Trustroots Wiki - User contributions [en]

Hospitality exchange

2010-12-27T22:59:13Z

Flapic: /* History */

The concept of '''Hospitality Exchange''', also known as “accommodation sharing”, “hospitality services” (short “hospex”), and “home stay networks”, refers to centrally organized [[social network]]s of individuals, generally travelers, who offer or seek accommodation without monetary exchange. Generally, these services connect users via the internet.

==History==

In 1949, Bob Luitweiler founded the first hospitality service called [[Servas Open Doors]] as a cross national, non-profit, volunteer run organization advocating interracial and international peace. In 1965, John Wilcock set up the Traveler's Directory as a listing of his friends willing to host each other when traveling. In 1988, Joy Lily rescued the organization from imminent shutdown, forming Hospitality Exchange. In 2000, Veit Kuhne founded [[Hospitality Club]], the first widely known Internet-based service (many others existed since the late 90s but never reached the high number of users that HC reached). In 2004, Casey Fenton started [[CouchSurfing]], now the largest hospitality exchange organization.

==How they work==

Generally, after registering, members have the option of providing very detailed information and pictures of themselves and of the sleeping accommodation being offered, if any. The more information provided by a member improves the chances that someone will find the member trustworthy enough to be their host or guest. Names and addresses may be verified by volunteers. Members looking for accommodation can search for hosts using several parameters such as age, location, sex, and activity level. Home stays are entirely consensual between the host and guest, and the duration, nature, and terms of the guest's stay are generally worked out in advance to the convenience of both parties. No monetary exchange takes place except under certain circumstances (e.g. the guest may compensate the host for food). After using the service, members can leave a noticeable reference about their host or guest.

Instead of or in addition to accommodation, members also offer to provide guide services or travel-related advice. The websites of the networks also provide editable travel guides and forums where members may seek travel partners or advice. Many such organizations are also focused on "social networking" and members organize activities such as camping trips, bar crawls, meetings, and sporting events.

Some networks cater to specific niche markets such as students, activists, religious pilgrims, and even occupational groups like police officers.

==Benefits==
===Monetary savings===
As these networks provide accommodation at no charge, monetary savings can be significant.

===Local contact===
Hospitality exchange gives travelers the chance to experience what life is like for people living in other places. In addition, making interpersonal connections and fostering understanding of different cultures may in the long run also be important to international relations. During hospitality exchanges, hosts may show off their local knowledge and exciting places “off the tourist map”. Not only may travelers get a distinct experience, but they will also get a feel for the everyday lives of local residents.

===Reciprocity===
These systems foster richer and more convenient travel experiences not so much on the premise of [[altruism]], but on the basis of [[social exchange theory]]. Implicit in the agreement to host travelers is the ability to ask to be hosted by them in the future. If one enjoys having interesting guests in their home, this works out well for both parties. It works comparatively better if you are visited by travelers from a locale you find particularly attractive. Thus, hosting someone from [[New York City]] in [[Gainesville, Florida]] seems to be an unbelievable opportunity. Moreover, if you are a Westerner visiting someone in a [[developing country]], your stay might be the only way that this individual or family could afford a trip to a rich nation. This may mean more than just a relaxing vacation for such disadvantaged parties.

===Ecological sustainability===
Accommodation sharing reduces the demand for hotels, which, depending on the location can be detrimental for the environment.

==Drawbacks==
===Lack of guarantee===
There is no contractual agreement between users in these systems. Reservations are made, but if they are for some reason broken, there is no higher authority to which one could plead for a refund or other compensation. The only repercussion will be the poor rating you give that user and your only consolation will be that your warning will deter others from visiting or hosting them. For those who feel insecure unless their travel arrangements are written in stone before departure, this system will not be comforting.

===Potential interpersonal conflict or awkwardness===
There is a chance that guest and host will not get along. Perhaps there will be scheduling or ideological conflicts. Maybe you will find that hosts or visitors have misrepresented themselves. Perhaps the experience will not live up to your expectations. Intense interpersonal communications in advance and a flexibility once you have arrived is your best bet. These experiences require additional planning and courtesy towards the demands of your host. Thus, your living conditions, length of stay, and overall experience will be circumscribed by the living conditions you enter into.

