Hi guys, here is a template request for anyone looking for accommodation in Brussels during LOTE5 through Couchsurfing platform. I’m going to use this to find hosts for as many community members as possible(holla if you need help with accommodation) as I’m a CS ambassador thus have larger chances to receive a positive answer. Also feel free to create your own account on CS if you don’t have one and contact hosts for yourself. Please personalize this text and modify it so we do not risk having the same host contacted by different people with a similar message.
Hi [name],
How are you doing? My name is [name] and I’m a [profession/occupation] currently based in [location].
I am a part of Edgeryders global community, and we are planning our 5th annual gathering in Brussels on February 25-28 which is called Living On The Edge (LOTE). I am looking for CS hosts for me and my friends because when traveling, we don’t like to do the typical touristy things - rather we look for a truly genuine cultural experience. We believe one must live and get to know the locals of wherever they are traveling to. Locals can show a side of the target destination that no guidebook or website can. That is why we would like to stay with you, a local.
Please, let me know if you are available and how many people you can host. We are all experienced travelers and do not need someone to babysit us, but we do appreciate a good talk over a drink and we’d love to hear about your favorite spots in town, maybe you could take us there in your spare time? That would be awesome!
In return we can offer you to participate in one of our sessions and/or dinner parties and meeting our community, which consists of hackers, activists and just normal people from all walks of life that want to make a difference in this world. We promise to be respectful, contribute to your daily life as much as possible and help you with household chores, of course 
FYI The LOTE series are collaborative events where Edgeryders come together to learn from each other, plan the work ahead and have fun. We pick a theme that is somewhat itchy for Edgeryders all over and crack it wide open so that we to arrive at fresh thinking and projects. This year we want to learn from fuckups so to speak, and local Antiheroes are providing the inspiration. The event is open, should you care to join: https://edgeryders.eu/en/lote5/welcome-to-lote5
Looking forward to meet you in Brussels,
Greetings from [location],
[Name]
Also, if you don't have a CS profile or are new to Couchsurfing, here are some tips from @Kaja to find a CS host easier:
- Have a CS profile. It’s really kind of Iriedawta to help and look for hosts (that can be a lot of work …),
but honestly, as a host, I would find it awkward, if people didn’t have a profile of their own, 4 weeks prior
to the event. You can’t really speak of a rush here, and if someone wasn’t willing to get a profile, which
doesn’t take a lot of time, that would most probably set their chances to get hosted by me to around 0.
- Have a good profile!
Write a description of yourself, so that your host gets a good idea about who they’re letting into their flat.
It’s all trust based, so you have to pay that forward by being willing to share something about yourself.
Upload around 3-5 pictures that show you, and stuff you care about or of yourself while doing stuff you like.
- If you say that you don’t host, it’s a good idea to mention at some point, why you don’t. I’m a lot more
likely to host people, who don’t host themselves, if they state a good reason for that. And seriously, if you’re
not even willing to chose “wants to meet up” - are you sure, you’re on the right platform? “Wants to meet up”
is for people who can’t host, but who are willing to show travellers around.
- Maybe the most important part of a good CS request: Refer to something on the hosts profile! State
why you’d like to stay with THEM. This will increase your chances, because the host will notice that you
actually read their profile (go up 1 level in CS request hierarchy), and that you actually might be a good match,
because you’re interested in something about them.
If you can’t find anything - don’t ask them (in my opinion), because you will spend time with each other and there
should be something that made you chose that person to ask. If it’s only "because you live close to the LOTE
venue", you will have to get inventive
I get tons of requests saying “I will be in Bern, this is what I like …”. Aha, fair enough. But if someone mentions
something that s/he thinks, we have in common or s/he is interested in sharing - chances go up exponentially
I would have enjoyed to know in advance how much one of my CS guests was