Are there any Advisory Board Members that are part of this community forum?

[Inna22]

I know some have started to participate actively after joining the board and I know Til is really active on the German board. However, has anyone who is active here and was always active been selected/invited? This is probably one of the biggest discussion forums so wouldn't it make sense to offer representation? That is, if they were truly looking for host representation vs another pretend gesture or PR stunt.

[Sarah977]

@Inna22  Thanks for bringing this up. We were promised that there would be a way put in place for hosts to communicate with the HAB here and that they were working on it. I asked about that on another thread in Airbnb Updates and the response from @Catherine-Powell  was that it was coming soon. That was a couple of weeks ago, and still nothing, so yes, it is looking like just another PR stunt.

That it would take half a year to come up with something is absurd. It should have been instituted from the beginning. How can someone represent your interests if you have provided no venue for their feedback and suggestions?

[Ute42]

.

@Inna22 @Sarah977  

In the thread „March: Host Advisory Board Spotlight“ several CC contributers had asked what the HAB members are actually doing. Then Stephanie chimed in with this piece of information:

• I’d like to explain a little bit more about how the Host Advisory Board works alongside the Community Center. As many users of the CC know, our community management team diligently read every single post that’s shared here. We also digest top topics of discussion and deliver that as feedback to internal Airbnb teams so they are aware of Hosts voices on those matters. Like any business, this doesn’t guarantee an immediate change to the discussed product or policy but it does ensure the CC feelings, sentiment and possible solutions are made known.
  
  This has been the way we have worked since the Community Center started in 2015.
  
  The Host Advisory board is made up of Hosts that have volunteered to work with Airbnb, taking similar information as we do on the CC, but from other sources of Host discussion too. Facebook pages, groups, blogs, even WhatsApp groups - the members are listening everywhere they have interaction. This makes their active listening less obvious than a question/answer feedback system but assuredly it is happening around the clock.

(I did the highlighting of passages)

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Community-Center-Updates/March-Host-Advisory-Board-Spotlight/m-p...

So if I understand this correctly, the mods are listening to us on the CC, while the HAB members are listening to hosts outside the CC.

[Sarah977]

@Ute42  That response from Stephanie was posted on the 22 of March. I asked about this a month later and Stephanie responded on the 26th of April, saying we would have an update soon. Now another 3 weeks has gone by with zero action.

I conclude that there is no intention to setup a formal process for hosts to communicate with HAB members.

Why am I not surprised?

https://community.withairbnb.com/t5/Airbnb-Updates/Catherine-s-Host-Update-reviews-party-ban-policy-...

[Stephanie]

Hiya @Sarah977 

Of course because I put a time line to it, there was some additional reviews and greenlights (to be read sarcastically!) Yes I did say about this update and I chased it again last week. Hoping it'll see the light of day soon... it's with translation atm!

Thanks,

Steph

[Ute42]

.

@Stephanie 

Noone is blaming You. Actually, many host stay on the platform just because of You 😎

[Sarah977]

@Stephanie  No blame on you. You just pass on the info you are given, which we appreciate. 

Now if only the info you were given was correct....

[Inna22]

@Sarah977 @Ute42 it is my understanding that the advisory board advises on policy and changes. Even if Mods here report our thoughts to Airbnb, we still do not have a seat at the table as there is no one to be part of the discussion on our behalf. One thing is to report static information and another to be part of a conversation

[Susan10]

When all those "boards members" are volunteers - not really much incentive to affect real change.  In my opinion they should elevate consistent superhosts, to some kind of paid regional position with the goal of guiding other hosts, and thereby creating increased sales and profits for Airbnb (and hosts).  The model works well with other independent sales contract type businesses.

[Sarah977]

@Susan10  They aren't volunteers. They are being paid and were hand-picked by Airbnb. Which makes it even more  suspect, as they are essentially working for Airbnb, not for hosts.

[Susan10]

@Sarah977 

"The Host Advisory board is made up of Hosts that have volunteered to work with Airbnb, "

That was copied from Ute42 in Germany's post above. 

It is volunteer, no?

[Ute42]

.

@Susan10 

The HAB members are getting compensated by airbnb. One of the mods has confirmed that on the CC and one of the HAB members admitted it on here. We all don't know what the compensation is as noone talks about it.

[Sarah977]

@Susan10  Volunteered, as in agreed to sit on the board. But as I said, they are getting paid and were picked by Airbnb.

[Robin4]

@Ute42 

Ute, you have been around long enough to know....what goes around comes around!

Before the HAB it used to be called 'The Global Development team', I was on that for a while but you soon learn that the brief these teams operate under is, what Airbnb is prepared to accept.....not what the community wants/needs.

I don't want to be derogatory to those fine people involved in the HAB but, what it is, is running the same flag up another flagpole, on another windless day!

Cheers.........Rob

[Ute42]

.

@Robin4 

First time for quite a while that I agree a 100% with You. 😎