===Digital divide and demographic segregation===
As use of these services generally requires access to the internet and knowledge of the English language, the sample population found in searches of these databases is really much less diverse than a geographical representation of worldwide users might suggest.

===Security===
Staying in someone's house, or inviting people into your house leaves open the possibility of being taken advantage of.

==Example networks==
There are countless websites that serve the idea of hospitality service, with new ones appearing as this phenomenon becomes more popular. While this page is not intended to be a directory listing, here is a small sample of the well-established and long-standing networks:

* [[CouchSurfing]] - A very active network with over 1.3 million members in more than 200 countries
* [[Hospitality Club]] - A very active network with over 550,000 members in more than 200 countries
* [[Servas Open Doors|Servas International]] - human rights and global peace oriented since 1949. A relatively small network now with over 15,000 members(?) with a very long history.

===Specialized networks===

Some networks offer specialised hospitality services. There are at least 15 (specialised) hospitality services.<ref>[http://www.hospitalityguide.net/ HospEx - Hospitality Exchange Networks Overview]</ref>, here are some examples:

* [[Lesbian and Gay Hospitality Exchange International]] [http://www.lghei.org/];
* Warm Showers[http://www.warmshowers.org/] - Hospitality network towards touring cyclists;
* Dachgeber[http://dachgeber.de/] - Hospitality network towards touring cyclists in Germany with about 3000 members. (See our German article [[:de:Dachgeber|Dachgeber]].)
* [[Pasporta Servo]][http://www.tejo.org/eo/ps_lingv_en/] - for [[Esperanto]] speakers;
* [[WWOOF]][http://www.wwoof.org/] - "Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms", help on the property is exchanged for food, accommodation, education and cultural interaction;
* HelpX[http://www.helpx.net/] - "Help Exchange", help is exchanged for food, accommodation, experience and cultural interaction;
* Homeshare International [http://www.homeshare.org/] -- charity organisation providing exchange of housing for help in the home.
* Ridester[http://www.ridester.com] -- ride sharing for travelers.

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[http://wikitravel.org/en/Hospitality_exchange Article on www.wikitravel.org]

{{wikipedia}}
[[Category:Hospitality Networks]]

Decentralized networks

2009-10-16T10:20:34Z

Flapic:

For a long time the idea has been floating around to have independent and '''decentralized networks''' as an alternative to the existing centralized (= one user database, one management) [[hospitality]] networks.

The idea is interesting, but has some difficult aspects, that can be discussed on this page.

== Why? ==

Is decentralized always better?

Always? Probably not. But that should not stop anyone from exploring!

The great benefit of decentralized networks is that they allow to experiment with different technology, different styles of moderation, different safety and trust features, different search features, different looks, different peer groups.

== How this can work ==
A lot can be said about decentralized networks, but in the context of [[hospitality exchange]] the most important is user profiles, (location-based) member search, messages between members, and [[trust]] / [[friend]] connections. All of this has to work across different networks, otherwise it won't be really useful.

The biggest challenges here are [[privacy]] and proof of [[identity]]: How can one restrict the visibility of information that is shared across different networks? And how can I prove that I am the owner of profile A on network X, when interacting with members form network Y?

=== User accounts / profiles ===
The idea would mean that there is not one big network where you create a user account, but instead you would choose one or more networks where you want to create an account and have the information you define stored in the database.

Problems:
* Multi-accounts: Duplicate search results, and redundant information to update in different places.
* Agony of choice: How to choose my favorite network?

Solutions:
* Tools for import, export and profile migration
* Auto-update a profile on site X with information from site Y.

=== Searching member profiles ===
To make member search useful, it has to be cross-network. This means, a search request either has to request information from all connected networks, or you need some kind of search engine that crawls member profiles on different networks and caches the information.

Problems:
* Privacy: Information that is shared between an arbitrary number of networks is practically public information.

Solutions:

=== Messages from one user to another ===
You go to someone's profile on network X, click "send message", type the message, submit. You leave a link to your own profile on network Y.

