Hosting Requests

Since there are many hosts in the casa, it is not always easy to know when there is how much space available. We have no simple way of getting an overview of requests neither, since they are send to several people through all kind of different channels. Another problem is that we don't have a good overview of who stayed here and when.

To change this and to make things easier, we made a new little system by which people who want to stay here, can fill in a request form, with dates, and reasons. Everyone is asked to fill this in, so we can also have a better calendar view. These requests are only viewable when you are an authenticated user.

We are not sure how to process the approval thing. Maybe just through comments that can be seen by everyone who is registered? Or create a different type of user (like in: current hosts) who can see the requests, and only the person who asked can also see the approval? Or just through comments that can be viewed by all authenticated users? What is the best way to respect everyone here?

So, as with everything here, things are not fully developed yet. We have no clue yet how to process requests and how to approve it or not. If you are waiting for a confirmation, please standbye, someone will hopefully contact you. If you have an idea about how to continue this new system, please share.

Comments

pgalaxy's picture

decisions, decisions

a simple scheduler should do the trick: if someone has booked the floor space, then others cannot come til the space is vacated.
you can also have 'host C sleeps on top of guest A and B' if host Z does not have any other preference

its striking the balance between a totally chaotic model, and an organized one. any sleeping place has a fixed number of beds, and when they are full, they are full. as stove says, some people will sleep anywhere, but there is a capacity limit to how much the actual infrastructure can hold.(toilets, noise, privacy etc). I am sure some old caravans parked in the neighborhood to extend the capacity of the project, but the problem will remain. A few rules perhaps, such as: place some kind of flexible limit to the amount of guests who can stay on any given night, 10 sounds right, with some flexibility? stay long enough to make a contribution, but be ready to move on if thers to come and stay ? find other houses to participate in the scheme, so that there is greater flow of people and places? or just keep it as it is, enjoy the chaos - its bound to remain a good party for some time to come. have fun either way....

guaka's picture

It's good to think about ways

It's good to think about ways to set it up in an ideal way, but it's also think of incremental improvements. Robin set up the hosting "content type" and adding comments was the next logical step... I couldn't find a quick way to make comments only available to certain roles, probably need to install another module for that.

stove's picture

idealogical problem

I know I've been out of the loop for a while (wilderness and all), but it seems that this problem is somewhat philasophical moreso than simply technological. The first thing which popped into my head was the email circulated regarding the hospitality project in Berlin, where there seemed to be a lack of communication between hosts. I am imaginging problems like this:

Assuming:
No rigid hosting rules re: number of people, whom can accept a request, etc.
There IS no strict reason NOT to accept a person (IE they killed someone, etc).

Scenario: (Simply using names as they pop into mind)
There are a number of hosts already at Casa. Robin, Valentina and Amylin feel that there is no more space to show up. I put in a request, and seeing it, Kasper accepts, knowing that I will sleep anywhere, including the roof, or the street outside. Not everyone agrees. Chaos!

Again, just the first thing which comes to mind. I DO NOT believe that setting up strict rules is a good approach, and would definitely lean towards a better way to communicate. In this case, I actually think that something physical IN casa may serve folks better, like a leaderboard etc. Also, perhaps this is something which should be openly discussed, so that everyone knows whom/how many folks will be around?

Again, just my thoughts. I'll drop by on Tuesday (If my request is accepted;-)) to discuss further.

valentina's picture

I'd prefer more privacy settings

Hey Kasper,
I'm not personally sure that public comments is the best way to deal with requests. They could generate false expectations (like in the case that we would love to host someone but there is no physical space available in the house or there are other reasons to keep the house quiet, also according our preference for quality rather than quantity in term of hospitality and what we can offer.
The other thing is that fortunately we don't have strict criteria for accepting a request. In general we want to have people who can grow in the house or that can share something with us in terms of storytelling, life experiences, passion, ideas etc.
I think that a perfect utopia system would:
-send the hosting request to all the hosts in form of group e-mail
- as soon as one of the host replayed accepting the request, the newbie hosts are put automatically on the calendar (keeping in mind a certain flexibility with dates and times). this would give us an idea of how many people stayed to the casa and when.
-the calendar should be visible to all the current hosts

Also, I find difficult to find contacts of my friends from casa, and importing their e-mail addresses in my gmail, facebook etc. reveiled to be time consuming task. Maybe, once the friendship between users is accepted , it would be nice to be able to see the personal e-mail .

We should also implement the opportunity for people to leave their physical addresses in the form (hidden for not-friends). The address book we have in the zula is not really used that much and sometimes you might want to send a lightfoot letter to someone but you don't know where...

I know I'm asking the moon... I'd love to do some brainstorming about these and othyer things before I go to Ukraine. So, come back soon!!!

guaka's picture

I fixed the comments. Check

I fixed the comments. Check the view and edit permissions.

guaka's picture

Fivestar? ;) I think comments

Fivestar? ;)

I think comments is straightforward and easy enough. E.g. right now I would like to leave a positive comment for Liorvol, who has requested to stay, only showing requests to current hosts wouldn't work for me.