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. 

[Huma0]

@Sarah977 

When I had to cancel an IB today (the second time for the same guest and same booking) because the guests had neither checked the UK Gov's COVID restrictions, nor read my clear statement on the listing that they could not quarantine here, the response was, after a lot of back and forth and explanation from me:

" It's a new country for us."

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592 "Its always been someone pointing out that I didn't look like a standard white person in some way".

I don't see that as necessarily derogatory or offensive, but of course only the person on the receiving end can sense if it was just curiosity or meant in a non-complimentary way or to compartmentalize you in some way.

I have a Mexican friend who lived in Canada for a year. She said people would say to her, "You're native American, right?"  It didn't offend her at all, she just took it as curiosity about the fact that she obviously wasn't a white Canadian. And her facial features are such that she could easily be native American.

She would answer proudly, "Nope, I'm 100% Mexican!"

But she had a friend who was Asian who told her he was offended by those types of questions.

To me, it depends on context. Obviously referring to or asking about one's ethnicity would be highly inappropriate in a job interview, but if it's simply that an acquaintance or new friend is curious about the DNA mix that produced your looks, without wanting to know out of any inherent prejudice, I wouldn't find it offensive. 

I have a friend who happens to be of the same heritage as me- Eastern European Jewish. We don't look anything alike aside from both having dark hair, olive skin, and being more or less the same height (her eyes are so dark brown they're almost black, mine are hazel). But whenever we've been out together, someone invariably says, "You must be sisters, right?" 

[Laura2592]

@Sarah977 personally I don't love these kinds of questions. If I choose to share my ancestry with a friend, so be it. But I would never ask, not even someone I knew well. Its the equivalent to me of asking a woman if she is pregnant. You just don't-- too many possibilities for offense if you are wrong. And where my people came from isn't really anyone's business. My millenial husband has a Spanish three word last name and absolutely hates being asked about it, how to spell it, told he doesn't look a particular way, etc. He is in no way ashamed of his heritage but the questions are very much "oh couldn't tell  you were one of those people" stereotypical. Which is the way I have always been asked anything about my own background.

I would never ever in a million years ask a host about their ethnicity or culture. If a host cared to share it with me, I am sure I would be appreciative. But as I book whole house stays, mostly without a host present, I can't think of a situation where this would ever come up. I don't think its a concern I have insofar as my hosting goals. Obviously other people do. Or at least one other person who knows Catherine Powell does.

[Sarah977]

@Laura2592  "told he doesn't look a particular way, etc."

Those kinds of comments definitely are indicative of ignorance, and ignorance is sort of part and parcel of bias. 

I've gotten " Oh, you don't look Jewish". Really? Because I don't have a big hooked nose or what? Half my family takes after my maternal grandfather- blue eyes and fair skin and auburn hair. I take after my dad's family, dark hair and eyes and olive skin. Yet all my family is 100% Eastern European Jewish. 

There are Mexicans whose skin is way whiter than mine. And my grandson, whose Dad is a darker-skinned Mexican, has flaming dark red hair, a color you don't see that often anywhere. He doesn't get that from my family, nor my daughter's dad's family. His Mexican dad said his grandfather had hair that color.

If humanity survives that long, one day everyone will be so intermarried that no one will be identifiable as any particular race or nationality. 

[Huma0]

@Laura2592 @Sarah977 

I have been asked about my ethnicity frequently my entire life, so I'm kind of used to it. It usually doesn't bother me, as it's often just curiosity. People can't tell where I am from and the guesses could be almost any country where people mostly have brown skin.

It totally depends on the context. If I'm in London and someone asks me where I am from, I know they are asking about my ethic background. If I am abroad and someone asks, I usually answer that I'm from London. What really annoys me is when people respond (and they often do), "No you're not. Where are you REALLY from?"

That to me is kind of offensive, but people can be a bit clueless. I had to tell a friend off recently because she couldn't understand why I got offended when she kept telling me I wasn't British. I know she didn't mean it in a derogatory way (quite the opposite) but it's just not okay to say that. Her 16-year-old son had to explain it to her.

Once, a friend of a friend innocently said to me, "That's what I love about Great Britain. We allow people like you to live here."

So, one does have to tread carefully when it comes to asking people about their ethnic background and especially making assumptions about it. You don't always know how they might feel about it.

[Ann72]

@Huma0  "We allow"?!?  Lord.  Thank heaven for that 16-year-old.  I hope he has an impact.  In the States, people often mean "what ethnicity are you?" when they ask where you're from, the assumption being of course that everyone comes from someplace else.  I like to think that whether someone or their family arrived last week or a few hundred years ago, they share a gene that says "Go!"  Hence our restless, ever-moving population.

[Huma0]

@Ann72 

Yes, I was a bit taken aback by that sentence, but the person saying it thought it was actually a positive statement!

My friend just couldn't understand why I didn't like her telling me I'm not British. I tried to explain but she just didn't get it. As soon as her son told her, end of story. She's never said it again!

Here too, people usually mean "What ethnicity are you?" and it doesn't offend me. The UK is very culturally diverse and especially London and other big cities. Even in my small neighbourhood, which is known as Little Portugal due to the high Portuguese and Brazilian population, there are people from pretty much anywhere you can imagine. 

In London, the question can also often mean "where in the UK are you from?" as so many people relocate here from other parts of the country, to the extent that people are often surprised that I am a 'proper Londoner', i.e. I grew up here.

