Mikhael, Mina, MRS C S OVERSTREET-INMAN, Nemanja, Nurul, Pascal, Patricia, Patrick, Patrick, Patrick, Philippe, Pierre, Pietro, Raoul, Rayona, Rory, Ross, Ryan, Ryan, Sabina, Sandrine, Sarah, Sebastian, Shannon, Shannon, Shelley, Sije, Sonja, Stefan, Stefan, Stephanie, Thomas, Thomas, Timo, Traci, Tricia, Turtle Island Imports, Valentina, VegOut, Vicente, VINCENT, Will, William, Yi, Zac, ..."