Problems:
* You need to type in the link to your own profile manually, which is inconvenient, and you can make typos.
* You can type in a fake link to someone else's profile.

Solutions:
* OpenID? Does that allow to identify you as a member of a different network?

=== Trust/Friend links between members ===
Just like the references or friend links in couchsurfing, you could create a trust link from profile A in network X to profile B in network Y.

This can only work if there is a way to prove that your friend link does in fact come from profile A in network X, and not from somewhere else. This is the same problem as with messages.

=== Profile data visibility constraints ===
In traditional networks it is possible to show some profile information "only to my friends", or have some other constraints. How can I control that if the friends' profiles are on separate networks?

=== [[Trust]] links between networks ===
Just like there can be a trust network of people, there can also be a trust network of networks..

== Examples ==

* Crash at Mine (?)
* Noserub
*: Q: How does Noserub solve the above "problems" ?

[[Category:Philosophy]]

User:Flapic

2009-10-14T14:31:54Z

Flapic: New page: Flavio from Rome, Italy. * member of Servas from 1993 to 1996 * member of Hospex and Travelhoo (plus a couple minor ones) from 1996 to their death * member of Stay4Free since 1998 * membe...

Flavio from Rome, Italy.

* member of Servas from 1993 to 1996
* member of Hospex and Travelhoo (plus a couple minor ones) from 1996 to their death
* member of Stay4Free since 1998
* member of the Hitch Hikers Database from 1999 to its death for merging with Hospitality Club
* member of the Hospitality Club from 2000 to 2005, volunteer and organizer of the first Italian Summer Camp
* member of Global Free Loaders from 2002
* member of CouchSurfing from 2004, volunteer and Ambassador until 2009
* member of the startup Travelers For Travelers since 2009

Trustroots Wiki:Domain name

2009-10-14T14:14:27Z

Flapic: /* Hospitalitywiki.org */

'''Several possible domain names''' have been registered for [[Couchwiki]]:
* wikicouch.org
* couchwiki.org
* hospitalitywiki.org
* nomadwiki.org

So the question is: which one do we want to use as our canonical domain name? Leave your preference and comment on this page. We'll come up with a deadline for the votes when it's more clear.

==Wikicouch.org==
* Ok, but I like the sound of couchwiki more. [[User:Guaka|guaka]] 01:34, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

==Couchwiki.org==
* '''++''' I like this one most, also because it goes well with [[:trash:|Trashwiki]] and [[:hitch:|Hitchwiki]] :) But I'm fine with the other options as well. [[User:Guaka|guaka]] 01:34, 13 October 2009 (UTC)
* I also like this one the most, it is easiest to understand by outsiders [[User:Kilgoretrout|kilgoretrout]] 15:55, 14 October 2009 (UTC)

==Hospitalitywiki.org==
* More general. Slightly neutral towards this one. [[User:Guaka|guaka]] 01:34, 13 October 2009 (UTC)
* This general and neutral name is my favourite [[User:Midsch|Midsch]] 01:34, 13 October 2009 (UTC)
* I agree with Midsch, but what about making it even more general as Hospexwiki? [[User:Flapic|Flapic]]

==Nomadwiki.org==
* Probably useful for a project with a different angle. Use later for something else :) [[User:Guaka|guaka]] 01:34, 13 October 2009 (UTC)
* This is my favourite, but I agree it might be the "hat" holding several other projects inside of it and not limited to hospex only [[User:Flapic|Flapic]]

Trustroots Wiki:Domain name

2009-10-14T14:13:02Z

Flapic: /* Nomadwiki.org */

'''Several possible domain names''' have been registered for [[Couchwiki]]:
* wikicouch.org
* couchwiki.org
* hospitalitywiki.org
* nomadwiki.org

So the question is: which one do we want to use as our canonical domain name? Leave your preference and comment on this page. We'll come up with a deadline for the votes when it's more clear.

