| Update: Friday, June 30, 2006 6 pm - Eastern Time CouchSurfing Community, Thank you for your continued support during this difficult period. Both the moral support and offers of technical help have been incredibly inspiring. We are currently exploring options as to what actions to take next. One way or another, the energy and spirit of CouchSurfing will certainly live on. How that takes shape is yet unknown. Please bear with us while we continue to take stock of the possibilities at hand. You can keep up with the process in CS Chat at http://chat.couchsurfing.com or through bulletin boards now set up at http://couchsurfing.hyperboards.com. Also, we understand that this catastrophe is affecting a large portion of the membership who is currently traveling as well as those with CS driven travel itineraries later this summer. To address these needs, we have set up a series of "CouchSurfing Refugee" bulletin boards there as well. While we continue to sort things out, please have patience and know that there are many smart and concerned people working hard to assess the situation and decide on the best course of action. It's been a very emotional time for all of you and all of the core people of CS. We want to thank you for your warm and touching emails. You give us the strength to get through these difficult times. Thanks again,
Dear CouchSurfers, Two days ago CouchSurfing experienced what could be described as the perfect storm. The database administrators we hired made two critical mistakes. First, we had a major, avoidable hard drive crash. Secondly, the incremental back-ups weren't executed in the correct manner, and twelve of our most important data files didn't survive. I have been working non-stop trying to repair the data, but as difficult as it is for me to say, it has become clear that certain essential pieces are not recoverable. This crash happened at a particularly vulnerable time, in a transition between two back-up methods. If the crash had happened a week ago, or next week, we would have had a different outcome. It is with a heavy heart that I face the truth of this situation. CouchSurfing as we knew it doesn't exist anymore. We've had an amazing two and a half years. Members write "CouchSurfing has changed my life" and I know what they mean, it has certainly changed mine and I am eternally grateful. My vision transformed. CouchSurfing was born out of a dream I had to meet the most interesting people in world and experience their cultures, and it grew into a living, thriving family of almost a hundred thousand. This community has blossomed in beautiful ways I hadn't even anticipated. It was no longer about what I got to experience, but rather, what genuine, heartfelt good this community can offer the world. We have all opened not only our homes, but also our hearts, our lives. In sharing important moments, deep and meaningful connections have crossed oceans, continents and cultures. I saw in CS, in you, the power to change not only they way we travel, but change the world itself. Thank you, CouchSurfers. You have shown me more than I could have even known. Your generosity and spirit is a gift to humanity. I have devoted the last three years of my life to CouchSurfing. I have literally poured every cent I have into the site. I've sacrificed my health, my time, and my own ability to travel and meet people. In many ways I've put my life and wanderlust on hold to build this network. I'm not complaining; it's been a fantastic ride. As devastating as it is to consider, it looks like the ride is over. Life is continuously changing, evolving, dying and being reborn. After a fire, the earth is replenished; after a storm, the air is cleared. It feels to me like this loss of CouchSurfing is how it's meant to be. This crash is like a sign from the universe. Too many random factors aligned to make it as damaging as it is, and though I've tried everything I can and engaged the best and brightest database managers, there's just no way to get it back. In many respects it's heartbreaking, but at the same time, what we've built together is not dead, it lives on in each of us. It lives in the connections we've fostered and the culture we've created. I want us all to take this CouchSurfing spirit and continue the mission out in the world. We've all experienced this common vision and the potential it has to transform the way people relate to each other. Now it is time for all of us to not bury the dream, but rather nurture it's growth in our own ways, in new explorations and ventures. We all own a piece of the CouchSurfing flame, it's up to us to keep the fire going and light the world. So let's do it, let's light the world! What will you do with your flame? Goodnight, CouchSurfing. May our flames burn bright. I love you, If you wish to send your thoughts, encouragement or positive messages, contact us at shunyata@couchsurfing.com |
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