What I don't appreciate is anyone telling me I am not British. Of course, I consider myself to be Pakistani too but why can't you be both? I have dual nationality. What qualifies one to be British anyway? The Royal Family changed its name from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor due to anti-German feeling not much more than a century ago. So, are they not British either?

[Elaine701]

@Huma0 

Pfft! 

"That's what I love about Great Britain. We allow people like you to live here."

"The apparent unconsciousness makes it twice as effectual" - Catherine Bowen

Fog in the channel. Continent cut off - Daily Mail

[Liv]

@Kelly149 @Mike-And-Jane0 @Elaine701 @Sarah977 @Huma0 @Laura2592 @Ann72 @Debra300 @Colleen253 @Marie6762 

Hey everyone,

Things definitely always have room for improvement, so we really appreciate your feedback. I can assure you that we’re passing this onto the team.

It’s great that you’re eager to raise issues and give suggestions directly to Airbnb execs, and I do sincerely hope we can have increasingly more conversations between Airbnb and Hosts in the CC moving forward.

In the meantime, please feel free to continue to share your thoughts. 

Thanks,

Liv

[Mike-And-Jane0]

@Liv Thanks for your response but I fear it is futile to pass suggestions to Airbnb execs as they seem to be totally deaf to the real world issues faced by hosts.

The much heralded Host Advisory Board appears to have achieved only one thing -  I think Airbnb said it had achieved a 6 month extension to the relaxation of the Superhost criteria.

Indeed the stated 12 months tenure of these folks has no expired with no new board formed unless their confidentiality agreements extend to not even being allowed to say they are on the board!

If the HAB is just a whitewash what hope do other suggestions have.

[Ann72]

Thanks, @Liv.  I have found Airbnb to be responsive to hosts' concerns and have seen changes as a result of feedback posted here.  I understand when things take a long time, because considering the needs of over 4 million hosts takes time and thought.

I think Peter Kwan's idea has something in it, but I do hope it's developed a bit more.  For instance, if you have cultural mementos on display, or if your cultural identity is incorporated into your interior design (or your exterior design), highlight it, talk about it, celebrate it - it all becomes a point of connection and conversation.  But the messaging to hosts about this issue will need to be a little delicate and definitely not pushy.  Telling a story about someone who has done this and found it to enhance the Airbnb experience for guests - great.  Telling hosts they should do this - not great.  Suggesting to hosts they might consider it - um, okay, but after you tell the story about how it works, no need to lay it on with a trowel.

I was making a bit of fun about myself - a cisgendered white woman of a certain age - because I recognize my irrelevance in the current climate.  And that's okay!  (Miranda acts it out brilliantly in the first episode of "And Just Like That.")  I had started imagining what a photograph of my cultural background would look like and all I could think of was white linen napkins and an antique mahogany table.  I've since thought about why I came up with them, and I realize they have personal cultural significance that I could probably share to positive effect with my guests. 

So, sometimes we need to air things out and bat things around before we get there.  And I imagine that the same is true for departments at Airbnb.  Thanks for keeping the channels open.

[Mark116]

I would love it if Airbnb brings back free photography! 

It seems a poor idea in the current climate to put one's 'cultural heritage and ethnicity' front and center in terms of decorating a space for strangers.  I would suspect that such a decision might end up with guests who misinterpret the host intention.  

[Huma0]

@Mark116 

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@Mark116 wrote:

It seems a poor idea in the current climate to put one's 'cultural heritage and ethnicity' front and center in terms of decorating a space for strangers.  

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I think it would very much depend on the situation. There are guests who might be visiting a country that is very different to the one they come from and they can sometimes appreciate touches that reflect the culture of the place (therefore, it's more about the location than the actual host's ethnicity). I know I have had guests here who were hoping we'd all sit down for cream tea at 4pm!! A lot of my guests have appreciated my decor because they think it's very 'English' and that's charming to them. I don't correct them by telling them that most of the furniture is French. For a lot of hosts though, this will be utterly irrelevant and I don't see why they should be pushed into making a song and dance about their ethnicity. 

RE the photography, I believe that was always a one time offering for (selected) new hosts. When it was advertised as a new bonus for maintaining Superhost status, I got really excited. My photos were taken ages ago and I've done quite a few updates since then, including new bathrooms. I was initially told all I had to do was book when I was ready (I was waiting for the spring to get better photos of the garden) but later told, no, you're not entitled. It's only for new hosts. How does that work then? Isn't saying it's a bonus for maintaining Superhost for a year but only available to new hosts a bit of a contradiction? 

Still, it certainly was a big deal for new hosts who managed to get it. It certainly helped me a lot when I was starting out.

[Elaine701]

Airbnb is the only platform that has required us to pay for photos, and we've never used any of those contracted by Airbnb. The photographer was disinterested and in a hurry. The photos were of good quality, but poorly framed, dark, and uninspiring. 

Our latest Airbnb photos were actually shot by a photographer hired by another platform. Her photos for the other platform were so good, we hired her independently to shoot our Airbnb photos. The other platform didn't charge us for their photo shoot. We of course paid her for our Airbnb photos. 

Anyway, if photos and bias are the priorities for Airbnb, then I suspect that facilitates a great opportunity for Airbnb's competition to clean their clock by conquering real life issues that are important to real hosts and guests.

[Debra300]

@Mark116 

There are many of us who cannot hide our ancestry or ethnicity.  I made sure to post a photo on my profile, because my name and profile description give no indication of my background, and I want people to see us so that those who would be uncomfortable with renting from us would avoid doing so.

I have had a few instances of bemusement when a non-US person who has called me directly, and then is surprised at check-in, "Oh, I thought you were a white woman because of your accent."