==Wikicouch.org==
* Ok, but I like the sound of couchwiki more. [[User:Guaka|guaka]] 01:34, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

==Couchwiki.org==
* '''++''' I like this one most, also because it goes well with [[:trash:|Trashwiki]] and [[:hitch:|Hitchwiki]] :) But I'm fine with the other options as well. [[User:Guaka|guaka]] 01:34, 13 October 2009 (UTC)
* I also like this one the most, it is easiest to understand by outsiders [[User:Kilgoretrout|kilgoretrout]] 15:55, 14 October 2009 (UTC)

==Hospitalitywiki.org==
* More general. Slightly neutral towards this one. [[User:Guaka|guaka]] 01:34, 13 October 2009 (UTC)
* This general and neutral name is my favourite [[User:Midsch|Midsch]] 01:34, 13 October 2009 (UTC)

==Nomadwiki.org==
* Probably useful for a project with a different angle. Use later for something else :) [[User:Guaka|guaka]] 01:34, 13 October 2009 (UTC)
* This is my favourite, but I agree it might be the "hat" holding several other projects inside of it and not limited to hospex only [[User:Flapic|Flapic]]

A brief history of hospitality exchange networks

2009-10-14T14:01:38Z

Flapic:

{{Stub}}

*[http://joomla.servas.org Servas] is the oldest hospitality exchange organization. Setup in 1948 by Bob Luitweiler, it was originally called 'PeaceBuilders'. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servas_Open_Doors read more]

*[http://www.hospex.org Hospex] was the first Internet based hospitality club, established back in 1992.
*[http://www.hospitalityclub.org Hospitality Club] is the successor to Hospex and Travelhoo, founded in 2000 by Veit Kühne and grown after merging with the Hitch Hikers Database, a global site based in Lithuania which originally had a dispute with Veit who copied parts of their website. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospitality_club read more]
*[http://www.couchsurfing.org CouchSurfing] was started by Casey Fenton in 2003 and is currently the largest hospitality exchange network. Also the term "''couch surf''" has been around for decades, it used to mean staying on friends' couches. CouchSurfing is credited with changing the meaning to include international hospitality exchange. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couchsurfing read more]
*[http://www.bewelcome.org BeWelcome] was started in 2007.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BeWelcome read more]
*[http://www.globalfreeloaders.com Global Free Loaders]
*[http://www.place2stay.com Place 2 Stay]
*[http://www.stay4free.com Stay 4 Free]

===Specialized networks===
*[http://dachgeber.de/ Dachgeber] (a still paper based, mostly german network for cyclists)
*[http://www.gigswap.org Gig Swap]
*[http://www.warmshowers.org Warm Showers]
*[http://www.wwoof.org Organic Farming][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWOOF wiki]

=References=
More about [http://www.hospitalityguide.net hospitality networks].

A brief history of hospitality exchange networks

2009-10-14T13:57:50Z

Flapic:

{{Stub}}

*[http://joomla.servas.org Servas] is the oldest hospitality exchange organization. Setup in 1948 by Bob Luitweiler, it was originally called 'PeaceBuilders'. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Servas_Open_Doors read more]

*[http://www.hospex.org Hospex] was the first Internet based hospitality club, established back in 1992.
*[http://www.hospitalityclub.org Hospitality Club] is the successor to Hospex, founded in 2000 by Veit Kühne. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hospitality_club read more]
*[http://www.couchsurfing.org CouchSurfing] was started by Casey Fenton in 2003 and is currently the largest hospitality exchange network. Also the term "''couch surf''" has been around for decades, it used to mean staying on friends' couches. CouchSurfing is credited with changing the meaning to include international hospitality exchange. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Couchsurfing read more]
*[http://www.bewelcome.org BeWelcome] was started in 2007.[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BeWelcome read more]
*[http://www.globalfreeloaders.com Global Free Loaders]
*[http://www.place2stay.com Place 2 Stay]
*[http://www.stay4free.com Stay 4 Free]

===Specialized networks===
*[http://dachgeber.de/ Dachgeber] (a still paper based, mostly german network for cyclists)
*[http://www.gigswap.org Gig Swap]
*[http://www.warmshowers.org Warm Showers]
*[http://www.wwoof.org Organic Farming][http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WWOOF wiki]

=References=
More about [http://www.hospitalityguide.net hospitality networks].