Alternative accommodation: Bed Sharing

Springwise reports on a new way to take care of accommodation while you're traveling to Milan: Bed Sharing. The project was initiated to take care of the large number of visitors and designers that were coming to the city for the Salone del Mobile, the annual international furniture fair. Milan residents were asked to take part in the project to offer rooms to conference attendees, who had not been able to or could not afford hotel rooms.

It's a simple way to add a personal touch and human scale to massive conferences and events, while helping local professionals expand their networks by meeting colleagues from abroad. One to set up for every major conference? Since almost everything can be arranged online, coordination costs aren't high. And given most events’ very specific target audiences, sponsors should be easy to find.