Paris Collective

From the CouchSurfing Wiki, an informal workspace which anyone can edit.

Image:Paris CSC summer 2007.PNG

CouchSurfing Collective Mission. Each collective must have a specific objective and plan to achieve it. The objective must be focused on achieving some part of the core CouchSurfing mission and the results must be verifiable.

Key goals:

Social and community oriented issues
Solidifying the new ambassador structure
Building local communities and stronger network, shaping national Couchsurfing chapters
Improve the participation of the members
Training people in methods of communication and collaborative work
Learn, teach, and share!
Give a new positive impulse to the Couchsurfing community

Some more specific goals and issues that were discussed within the Parisian CS Association Team:

The ideas hereafter are simply listed in the order that they got expressed through the brainstorming session our Team had on May 12th, and have not been prioritized in any way. We still need to establish more clearly which results we wish to achieve and ways to 'weigh' what has been through indicators (which might prove tricky as regards such subjects as Community building).

--> Integration of the 'Association Couchsurfing France (A.C.S.F.) within Couchsurfing.com and creation of national chapters:

What room is available and what role can and should the structures that we set (e.g. the Couchsurfing France Association) play towards the Couchsurfing website itself
Setting similar systems to the French ACSF Association in other European countries
How to articulate those structures with the overall CS structure

Subordination
Collaboration
Sole reciprocal right to offer a viewpoint/advices
Applicability: e.g. France and Europe
Future organization of the French CS Association : specific workshop oriented toward French CSers
Articulation of the Association, mostly Paris-based, with other French cities
Developing the association
National management of various solicitations and demands (media, etc.)
Sharing the experience one acquired through the Association
Consequences and implications of organizing a gathering (legal, financial, etc.) and explanations on ‘how to’ organize (registering it by the local representative of the French State: “déclaration en préfecture”, etc.)

--> Community Building:

Facilitating communication between hosts
Matching everybody’s skills with needs (CS Universities) :

Trainings about CS
Trainings on other non-CS related issues
Diverse workshops
Language exchange classes
etc.

Future organization of the French CS Association : as a result of specific workshops oriented toward French CSers - knowledge transfer if we have applicable solutions to offer others?

Articulation of the Association, mostly Paris-based, with other French cities

Developing the association

National management of various solicitations and demands (media, etc.)

Sharing the experience one acquired through the Association
Consequences and implications of organizing a gathering (legal, financial, etc.) and explanations on ‘how to’ organize (registering it, getting sponsored, media coverage, etc.)
How to keep welcoming new members despite rapid growth so that CS remains an open community and not some type of closed ‘sect’
Regional development of CS

‘Invasions’

Assistance / advice and activation of other regions

Development

--> Community Building Features:

Groups Moderation: Defining limits that should apply to messages and posts and thus offering real moderation tools within groups

Emails : Parisian members wish to have the possibility to

sort them into folders

sort them according to criteria like read/unread, answered/unanswered to, etc.

sort them according to which friends they concern

etc.

Management of bad experiences : how to write those down, guide, processes

Animating the chat room
Setting a hot-line that would help to know who to address for every type of emergency that can occur

--> Features/ Improvements for a more User-Friendly interface:

Deletion of old inactive profiles
Better treatment of information, better organization of all the information spread around profiles into a hierarchy
Possibility to write one’s profile in multiple languages (on different pages attached together and not simply within the same blocks of text)

Improvements to the website:

Better use-friendliness,

How to get started

Users feedback

More intuitive interface

Easier navigation

Readability

Freedom for one to write his profile as he/she wishes:

Page settings,
Which limits to set to profiles personalization?
Weight and load of profile data on the servers

Profiles readability and clarity

--> General Organisation and Spread of Information:

Talking about Ambassadorship and the roles of Ambassadors (clarification)
Volunteers’ management (motivation, etc.)
Knowledge transfer at the end of the Collective
Global structure of Couchsurfing.com

Leaders, Administrators and Volunteers flowchart

Organization of the website

Who’s who? Who’s doing what?

Clarifying the organization

Financial transparency

*Infrastructure. Describe the setting and amenities for the Collective, including the basic requirements of high-speed Internet, workspace, living space, the surrounding community, etc.

Resources already in place:

Resources needed and associated costs:

*Leadership. Appoint a leader for the Collective. This person is the chief director responsible for ensuring the mission of the Collective is achieved. The person is also responsible for the needs of participants and for settling any disputes.

*Job Roles. Determine the number of participants needed for achieving the mission of the Collective. Define job roles needed to achieve the specific objective as well as any auxiliary roles needed to meet the needs of participants. Participants may have more than one job role if needed.

*Participants. Create an application including required skills, experience, and time commitment. Create a screening process for selecting the right participants in the roles. Create an volunteer agreement form for the selected participants to sign. Participants should agree in writing to work towards the mission, write progress reports, respect each other and the Collective leadership, and obey any house rules.

