Organizing to end the extenuating circumstances policy

[Evan-And-Anja0]

Hey everyone, 

I am trying to gather as many people together to push for an end to the extenuating circumstances policy and instead transition that to a travel insurance policy. 

Complaining on here will clearly not work, so we need to find ideas about how to put pressure on airbnb and get our message across. 

1st, have a clear solution. This part is simple, the extenuating circumstances policy is now an optional insurance policy that the guest can choose and pay for. 

2nd, reach out to the media and begin pushing for stories  about this solution.  There are a lot of articles coming out regarding the hardships host gave and this is great but none are pushing for a solution the NEXT time this happens. I've begun this process and had a few conversations with interested media outlets, more hosts reaching out to these same people would make a difference. But we have to be on the same page! 

3rd, A petition that we can begin gathering signatures and support. I don't put much faith in something like this, but it is probably the only way to gather everyone together and rally.

http://chng.it/NgDzyLJYQP

I am open to ideas, obviously organization is the hardest part.

I also want to make it clear that this group is about 1 issue:  changing the extenuating circumstances policy for the future. There are plenty of other groups working on other aspects, and those are important. But this is about changing that policy so it doesn't happen next time. 

[Pat271]

Have you looked into contacting Propublica?  They have had some success uncovering, publicizing, and organizing lawsuits against companies that have committed various injustices, such as age discrimination, etc.  This might be something they would be interested in pursuing.  Take a look at their website here:  https://www.propublica.org/about/.

[Evan-And-Anja0]

@Pat271

I will, but you should also. Reach out to them and pitch this specific idea about switching this policy to protect hosts in the future. The more hosts who contact them the more likely we are to get into the media.

Other people to contact: Erin.griffith@nytimes.com  and  twolverton@businessinsider.com Both wrote articles about Airbnb hosts and both could be interested in writing follow ups that address fixing the future.

[Kath9]

@Evan-And-Anja0, that is the first coherent idea I've heard. It might be a bit late to apply this to the current situation as guests just aren't going to be booking at all, but for future scenarios, this could be great (some experts are saying that this outbreak is just the start). Guests optionally purchase insurance from Airbnb against their booking and are refunded if they have to cancel,  while the host still gets paid. Excellent idea.

[Kath9]

Also, I just signed the petition. Hosts, get on board with this!

[Evan-And-Anja0]

Here are 3 reporters to contact:

salvador.rodriguez@nbcuni.com

Erin.griffith@nytimes.com    

twolverton@businessinsider.com 

Reach out and ask them to write about the solution.