New to the Community Center? Introduce yourself here (Updated)

[Lizzie]

Hello everyone,

A warm welcome to the Community Center. 

This discussion is for introducing yourself to your fellow Airbnb Community members, as well as welcoming and saying hello to newcomers in return. Thanks to all of you who have already introduced yourself and contributed in our previous thread, here.  

I'm Lizzie and I am the Community Manager here, along with my teammate @Quincy. I have been managing the Airbnb Community Center since it officially opened in November 2015. It is fantastic to speak with amazing community members here. 

To kickstart this topic, I would like to share a few things about myself:

1. I love to travel, hot or cold it doesn't matter - I'm ready with my sun lotion or a raincoat! 
2. I play several instruments, but my main one is the flute. I always enjoy a good conversation about music. 
3. Lastly, over the past year I have become very interested in all things eco/sustainablilty related.

How about you? Any interesting facts or hobbies?

I'm looking forward to hearing from you. 

Lizzie

[Quincy]

Welcome to the community @Bill440, Sedona is a lovely city! I was there just a few weeks ago actually during my trip through Arizona. 

[Brenda506]

Hello,

We are preparing our place to become hosts in a couple months. In our local area, the city is questioning the viability of places like Airbnb. One council member said they were losing "hotel tax" from hosts. But when I look at the procedure, Airbnb adds a "occupancy tax" to their charges. Can someone confirm to me that that is going to the local cities to pay that tax. We will be going to the next council meeting to voice our opinions and I would like an answer to this particular issue. We are excited about getting our place up and running in a couple months. It is a walkout basement, where they will have free parking, sitting area,  kitchenette, bed, and full bath. any responses will be welcomed! Thank you, BJ.

[Shannon417]

Hi Brenda727,

Bravo for moving into this new world of sharing. I recommend you do some research on the Local Tax section. Airbnb does in some municipalities collect and disburse taxes for the Hosts. In other locations it is not available and it is the responsibility of the Host to insure taxes are collected and paid. 

Either way I believe it is critical that Hosts are positive contributors to their communities (both in providing great experiences for our guests but having that experience stretch into our neighborhoods (being good neighbors) and cities (being good citizens, including paying taxes).

I'm glad you intend to attend your local City Council meetings. First steps, for Council Members and our neighbors are letting them know who we are, how we intend to operate, and most importantly dispel rumors and misinformation about Airbnb Hosts.

Hang in there...

Shannon

Suite Dreams, California Inc

Hosting in Tulsa OK

[Michelle1796]

Greetings,

My name is Michelle (Waukesha, WI USA) and I have been a host for just over a year now.  Thank you to @Quincyfor reaching out and nudging me to join in the conversation.  My husband Jeff and I home share two spaces. 

A little about ourselves:

Decided to host after a couple of Airbnb stays with honest and open hosts.

We are both semi retired and love to travel.

Airbnb and beekeeping keep us active.

Looking forward to continued Airbnb adventures.  Would like to know more about Airbnb community groups in my area.

Safe travels to all,

Michelle & Jeff

[Mohamed307]

Hi guys,

I'm new to Airbnb but I've been so happy with what the platform offers. Even in a challenging city that isn't exactly a tourist hot spot there are visitors who need a home away form home which I'm glad I've been able to provide. 

I love to travel, meet different people and try different cuisines. 

I was wondering even though I know it varies but what's the minimum time it took to become a super host. In terms of time or guests or reviews?

I look forward to becoming a better host and provide experiences as well in some time. I love to socialise and I think Airbnb is an amazing platform that offers more than just accommodation. 

Regards,

Mohamed

[Suz8]

Hi, my name is Suzanne Rushton and I'm a Vancouver (Canada) based photographer. I've been working as a photographer for Airbnb since 2011 (!!) and have shot over 1000 properties. I'm an urban dweller who dreams of spending half my time in a cabin in the woods near a lake or stream. When I travel I switch my location on Airbnb and enjoy meeting people in other countries and seeing how people live in a more intimate way. I used to host short term guests until last year when my city and strata outlawed short term rentals, so now I do a minimum of 30 days. I'm looking forward to my next trip! 

