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 🙂
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
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
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.
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
