by David Hills
One of the improvements that comes with Servas.org Version 2 is a simplified and much improved Letter of Introduction! Some of the new features include the following:
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No profile duplication:In Version 1, travelers described themselves in the LOI section, and hosts described themselves in the Hosting section. Members who were both hosts and travelers could use either section or both. Now, it’s all in one place: the “About me” section which is front and center in the member profile. Now, when you create your LOI, the “About me” section is copied into the body of the LOI document, so there’s little extra work to do.
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One LOI per couple: In Version 2, any and all Servas members in a household can now go on one LOI. Adding or removing travelers is simple, and you have only one LOI to keep track of.
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Focus on the trip: In Version 2, members can easily create a new LOI for each trip. The “About my trip” section lets you tell prospective hosts about your itinerary and goals for the particular trip. In this sense, the new LOI format is enabling Bob Lutweiler’s vision of each Servas trip having a learning or action objective.
Tips on Fine-tuning Your LOI
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Use “Edit profile” to access your LOI and eStamps: Everything related to your LOI and eStamp is done in the “Travel” sub-menu of “Edit profile”. This is where you can create, delete and edit your LOI’s, and where you request a new eStamp or renew your expired one.
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Move your (old) personal description to “About me”: If you had an LOI before July 3, 2024 (Version 2 launch date), then the personal description from your old LOI was moved into “About my trip”. That kept LOI’s looking pretty much the same, but general information about you should really be moved to the “About me” section in your profile, where it will be more visible to other members. Doing this will give you space to add specific trip-related information to “About my trip”.
Less is more: Keep in mind that people will read and remember text that is succinct and to the point. It’s easy to write more than you need to in “About me”. Hold something back to share with your hosts.