Guidelines:

Please think of the following guidelines while working with this collective:

Respect the common space. Keep your things neatly collected in your designated space.
Work hours are from 10am to 6pm, this is a period when quiet, focused time is observed. Any additional work time is optional.
Parties, craziness and drinking will be only outside the collective in order to promote focus on the mission

The Application Process:

Those wishing to participate in the Parisian collective must submit an application prior to arriving. Applications will be reviewed by the Collective leader together with the core members of the Parisian CS Association (A.C.S.F.), and eventually with people at the collective at that moment. Those accepted will be invited to the collective.

Please provide information concerning:

Length of time available to be at the collective (including dates)
Appropriate skills that match the Collective goals, objectives and needs
Communication skills (for communicating daily with those outside of collective)
Experience working with groups and solving group dynamic problems
Specific interests - Which parts of the collective objectives will you be interested in working on?
Why do you want to work with CouchSurfing and this collective?
What resources will you need? Are you able to provide some of those e.g. your own computer, office supplies, and so on?
Personal requirements: health / allergies / religious

Excited to contribute? Email the Parisian Org. Team to get the application process started if you feel you would be a great member at the Parisian collective.

Professional Skills Needed:

We are looking for members with skills in the following areas:

Communication skills (for effective group communication as well as communicating daily with those outside of collective)
to be completed...

Member Requirements:

Those wishing to participate in this collective must meet the following requirements:

Be dedicated to the CS Mission and organization. We are here to do the work of the mission of CS and the most specific objectives set for this Collective.
Disciplined and self-motivated. Able to produce high-quality results without lots of specific direction.
Be a group worker. Must be able to work well with the collective group and the CS community as a whole. The needs of the community come first and foremost.
Must demonstrate good communication skills.
Must foster mutual respect amongst individuals.
Must communicate effectively in ways that enhance productivity and build respectful relationships.
Must demonstrate, proficient written, verbal, and information technology skills.
Must have the ability to communicate concisely (respects people's time and attention, efficiency of communication).
It is preferred that members provide candid and caring constructive feedback to each other.
Must be open-minded (respects and entertains other people's ideas).
Must demonstrate good conflict resolution skills (doesn't linger on or get invested in drama).
Must demonstrate awareness and respect for cultural differences.
Must have active listening skills (paying attention, withholding judgment, reflecting, clarifying, summarizing and sharing).
Must practice empathy (concern for social and emotional needs of other group members).

* Accountability Plan. Create a strategy for achieving the mission and documenting checkpoints/milestones along the way including reports from all participants.

* Communication. Create a strategy for regular and effective communication from the CSC including announcements once a week.

External: This collective will do the following activities to be sure that external communication happens on a regular basis:

We will have a specific individual whom will be responsible for communicating the weekly activities and successes of the collective.
We will communicate with other collectives to be sure that we are not duplicating efforts elsewhere.
Do a weekly review of status. Where are we as compared with our Collective Mission this week? Are we on track to completing our mission? Do we need to take corrective action?

Internal: The collective will do the following to be sure internal communication is at its best:

Have daily summary hours, where everyone that is at the house at that time has to attend. Each member will spend a few minutes reporting on what they have been doing in the past 24 hours and what they will accomplish in the next 24 hours.
Members will offer each other ideas and suggestions to enhance efficiency in increasing the ability to achieve the collective mission.
Ensure that all members of the collective create a summary of their daily tasks for the external communications volunteer to ensure accurate information transmission

* Budget. Create a comprehensive budget for expenses for the entire duration of the Collective.

* Exit Strategy. Plan for the end of the Collective and what needs to be done in order to return location to landlord, etc. Make sure to collect from all participants before they leave the Collective any final progress reports and their comments on the successes and failures of the Collective.

Original Draft Proposal

This is a draft proposal for a Paris Collective to the CouchSurfing community to hold the next European Collective in Paris during Summer 2007. It is one of the possible Future Collectives.

The present pages are only at an early stage and are meant to evolve in the coming months according to the CS community’s acceptance of the project and any comments or critics its members will issue. It is simply meant as a working document and a base for discussion. To offer appropriate options/form of a Collective, etc. we wish to discuss what couchsurfing.com expect from a Collective so we can issue and adapt our proposals.

See also the Word document on which these Wiki pages are based, also in French (en français), in German (auf deutsch) and in Greek.

1 The Application Process:
2 Contents of the Proposal
- 2.1 Roles

Contents of the Proposal

Type of Collective:
- Short/Middle Term Collective or
- Long Term Collective
Location
Date
Collective roles
Work Plan
Goals

Roles

Those ‘jobs’ are mainly inspired by the way things got progressively organised in Eisenstadt and the actual planning of the NZ CSC. Though we expect some feedback from the latter CSC and wish to learn from it and adapt this organizational plan accordingly. This is not set in stone but meant to evolve in the coming months.

Meeting of the organizers of the Paris Collective in November 2006. From Left to right, top row: Pieter, Jenna, Superyami, Helen, Steeve, EUNE, OPENMIC, Davina. Middle row: Rivo, Caroline, LARRY81, DUKE, Sylvain. Lying down: Frederic. Upside down: STEFF.