Today I’m reminded of my time in Nelson, New Zealand. I went there, at my own expense, to volunteer for CouchSurfing. When I arrived, I found a job that was urgent. The servers badly needed upgraded, they were very out of date. I researched the situation, investigated a solution, figured out how to do what was required. Then I needed some information from Casey Fenton. I met with Joe and Casey and Casey agreed to pass the information to Joe the following day.
My work was dependent on this information. The information never came. To the best of my knowledge, this information was never given to Joe. My time was wasted.
Unfortunately, I feel this summarises the CouchSurfing “Visionary Leader”. Casey is a great talker, a very friendly guy. When speaking with him you feel like you’re genuinely connecting. However, beyond that connection, in my view, there is no substance. I think Casey is a politician, he tells you what he thinks you want to hear, then he does whatever he was going to do anyway.
It saddens me that CouchSurfing has so many great users and yet such a poor organisational structure. I hope networks like BeWelcome and CrashAtMine will lead to better things.
I have known Casey for some time now and met with him many places on the planet. I know him to be reasonable, but also will listen. You cannot expect him to remember every person and everything you tell him. He can can uspet, but not known him to be angry or yell or hate. He is a mortal. He truly believes in CS.
Having been miffed myself with a Collective, I will not attend one.
I had made reservations and bought tickets with time off for work only for them to change the dates and eliminate the last weekend without notice. when I emailed, I got no response. It just showed me how one might be treated under some haste and new effort.
I agree, CS as any Volunteer effort needs to be better to their volunteers. Certainly not kick them once they leave, no matter what they later do. The contribution has value and the organization should appreciate it.., permanently.
As for Casey, you can no longer identify Couchsurfing and its flaws with Casey. He is pulled many directions like never before. It is a business and an organization and as such an larger entity that makes mistakes, moves slowly and tries its best to deliver.
It is a community service to its membership if not much more.
Maybe once the Ethics reflect some of these considerations, it will appear less of a them and us situation.
We can only hope for improvement and a better experience for those that care.
@uaflyer: I’ve heard many people make the same complaint from Casey. He’s a great listener, but he ignores what you’ve said. Personally, I think he tells people what they want to hear in order to get them to work for free for as long as possible. I find his behaviour despicable.