Hosting

Visitors and groups require a Volunteer or Member to host them during their stay. Hosting is important work, with the Host acting as the main connector between the Visitor/group and the community. For individual Visitors, hosting is not only about facilitating a good visit, but also gradually onboarding them until they become a Volunteer - no one knows for sure how long they will stay! This page collects recommendations about what should be covered by when for a good experience for all. It is written for hosts, but we welcome any curious visitors that may be reading! 😊

Individuals

Before committing

For a visit to work well, it needs to work for the Host, the Visitor and the House. Don't let enthusiasm get in the the way of good judgement! For first-time Visitors, it is recommended to arrange a fixed time-frame (that could be prolonged later.) Considerations:

• Host (you) — can you be fully present for the first days and mostly present for the duration of the visit? Do you have sufficient energy and good will to get to know and care for someone new?
• House — fullness, mood, illness? Ask at CoMe or on Mattermost if not fully sure.
• Visitor — is there clarity and alignment of intentions and expectations? Do they understand the nature and unusual features of Kanthaus? Consider calling as a more expressive medium.

Before arrival

• 📜 Visiting page (phancy physalis!)
• announce time of arrival and departure:
  • in digital calendar (people),
  • on visitor board, and
  • in Mattermost ~in-house and/or at CoMe
• reserve a sleeping spot for the first two nights, private unless otherwise agreed

Upon arrival

• be there to open the door and welcome 😊
• basic needs: water, food, toilets, etc
• find out preferred name, pronouns
• show sleeping place
• help them store their things (shoes, jacket, bag)
• give Wifi password
• find out food requirements and preferences

First full day

• house tour (ca. 1-2h)
• show physical calendar, to-do board, responsibility board, Visitor task list
• encourage them to observe, read signs and ask questions — especially to you, their Host!
• everything communal unless labeled
• get set up (door access, plate shelf & other storage solutions, potentially office space)

1st week

• join Mattermost
• help find an agreeable way to contribute
• sleeping place information & empowerment
• 📜 Collective Agreements
• Visitor check-in — an informal exchange of thoughts and feelings, with a focus on feedback. (You are advised to check-in with yourself too — you can and should ask others for support or to take over hosting if needed.)

2nd week

• 📜 Meeting culture
• 📜 Additional norms
• Visitor check-in

3rd week

• 📜 Emergency protocols
• 📜 Position attributes table
• 📜 Positions and evaluations
• Visitor check-in

Every additional week

• Visitor check-in
  • At this point, the Visitor has the option to ask for an evaluation instead, with or without applying for Volunteer. Talk to the Visitor about their options, and consider consulting with the community members about their thoughts and feelings.

Before departure

• ask them to write in the guestbook
• tell them to check all places for personal things (sleeping rooms, offices, towel + bathroom shelf, plate shelf, shoe rack, vortex)
• ask for email address for potential future contact

Groups

(Doesn't work hosting at Kanthaus? See Other places for groups)

Clarify the basics

• communicate and find out the following:
  • what is it that they are doing?
  • how many people are coming?
  • when will they arrive (earliest) and leave (latest)?
  • which room(s) will they be using for day-time activities?
  • which room(s) will they be using for sleeping?
  • (when) will they participate in dinner preparation?
  • will they bring food or help us recover it?
• communicate to KH residents about the group coming
  • make a Mattermost post in ~kanthaus and/or a CoMe point
  • put it in the nextcloud calendar in the following format: Group name (n ppl) [host]

Before arrival

• reserve the room(s)
• keep KH residents posted about changes in group size, arrival time, room usage and/or duration of stay
• check the room(s) you offered them for usability, cleanliness and clean them if necessary

Upon arrival

• be there to open the door and welcome them :)
• show them where they can leave their stuff
• show them the room(s) they will be using
• invite them to use the rest of the house as well
• give them a key/tag and/or teach them the door code

During

• give a house tour if wanted
• regularly check in with them to make sure everything is fine
• be available for questions
• make them aware of the guest book and invite them to leave an entry

After

• check the room(s) and leave them in a usable state
• check privatizable storage areas and clear names if necessary

Other information

Visitor task list

There's currently a pad with potential things visitors could do while in Kanthaus. This list is meant to be comprised of tasks which can be done with little to no help from experienced residents. It’s things which are small, and accessible; not super urgent, but still useful. Some tasks have names next to them which can be read as an invitation to get in contact with residents.

Communal agreement

There was a communal agreement on hosting duties. It was removed after a constitutional change in July 2025.

Hosts—Volunteers or Members which agree to host a Visitor—are responsible for taking care that their Visitor and the other residents have the best time possible. This responsibility includes tour-guiding, question answering, helping to avoid common problems and resolving tensions. Hosts are also responsible for organizing a check-in for the Visitor after the Visitor has spent ~7 days at Kanthaus. The check-in round is an informal chat in which the Visitor, their host and one or two Volunteers/Members see how things are going for the Visitor and other residents. Hosting Duty should be explicitly transferred if the current host leaves for more than 2 or 3 days.