Get to know our 2022 Host Advisory Board members

[Stephanie]

First off we want to wish a heartfelt thank you to last year’s board members, in the inaugural year of the board they played a pivotal role integrating with our teams and helping us keep day to day Host perspectives front and center in our work.

As we move into 2022 the Host Advisory Board mission remains as important as ever, giving Hosts a seat at the table to represent the voice of the community in shaping the future with Airbnb. They will continue to influence key Host policies, programs, and products that we launch.

We’re excited to have @Anna1403 , @Merrydith0, @Nutth0, @Omar202, @Pam5 , @Peter1, @Shinya0, @Susan208, @Till-and-Jutta0, @Vinícius0 and Pooja  all returning from last year to continue serving and I hope you’ll join me in welcoming the new members…

@Claudia331, @Daniel1651, @Delphine348, @Felicity11 , @Jennifer3225, @Kirk124, @Michael-O-Reilly0, @Ted--Pauline-And-Keo0 , @Ronaldo-And-Carla0, @Francisco-and-Yajaira-Ho0, Sebastian, Deirdre and Nadia

You can expect to see our HAB members’ voices and perspectives represented in education and announcements we share throughout the year. We’re looking forward to seeing what we will accomplish together this year. You’ll probably have noticed some of the members posting around the CC already and contributing to our Hosting discussions.

HAB members represent the wide diversity of backgrounds and are selected due to their tremendous contributions to our Host Community. In order to get to know our 2022 HAB members better please visit the HAB landing page for more information.

Thank you,

Stephanie

[Emilie]

Hi @Robin4 and all, 

I appreciate you sharing your honest thoughts and perceptions of the Host Advisory Board’s work and presence here on the Community Center so far this year. 

We know that you’d like to hear from the HAB members on what they’re working on, however it can be quite challenging. Due to the nature of the topics, the members of the Board cannot always share and discuss the details of the work they have been doing. We understand how this can be interpreted as the HAB members not being active, but their work is happening around the clock. New policies, products and updates are put through to them, and they are attending workshops several times a week with various product and programme managers in order to help shape those, raise concerns and understand the real impact on the Host community. On top of that, they also remain Hosts and have to continue managing their listings and providing wonderful stays to their guests like the rest of you. This leaves them with very little time for anything else.

That being said, several HAB members have been participating on the Community Center as and when they can, whether that’s @Peter1 sharing a lot of interesting news articles and thoughts, many like @Delphine348 and @Till-and-Jutta0 talking with Hosts in other languages, and a couple sharing their experiences with sustainable hosting as part of our Festival. They are as present as they are able to be at the moment, and I can assure you that they are committed to bringing improvements to the platform and the Hosting community.

Speaking of Sustainability - this a topic that two HAB members in particular are working on as part of the board -@Felicity11 @Anna1403 could you maybe share a bit more on your work around this so far? 

We will talk with the team that coordinate the Host Advisory Board to see if there is anything they can share, impending. I can’t say too much just yet but May is going to be very busy for updates!

Thanks,

Emilie

[Burke10]

You do realize that without Hosts, there would be NO AirBnB. And with this being said, why are hosts the last to know, penalized first, and treated as the lowest on the totem pole? The website is amateurish, hides pet fees, and hides listings.  And now we're being told there are top secret discussions that we either wouldn't understand or wouldn't like but y'all know best?  How about an open HAB with open discussions.  CS is a joke and the Feedback form goes into the ether never to be seen again.  Support of hosts should be AirBnB's top priority, but it feels like it is near the bottom.

[Laurelle3]

@Emillie thank you for sharing the information regarding the HAB members and their challenges with different topics that can be interpreted differently.

With different rules set by governments around the world let alone how Airbnb hosts interpret with local rules, different type of dwellings, neighbourhoods, different nationalities of guests and what they expect or the guests own standard of living can or not  be desired at times when they leave the premises as in a mess or are destructive.

Or guest have a negitive destructive nature with giving reviews low score or trying to claim money refunds because their expectations of the location or not reading the hosts rules. Thus,  effecting the host or to extreme hosts being suspended with no communication between guest and host of a perceived view from the guests.

What I  do like is reading the HAB members introduction of themselves, what they like, where they live around the world and how the environment may be affecting them. Whether is be the weather, local issues hosts experience in their locality or on Airbnb topics.

I am looking forward to the next chapter.

[Delphine348]

@Emilie Thank you for explaining what HAB work is and that there is CC also in other languages than english.

Being French, my natural expression is on the French CC even if I sometime participate in English CC which is of course the biggest one. I wish I could speak other languages enough to read and participate in all of them as the CC are a good way of getting in touch with other hosts around the world and discovering other cultures.

[Till-and-Jutta0]

Thanks for clarifying; I could not have expressed it better.

We also should not forget that all HAB members are engaged in their local communities. And like all 500 community leaders, we are involved in local politics and host issues, moderating groups, organizing meetups and workshops. That community work helps us to represent the entire host community better.

We are always happy about the warm welcome in the nine CC’s around the globe!

[Laurelle3]

@Till-and-Jutta0 thank you for your support as I feel that we have got know you through the CC hosts zoom meetings. We know that you actually exist the same with @Daniel1651.

[Gillian166]

I'm curious to know if the HAB had input into the new categories release, and if they all stand behind it as a good idea. I also sit on a board elsewhere and I'm well aware of the limitations of being able to speak openly.

[Helen3]

@Anna1403 , @Merrydith0, @Nutth0, @Omar202, @Pam3 , @Peter1, @Shinya0, @Susan208, @Till-and-Jutta0, @Vinícius0 and Pooja  

@Claudia331, @Daniel1651, @Delphine348, @Felicity11 , @Jennifer3225, @Kirk124, @Michael-O-Reilly0, @Ted--Pauline-And-Keo0 , @Ronaldo-And-Carla0, @Francisco-and-Yajaira-Ho0, 

As our representatives between hosts and Airbnb can you tell us what work you have been doing around the issue that has been raised many times on these boards and elsewhere...Namely when a guest makes a safety complaint against a host, the host automatically has all their listing suspended, without notification or discussion.

Airbnb then refuses to inform the host about why the listing has been suspended or enter into discussions with the host.

In some cases this goes on for months, guests have their booking cancelled and the host loses all their income.

This could for example because a guest complains about CCTV - when this is clearly displayed in accordance with Airbnb's T&Cs or because a guest has held a party and the host complains about additional guests using the property.

Surely Airbnb should not be suspending a hosts listing until they have spoken to the host/confirmed that there is a safety breach.