Posted on 09/07/2015 11:10:11 AM PDT by BenLurkin
CouchSurfing International, Inc.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CouchSurfing
Couchsurfing International Inc. is a hospitality exchange and social networking website. The website provides a platform for members to “surf” on couches by staying as a guest at a host’s home, host travelers, or join an event.
Couchsurfing International Inc refers to two separate legal entities. The first was founded in 2003 as a non-profit organization, and was liquidated in 2011. Its assets were sold to the private for-profit corporation Better World Through Travel, later renamed Couchsurfing International, Inc.,[1] which defines itself as “a mission-driven for-profit corporation”.[5] As of August 2012, the company has raised $22.6 million in investment capital, while reporting no revenue.[5]
Conception[edit]
The Couchsurfing project was conceived by Casey Fenton in 1999[citation needed],[16] 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. He registered couchsurfing.com the same year.
Fenton developed the code intermittently over the next few years.[citation needed][16] The site was launched with the cooperation of Dan Hoffer, Sebastien Le Tuan, and Leonardo Silveira[citation needed] [16] as a beta in January 2003[citation needed], although none of these except Fenton was a member of the original board of directors. The project became a public website in January 2004. Former CEO Hoffer stated that when Couchsurfing first started, he made sure to write up a contract between Fenton and himself that detailed what would happen if CouchSurfing were to ever go for-profit, as he suspected it one day would.[17]
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.[7] As of October 2011, shortly following its privatization, Couchsurfing had over 3 million active and inactive members (Fenton stated the number of active members was approximately one million)[citation needed] and was the most popular free accommodation site.[18] As of October 2011, the site had an Alexa Global Traffic Rank of 1,729, but by September 2014 had descended to 3,178.[19]
Probably just in Austin.
Basically yes. Except you are going to sleep in the host’s house or building, as opposed to riding in their vehicle while awake. I had a relative do this, and that relative picked up an admirer thereby who pursued across most of Europe and Asia.
Exactly my point, and you said it well. Imagine the Gacys and Ted Bundys of the world, advertising their couches. What a dream come true for predators to get their prey into a vulnerable spot. You have to be very careful about this sort of thing.
The Noble Savage syndrome: liberals sincerely believing that savages are really just poor, downtrodden, misunderstood people. The opinion doesn’t generally change when the savage starts acting like a savage.
Wow. Yeah, people are psychotic.
Do you remember reading sometime back about the young American girl from a nice, Liberal New England family who traveled to Africa to help the African people and was hiking from village to village when someone literally had her for lunch?
No good deed.
It’s a jungle over there. Filled with frendly bunnies.
Travel to foreign, exotic lands. Meet strange foreign people and assume they share your Walt Disney, Playstation mindset. Die in the exotic soil by the hands of the strangers who don’t know your kumbaya BS.
I don’t travel at all anymore. Why should I travel? I’m already here.
“Here” is where my home is, my stuff is, my family & friends are, all surrounded by the good old U.S. of A.
I’m supposed to leave that behind for a wonderful journey to expand my horizons & broaden my mind, which all begins with a TSA groping at a glorified bus station known as an airport.
Bleep that!
Eesh...
Liberals are always so very shocked when reality hits them head on. She was another wackadoodle who was Keeping Austin Weird. Sad for any death but don’t be so naïve to intentionally put yourself into such questionable situations.
+1
I signed up with a similar site to offer free food and lodgings in exchange for a few days of farm help. Got emails from some scary characters, including a Muslim who said he loved goats and was good at clearing brush “much fast” with a machete. Also a guitar player who clearly was interested in the free room and board, but the work part, not so much.
A young French woman who was touring the US, wanting to meet real Americans, stayed with me for 10 days. Her father was a grape grower in Bordeaux. She was strong, worked hard, and enjoyed good wine.
We had a great time. Before she left, I took her shopping. She bought a cowboy hat.
I guess she was from the Kalamazoo area. I just saw the report on channel 3 WWMT.
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