| Founder(s) | Casey Fenton Dan Hoffer Sebastien Le Tuan Leonardo Bassani da Silveira |
|---|
| Type | C-Corporation |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2003 |
| Location | San Francisco, CA, United States |
| Key people | Dan Hoffer (CEO) |
| Area served | Global |
| Focus | Hospitality exchange, international understanding,networking |
|---|---|
| Method | Hospitality service |
| Website | www.couchsurfing.org |
Etymology
Couchsurfing is a neologism referring to the practice of moving from one friend's house to another, sleeping in whatever spare space is available, floor or couch, generally staying a few days before moving on to the next house.Membership
Free to register, members have the option of providing information and pictures of themselves and of the sleeping accommodation they offer, if any. More information provided by a member, and other members, improves the chances that someone will find the member trustworthy enough to be his host or guest. Security is often measured in the reference established by networking. Volunteers may verify names and addresses. Members looking for accommodation can search for hosts using several parameters such as age, location,gender and activity level.
Homestays are consensual between the host and guest, and the duration, nature, and terms of the guest's stay are generally worked out in advance. No monetary exchange takes place except for compensation of incurred expenses (e.g. food).
CouchSurfing provides editable travel guides and forums where members may seek travel partners or advice. CouchSurfing's main focus is "social networking" and members organize activities such as camping trips, bar crawls, meetings, and sporting events.
The website features a searchable database of hundreds of upcoming events organised by CouchSurfing members, including the annual "Berlin Beach Camp" which draws over 1,000 attendees, the annual "WinterCamp," and a New Year's Eve party hosted in a different city in Europe every year. Famous Couchsurfers include Julian Assange and Daniel Bedingfield.
History
Casey Fenton
The CouchSurfing project was conceived by Casey Fenton in 1999.According to Fenton's account, the idea arose after finding an inexpensive flight from Boston to Iceland. Fenton randomly e-mailed 1,500 students from the University of Iceland asking if he could stay. He ultimately received more than 50 offers of accommodation. On the return flight to Boston, he began to develop the ideas that would underpin the CouchSurfing project.
Fenton developed the code intermittently over the next few years. The site was launched with the cooperation of Dan Hoffer, Sebastien Le Tuan, and Leonardo Silveira as a beta in January 2003, although none of these except Fenton was a member of the original board of directors. The project became a public website in January 2004.
Initial growth of the site was slow. By the end of 2004 the site had just over 6,000 members. In 2005, growth accelerated and by the end of the year, membership stood at just under 45,000.As of 11 September 2011, CouchSurfing has over 3 million active and inactive members and is the most popular free accommodation site. As of April 2011, the site has an Alexa Traffic Rank of 2,434.
On September 1, 2011 Daniel Hoffer was announced as the new President and Chief Executive Officer of CouchSurfing. Dan was one of the original founders of the website and will be in charge of daily operations. Casey Fenton remains Chairman of the Board of Directors. He was self-appointed chairman of the board for life of the dissolved nonprofit CouchSurfing.
2006 database loss and relaunch
In June 2006, the project experienced a number of computer problems resulting in much of the database being irrevocably lost. Due to the volume of critical data that had been lost, Casey Fenton was of the opinion that the project could not be resurrected. On 29 June 2006, he sent an e-mail to all members: "It is with a heavy heart that I face the truth of this situation. CouchSurfing as we knew it doesn't exist anymore."
Fenton's e-mail was met with vocal opposition to the termination of the project and considerable support for its recreation. A CouchSurfing Collective was underway in Montreal at the time and those in attendance committed to fully recreating the original site, with users to re-enter their profile data. "CouchSurfing 2.0" was announced early in July 2006, with the intent to be operational within 10 days. The initial implementation of CouchSurfing 2.0 actually launched after only four days with the current CouchSurfing slogan "Participate in Creating a Better World, One Couch At A Time". Since the site relaunch, the project has received international media coverage.
2009 Leeds Incident
On 5 March 2009 in Leeds, UK, a man named Abdelali Nachet raped a woman from Hong Kong who stayed at his place through the CouchSurfing project. Nachet was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
2011 incorporation
CouchSurfing International Inc. used to be a non-profit corporation incorporated in the U.S. state of New Hampshire.[18] [19] In November 2007, they applied for the federal 501(c)(3) non-profit status, but that was never granted, what according to Casey Fenton, led him to seek "other options"
In August 2011, CouchSurfing announced that its certification as a for-profit B corporation. A $7.6 million million dollar investment was raised by Benchmark Capital. The site had previously been financially operated using revenue from the voluntary identity verification service.
The announcement that CouchSurfing had become a for-profit corporation created a backlash from core members and volunteers with the organisation. A protest group within CouchSurfing of more than 1,400 members was formed entitled "We are against CS becoming a corporation." as a response. The protesters see CouchSurfing's source code and user database as community created and say that they should not be used for profits.
In an interview with El País CEO Dan Hoffer stated that there's a plan to let the company grow much bigger and the final objective is to go public.
CouchSurfing Cultural Exchange Fund
In August, 2011 CouchSurfing announced the CouchSurfing Cultural Exchange Fund which is administered by the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation (NHCF). The Cultural Exchange Fund has no connection to CouchSurfing International, Inc.
Organization
Mission
The mission statement of CouchSurfing is:
At CouchSurfing International, we envision a world where everyone can explore and create meaningful connections with the people and places they encounter. Building meaningful connections across cultures enables us to respond to diversity with curiosity, appreciation and respect. The appreciation of diversity spreads tolerance and creates a global community.
CouchSurfing Collectives
Since June 2006, development of the website has been run in large part by CouchSurfing Collectives: events which may last days or weeks, bringing groups of CouchSurfers together in a chosen city, to develop and improve CouchSurfing. Previous Collectives took place in Montreal, Vienna, New Zealand, Rotterdam, Thailand, Alaska, Costa Rica and Istanbul.
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