5 years of the Community Center: a thank you to you all

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone, 

We are so pleased to wish you all a very happy 5 years of the Community Center! 

I remember very clearly our launch of the Community Center at the Airbnb Open in 2015 and getting very excited about the first two posts we received from you. I wonder if anyone else here remembers what it looked like back then?

Over the past 5 years we've had many highs and have formed our own community traditions, which I'm sure we will only add to. Some of the things that come to mind are the Month of Celebration, the member spotlights and we also had our first festival (and a pretty cool community video too). We have over 50 How to guides (some of these might need a little update now) and have been transported to far away places with local travel discoveries and stories. One of the newest and one that probably only resonates with a few of you, are our online social meetups which has been an absolute joy to be part of. It would be lovely to see more of you there in the future. 

This year has probably been one of the hardest yet and I know many of you have had a very difficult time. As Community Managers and as humans we are lucky to get glimpses into your lives and it is very hard for us to see you struggling. We always want to make sure you feel supported even at the hardest times and I know many of you have really tried to support each other. Even the smallest amount of brightness even from a person on the other side of the world can make such a huge difference. 🙂 

One thing I hear so often, and know from my own experience, is that our Community is made up of many wonderful people and you are the ones who make the community what it is. The support you offer each other, the experiences and tips you share and the feedback you provide all make a difference.

I do like to talk and could go on for several more pages, but I will keep it ummm...short (well kind of) and finish by saying on behalf of all the community team a  huge THANK YOU for being part of our community journey so far and the character you all bring. Here's to the future, to as much laughter and joy in the CC as we can get out of it and to making a difference. 

We look forward to the next 5 years and how we can continue to shape the CC together.  

Please do shared any of your favourite memories from the past 5 years. 

Thank you again, 

Lizzie, @Katie , @Quincy , @Nick , @Liv  (and of course @Stephanie) 

A massive thanks to Katie for her creative skills on the image here 🙂 

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

WOW, 3x grandpa @Robin4 CONGRATULATIONS!!! 🙂 🙂 😄 

I miss Olga from Ukraine 😄 😄

...and what was the name of that great IT guy who was here frequently and then vanished... was it Brian? I think he was from Australia... why can't I remember his name.... I loved reading his posts.

[Robin4]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 

Hello Branka, you girl are one of the CC stalwarts, you have had a few years here now, and you are right, Olga had  an opinion on anything and everything, and she really was entertaining.

As far as the IT guy you are talking about, I think that would have been Ben from Wellington in New Zealand. He and his wife Angel have/had a really high tech listing in Wellington and Ben was very active here through 2018 up to April 2019.

In early 2019 Angel fell on a pavement, cracked her head open and had a stroke and almost died. She was in intensive care for some time and it of course cut Ben up terribly, Angel did recover but I am not sure to what extent and Ben has been absent from the CC since. I did receive some nice personal messages from him for a time but they ceased in July 2019. I do hope they are both okay and that life is now back on track for them. 

My favourite was Bruce though, who could ever forget that Tiny Tim  'Tiptoe through the Tulips' video with Bruce dancing from one tulip to the next devouring them as he went. I so hope he and Sabrina are ok over there at the foot of Mt Hebron in Israel.

Lots of memories here Branka from the last 5 years and I thank Lizzie for jogging our memories. Wow, I was as proud as punch when I got this email in Oct 2015.....

I have hosted over 400 Airbnb trips since then and the CC has been with me all the way!

Cheers........Rob

[Branka-and-Silvia0]

Yes, yeees, Ben from New Zealand, bravo!  @Robin4  you have so much better memory than I have... oh well, my memory is terrible... even my 88 y.o. mum has a better one 😄

I knew his wife had some accident but I didn't know it was so bad 😞 I am sorry to hear that...

I remember Vendy... and Marzena from Poland too 🙂

[Robin4]

@Branka-and-Silvia0 

Oh I do remember Marzena well, but I can't place Vendy!

But how about Jeet from Pune in India, I remember his food looked delicious!

The other funny thing Branka, it took Andrea from Amsterdam more than a year to work out if I was Robin the female or Robin the male!!

Dave was my 'rock' though, and eventually after I finished asking him a lot of dumb newbie questions like this one he got me into the Experts group where together we were part of support! 

Thanks to Dave's help I became proficient in a short space of time.

Tuesday morning I am off away for two weeks to stay with my girls Branka. There is no local transmission of COVID-19 in Australia, the only cases we are getting are a few out of the 1500 expats returning from overseas each week, and they all go straight into quarantine and have no effect on our community. All the state borders are open again and life is back to normal  here.....although we are still practicing social distancing and everywhere you go you are bombarded with hand sanitiser and disinfectant wipes. We are a lot cleaner society than we used to be, hopefully that will stay.

