Interview with our volunteers: conrado888
Written by amnesiac84 8 years agoWe would like to introduce you to some of our volunteers. Every one of them decided at one point to spend a little bit of time to help BeWelcome, making this the greatest non-profit, volunteer driven hospitality network out there!
Our second interview is with conrado888, who is volunteering on the New Member BeWelcome Team, the Support Team, the Translation Team and the Communication Team. Besides the work in those teams, he represented BeWelcome at a conference last year and helps out the BoD with some French documents.
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Why did you join BeWelcome?
I joined BeWelcome because I was slightly disgusted with the ethical direction that was taken by another hospitality exchange network. I was looking for an alternative where the views of the users would be respected and a sense of community was being promoted. I found this with BeWelcome and couldn’t sign up fast enough!
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Why did you start volunteering? and in which teams are you active?
Again, this had to do with my disappointment with previous experiences on other hospex sites. It’s all good to complain about what annoys you, but if you don’t do anything about, it can be a bit hypocritical. So I got involved in the volunteering to make sure that BeWelcome stayed true to its values and give a free service to the members that is provided by the members. That is the key ideology I hope will never die. Also I was excited of becoming part of community of volunteers with all the social side which that entails. I answered a call for a member who was willing to represent BeWelcome at an event in London – at that time I lived there. Shortly after - about 6 months ago now – I joined the volunteers and I am now part of the Translator, of New Members Welcome and the support team. I gradually got involved with them and each time I discovered a new wonderful group of people with whom it is a pleasure to work.
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Could you tell us a interesting/nice experience in your volunteering Experience?
There have been many already. It always a great feeling when you are able to fix a problem that a member is experiencing. And it is always nice to get replies from new members to whom we sent out welcome messages. Every now and then you will get a really long and thankful message from a complete stranger which really makes your work feel valued.
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Please give us three "keywords" which describe how is volunteering for your team(s).
Friendly, Unpressured, rewarding
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What kind of traveller are you?
Well that’s a difficult one. I didn’t know there was different kind :) . I like to think that since the universe is constantly expanding, that travelling is the act of following one of the principles of the cosmos. Everything is always moving and changing so just go with the flow. So I guess that makes me a “go-with-the-flow” traveller.
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How many countries have you visited? What is your favourite country or place?
I don’t know off the top of my head, between 20 and 25. There are so many special places out there that it’s hard to choose. Top three favourite cities would be Budapest, Medellin and Mexico City (Where I’m living now - so well done me :) )
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What is your favourite / coolest BeWelcome experience?
Every interaction with different members has been really unique and pleasant. Once a member just asked me out of the blue what my username meant. It was completely random but for me it really highlighted the closeness and the confidence that people have on the site to talk to one another. Additionally, once I was corresponding with a member about some promotion event. Fast forward 4 month later and on the other side of the planet, that very same member sent a request to my girlfriend (without knowing she had anything to do with me) who also has a BeWelcome account asking if she could put him up. So he stayed with us and so completely by chance I got to meet him in person. I really loved the coincidence of it all – and this feeling of a real community!