Meet the boss

[Elaine701]

https://www.wsj.com/articles/how-airbnbs-seniormost-female-executive-transformed-vulnerability-into-...

I'm all for women achieving great things.

But with all the emphasis on "listening to hosts", it certainly appears to be rather selective hearing. 

[Kelly149]

@Marie6762 @Colleen253 

This experience really adds another layer to the ABB book that @Laura2592  & @Huma0 & @Inna22 should start writing. @@Jessica and Henry should translate badly. I’m wondering if I can reverse translate my new listing. So many many possibilities 

[Sarah977]

@Kelly149  Translate it first to Spanish, then from Spanish to Chinese, from  Chinese to German, then from the German back to English. I hear that always works out really well. 

[Kelly149]

@Sarah977 it feels like that could be useful as a new 'can't be broken' spy code. Translate everything 3 times with synonym swapping at various intervals. Jumble the punctuation randomly and it becomes art

[Laura2592]

@Kelly149 this is brilliant! 

[Elaine701]

@Marie6762 

The risk of careless use of Google Translate. 

[Ann72]

@Elaine701  I enjoyed this puff piece.  I found it surprising that, internally, Airbnb was adamantly opposed to online Experiences, saying, “That’s not what we do. We’re about human connection, we’re about the real, in-person connection."  It's good to hear a company knows its DNA, but it made me wonder why they ever allowed remote hosting. 

I don't necessarily think it was the hugest deal when they pivoted to online experiences.  Not to rain on their parade, but everyone the world over pivoted in about a week's time.  

The other interesting point was that among the people she leans on are a host in San Francisco named Peter Kwan, who has suggested "train[ing] hosts to overcome biases, even unconscious ones... [and] photographing hosts’ homes in ways that better reflect their personal stories, culture and heritage."  They're working on his feedback, so watch this space for news about training us to overcome biases and photograph our spaces.  🙂

[Elaine701]

@Ann72 @Laura2592 @Till-and-Jutta0 @Debra300 @Mike-And-Jane0 

Obviously, they have to focus on the important stuff first. Like biases and photos. Can't solve all the world's problems at once.

Good job they've got an actual host to advise them on that.

[Ann72]

Ha @Elaine701!

[Laura2592]

@Ann72 you know I was *just* thinking I needed more help on overcoming biases and photographing my space! Not that I might need help on something like preventing parties or damage, dealing with nonsense ratings or absurd guest behaviors: obvs I can just look inward and discover how my own internal, unconscious biases are responsible. And maybe zhuzh up my photos so that guests can be fully apprised of every corner and cranny of my space. And guests ask to hear about my culture and heritage CONSTANTLY. I mean, not a day goes by that someone isn't curious the various strands of my cultural and ethnic identity. I know that is topmost in everyone's mind when they pay me for a place to sleep!

Methinks its great to listen to the perspective of a host, but there might (just might) be some value to listening to more than one.  No matter how awesome Peter Kwan may be, I sincerely doubt that his issues line up lock step with mine. Diversity of opinion is a good thing, right? Seems like if I only leaned on one customer or staff member to keep me apprised of issues, I would lack a serious depth of perspective....

[Ann72]

😂😂😂 @Laura2592!

[Laura2592]

@Ann72 I am just so glad SOMEONE is taking time to suss out the things that really matter to hosts. Bias training. Photography. Ethnicity sharing. I mean, they read my mind!

[Ann72]

I mean, I can't open my mouth without having a millennial correct my pronouns, so I'm pretty sure that, if my cultural markers were photographed, I'd be delisted before you could say "cisgen."  @Laura2592 @Elaine701 @Debra300 

[Debra300]

@Ann72,

Since we're making up new grammar rules about pronouns and plurals, I will just upon my stand-by phrase of "whachamajig" when I can't recall or identify a person.  

[Sarah977]

"photographing hosts’ homes in ways that better reflect their personal stories, culture and heritage."  

Oh yeah, guests who IB, do self-check-in, don't bother to answer messages and appear to be annoyed at having to deal with the host at all, are really interested in hosts' personal stories, heritage and culture.  

Half of them can't even adjust to the way things are in other cultures, nor have they any interest in doing so, expecting everything to work just like it does at home and demanding refunds if it doesn't. 

[Laura2592]

@Sarah977 and...isn't it kind of a non starter to ask strangers about their "culture and heritage"? 

As a woman of Eastern and Western European heritage, whenever I have been asked "what are you?" or "where are you from?" its never been a compliment. Its always been someone pointing out that I didn't look like a standard white person in some way (or a creepy attempt at hitting on me.) I can't imagine that most hosts are eager to entertain such questions in their own homes.