Editing History of BeWelcome (section)

=== CouchSurfing volunteer exodus ===
During mid-2007 many former [[Couchsurfing]] volunteers began volunteering for BeWelcome instead, including 3 of the 4 former [[Couchsurfing]] core developers active during the short-lived CS 2.0 experiment. Begun following the termination in July, 2006 of the [http://www.couchsurfing.com| CouchSurfing website] by its owner, [[Casey Fenton]], following a major loss of data, the main emphasis of CS 2.0 was to be decentralized volunteer participation -- [[Couchsurfing]] was no longer to be dominated by one person. But during the following year, when many selfless volunteers answered the call and helped take [[Couchsurfing]] from the edge of ruin and marginal financial stability to thriving success with a budgetary surplus, [[Casey Fenton]] and his hand-picked associates, mostly in secret, organized a top-down pyramidal corporate structure with paid employees, all of whom are close associates of [[Casey Fenton]]. Independent-minded volunteers who raised questions about the integrity of the managerial processes, or questioned [[Casey Fenton|Casey Fenton´s]] unaccountable and privileged position within the community, were blacklisted and encouraged to leave. [[Casey Fenton]] turned out to be much like [[Veit Kuehne|Veit Kühne]]. Some of the major issues prompting the exodus were secrecy, unaccountability, unfair treatment of volunteers, unkept promises and an extremely oppressive, one-sided non-disclosure agreement. 

Thus, many former [[Couchsurfing]] volunteers share common values with the founders of [[BeVolunteer]], and appreciate the work they did in establishing a new home for those in the hospitality community who support the enlightened principles upon which [[BeWelcome]] is founded.