[Shannon417]

Hi Everyone,

I'm from Redondo Beach California. I head up Operations for both Pickle Jar Investments, LLC (long term rentals) and Suite Dreams, California Inc. (short term rentals).

My foray into investor operations is my second chapter career. My first chapter career was 40 years in the film & television entertainment world. My last 18+ years at 20th Century Fox Television overseeing Domestic Distribution Operations for the Syndication arm, 20th Television.

I'm blessed with a wife of 35+ years, two children, two grandsons, and our dog ZuZu. 

I love traveling, seeing the world, experiencing history and current day cultures. Tahiti remains one of my favorite places in the world. We visited Bali this last spring and it is nipping at Tahiti's heals for top position. Both share beautiful landscape, water, and the people are downright wonderful!

Pickle Jar Investments and Suite Dreams, California property locations are all currently in Tulsa Oklahoma. Tulsa and North Eastern Oklahoma offers great opportunities for our investors and also our guests. Once the oil capital of the Western Hemisphere Tulsa is settling into a newer identity that includes its history of Early American & Native American people as well as modern day art. Tulsa's Downtown next to South Beach / Miami has some of the greatest examples of Art Decco architecture.

Suite Dreams operates 4 soon to be 5 properties in the Tulsa / Broken Arrow area. We have been active for a little over a year and love Hosting. We are grateful for the ongoing recognition of Super Host as one of our primary goals is to deliver a 5 Star experience for each of our guests.

I look forward to meeting and learning about each of you posting here. And where possible I'll happily share our business ideas, procedures, and hopefully help answer your questions; as I hope you will do the same for me!

Cheers!

[Joy357]

Hi Im Joy I'm Brasilian and Italian citzen but I consider myself world Citzen I love to travel meet people and of course Host is my passion !Hope we can learn a lot togheter ! 😉 

[Stella254]

Hello Quincy and Lizzie 

Thank you for the warm welcome. 

My name is Stella. I love travelling and enjoy hosting people. 

I am learning gardening and plan to make it my new hobby. 

Happy hosting! 😊

[Bob-And-Nicolette0]

Hi all, after years of using Airbnb while traveling, we just completely remodeled our basement and son's room, hoping to host with Airbnb in order to help pay for his college.. We live in the Bay Area, the Oakland hills.

[Jesse216]

Hello everyone! My wife and I just bought a lovely home in Richmond California and we just started hosting our rooms and to our surprise it has been a really fun adventure. I'm originally from NYC and I work in visual effects and my wife originally from Mexico is a kindergarten teacher. We moved all throughout the United States and found a new home in the bay area. We are very excited to be part of this great community and opening our home to guests. 

[Trevor243]

Hi, I'm Trevor.

My company owns and manages self-catering holiday homes on the Isle of Wight, just off the south coast of England. We've been doing this since 2017.

I love it when guests enjoy their holidays with us. We don't meet many guests, but most that we've met have been great. Of course, we've had some nasty guests too.

I work far too many hours so what little spare time I have is spent walking the dogs around our beautiful island.

If you're coming to the island, give me a shout!

Trevor

[Giovanna388]

Hello!

I am Giovanna actress in Tv, movie and theater at the moment. Yoga instructor also.

I have an apartment very cute in Vidigal, guetto in Rio de janeiro. Rio real. real Rio de Janeiro. Hi everyone.

[Ana-Isabel5]

Hi, I am Ana Isabel and this is my first time in a conversation with Air BnB. I live in the beautiful Island of Aruba.

Aruba is surrounded by beautiful beaches and recreation or sports in this happy island. Our home is located at walk-in distance to beach area, major hotels and restaurants or fast foods. Sports like snorkeling, sightseeing, windsurfing, kite surfing are available for your pleasure.

Our apartment for rent is located in a nice neighborhood and the visitors can share our garden if they please. I like orchid cultivation and would like to share ideas on this wonderful hobby.

I hope this information is useful to those who share experiences in this chat.

[Mageto0]

Well it is great to be here and new at the moment. Am an African named Mageto at birth and a Kenyan  with a good understanding of the east Africa region. I love to make friends and a great passion to establish a big network of a great community. Am grateful to have found this awesome family. It is another new beginning. I love learning new ways and ideas.

Je vais bien merci.