We all here just so hope that a vaccine comes along quickly so you guys over there can get your lives back to normal again soon!

Cheers........Rob

[Melodie-And-John0]

As always @Robin4 , well said!!!!  Happy 5 years to all and many more to come!    Stay well, JR

[Tueykay0]

@Robin4 : Congratulations 3x Grandpa! Happy Holidays to you and your family!

[Roberta2]

lovely note @Lizzie  - congratulations to all and every one of us.

Great to see some of the familiar faces on the mosaic. 

I wonder what will happen in 5 years time - feels like a lifetime away...

[Clara116]

@Lizzie , @Katie , @Quincy , @Nick , @Liv , @Stephanie and all my CC buddies on here! 

Of all the places I feel at home and welcome (most always) during these past years being able to

meet, greet and be part of the CC group/family is at the top. I'm sure grateful that you ALL are.

Happy birthday all those that put all this together and keep it active, interesting, challenging, fun, and inspiring. There's so many individual personalities that have been and continue to be  the ingredients for all the best aspects of CC. 

Just about anything one could imagine as a host has been written about, laughed about, criticized about, explored, dissected and occurred right here through and with the CC group. The awesome variety makes for the most ingenious of thoughts, expressions and written about text/post. 

I have to admit when the pandemic hit Airbnb hard and it was announced that 1900 employees had to leave the company - My first and most important question  that I sent to my Airbnb headquarter folks was:  I sure hope you are keeping the Community Center - Lizzie and all those guys right? 

Yep - they knew what was important for the company and the hosts. A community place to join together, through good and bad. 

Happy Birthday 5 yrs. - thanks for being here esp. during 2020.....! 

peace, love and much hope coming from  Clara in Pensacola, fl. 🙂

[Debra300]

Cudos to everyone that participates.  This forum is a great place to share guest and host experiences, where we educate, encourage each other, and act as the support service and sounding board for those who may not be heard anywhere else.

[Nick]

Happy birthday to the CC and a big thank you to all of you wonderful people who give this place its character and soul.

When I joined the team in what seems to be ages ago (although it's a bit less than a year), I wasn't expecting the CC to be such a vibrant place; a melting pot of ideas from all over the world, blending in one. It is a beautiful surprise every day that goes by (yes, even in times I can't do much to help and get frustrated about it).

It has been a privilege to get to know many of you on here and via our meet-ups, and although we've never met in person, it feels like we've known each other for some time.

Not a small accomplishment when we all live scattered in different places of the world and have been in lockdown most of the time since I've joined the CC. I won't tag you here; you know who you are 😉

Here's to the next five and beyond! 

[Jessica-and-Henry0]

Thanks for the lovey post @Lizzie reminding us of the CC anniversary. 

I remember I joined the CC early Feb of 2017 when Henry and I were getting started to prepare our guest room, and we began hosting our first guest at the end of the month right when the new school year begins in Korea. I've learned a lot from fellow hosts over the years and greatly enjoy our chats and exchanges and the insights you are willing to share so openly and honestly. 

And I'd like to extend a special thank you to everyone I've met thru the regular meet-ups we've been having this year. It's been a challenging year, to say the least..... and the meet-ups have been a great way to *connect* with fellow hosts all around the world. 

[Christine615]

Waving at all my host friends and colleagues. You all feel like family which is so comforting during the pandemic. Stay safe everyone!

[Lizzie]

Aww thank you for sharing all your lovely comments and taking a trip down memory lane everyone. 

As promised to @Branka-and-Silvia0 I got baking at the weekend and made us a 5 year CC anniversary cake... I went for a seasonal cake, it's an apple cake (one of my favourites). I've never made it before, and I thought this would be a good occasion to change that (although it does resemble a Spanish potato tortilla! 🙂 ). 

Anyone fancy a slice? Should I put the tea kettle on?

@Nick, @Christine615, @Jessica-and-Henry0, @Robin4, @Debra300, @Clare116, @Roberta2, @Gordon0, @Cathie19, @Helen427, @Michelle53, @Francesca, @Emilia42, @Emiel1  

[Nick]

YES, please! @Lizzie 😁- Looks amazing! 😍

[Melodie-And-John0]

Very nice @Lizzie , 5 delicious years!  Many more to come, thank you so much for such a wonderful place to air our thoughts, concerns and feelings, its one of a kind sounding board for small home businesses around the globe.  Stay well, JR