Visit to Free Hugs HQ
As part of my Sydney trip this week I paid a visit to Juan Mann’s new open home. Juan is the guy responsible for the Free Hugs campaign that went viral on YouTube last year (see the video here). He has now published his address on the Internet, and lets anyone drop buy for a visit.
I dropped by on Friday afternoon before I headed to the airport, and hung out with Juan and three other visitors: Sally, Remo, and Miro.
It was a pretty good experience. Not only is Juan inspiring, but the people at his place were also an interesting and diverse group. Sally and I chatted about her research about the history and psychology of science, Remo chatted about his store that’s been around for quite sometime in bricks and mortar and online, and Miro dropped by to help out Jaun record events in case there’s a documentary in it somewhere. Personally I think they should just make the documentary, because it’s gonna be a fascinating story.
Juan just found out that he’s being evicted this week, which really is a shame. So he’s now trying to figure out his next move. He’d like to keep the open house, but needs to find an accepting landlord. Anyone have a contact that might help him out in Sydney?
Hey Rich, it’s great that you got there whilst being in Sydney Town.
Interesting that you met Remo. I’ve heard a lot about the Remo store from others who say it’s great.
Will be watching Juan’s house hunting progress over the next few weeks with interest.