After Airbnb Open events wrapped up at Fort Mason Center yesterday with a sunset social, the festivities spread to other parts of San Francisco. Dinners were scheduled all over the city—in homes and restaurants—hosted by about 100 Airbnb employees. (Susan, from Tacoma, Washington, noted that her dinner didn’t end until close to midnight.)
In the coming days, we’ll be sharing details from one of the employee-hosted dinners—a beautifully composed backyard gathering, complete with s’mores as the finale. (Mmm. That familiar campfire smell in your clothes the day after.)
We’ll also be posting summaries of various events, such as this morning’s Founders’ Panel and tonight’s Host Awards Show and Dinner. And since one of the major draws of the Open is the opportunity to connect with fellow hosts, we’ve got some Airbnb host profiles in the works as well. Even if you couldn’t meet them in person, you can laugh at their anecdotes and gain insight from their experiences.
In the meantime, here are just a few of our favorite snippets—heard over the course of the first half of the Open:
“It’s noble to care for the mobile.” –Chip Conley
“Airbnb helps me live the life I want to live. And I think, together, we help millions of others—and will continue to help them—live the lives that they want to live. All this is pretty cool to me.” –Sonoma County host Fred Reid
“We couldn’t be more different, and that is our strength. … When you put the three of us together, it’s like a stool—a super-stable structure. If you took away one of the legs/one of the founders, I don’t think we would be here today.” –Nate Blecharczyk, on the three founders and their roles
“There is this kind of mythology in Silicon Valley that if you build it, they will come. And we built it, and they didn’t come. … We were making $200/week in revenue, which does not support three guys in San Francisco.” –Joe Gebbia, on the early days of Airbnb
“Cat tax!” –Brian Chesky, when the audience began shouting out not-quite-audible words
And we couldn’t resist sharing Carmel Valley-based host Megan’s heartwarming story, explaining why she loves Airbnb:
“In June of 2013, I was diagnosed with breast cancer. I had five bookings and I was so overwhelmed, I called Airbnb and they cancelled everybody and did a beautiful job of helping them find other places. And then about two and a half months ago, as part of my reconstruction surgery, I had to have an emergency surgery. I had only seven hours’ notice. So I put the dog in the kennel. I put lots of clean sheets and towels in the rental room. I had four guests booked, and I wasn’t sure when I’d be home from the hospital.
Nobody was home. So the first guest completely cleaned the room for the next guest. The next guest did the same thing for the next guest coming in. The third guest—and I was texting everybody before and after the surgery, from the hospital—the next guest cancelled and he said, ‘I don’t want to burden you at this time.’ So I said please call Airbnb and let them know what’s happening. So he did. Airbnb refunded him 100 percent. This is about five hours before he was supposed to check in. They paid me for the night.
Two days later, when I got home from the hospital, my fourth guest was in—very happy. And there were flowers waiting for me. And I want to thank Jessica from Airbnb [for sending them]. … I just cried. I felt so supported. That was my transformational moment, because I really saw that this is a friendly, personal company.”
And a few of our favorites tweets:
Best quote. If we all made our hearts a little larger the world would be much smaller #AirbnbOpen
— gwsn (@Gwsn2012) November 22, 2014
The Bélo stands for the first four letters of belonging. #AirbnbOpen #bélo #belong #Airbnb #airbnbsanfrancisco #brand pic.twitter.com/KkQYr7IaMJ
— lena babenko (@lenaskitchen_1) November 22, 2014
#airbnbOpen #Joebot! You just made like, 1500 BFFs
Airbnb CEO Brian announces $1mill personal liability insurance coverage for US Hosts for free. Effective Jan 2015. #AirbnbOpen
— Home Sharers of SF (@HomeSharersSF) November 22, 2014
Challenges AND Solution! #AirbnbOpen 😀 Thanks #Joebot pic.twitter.com/AdBGJBkFJu
— Seattle Airbnb Host (@SeattleLuxeLord) November 22, 2014
#AirbnbOpen impressive for a company to talk about failures as well as successes & responding to feedback @Airbnb is doing that = success
— Jude Habib (@JudeHabib) November 22, 2014
There are no strangers at #Airbnbopen – only warm and generous friends who haven't been introduced… http://t.co/rqIxKzCMyn
— Anne Ruthmann (@AnneRuthmann) November 22, 2014
Brian Chesky-CEO of Airbnb…"You cannot kill an idea who's time has come" -quote by Victor Hugo #AirbnbOpen pic.twitter.com/J02r1H5ybw
— Seattle Airbnb Host (@SeattleLuxeLord) November 22, 2014
UNITED IN HUMANITY! Bring it, Airbnb guy. #AirbnbOpen
— Jessica Kinney (@JessicaKinney8) November 22, 2014
Belong Anywhere…I'm all in! #AirBnbOpen pic.twitter.com/7N1MDAA4Lh
— Pamela b. Walls (@10girlsProgram) November 22, 2014
"Creating the first community driven super brand with hosts' fingerprints and hearts" #AirbnbOpen
— Nan Doyle | Toast (@brklynchou) November 22, 2014
Jonathan @Mildenhall talking about Airbnb as a Super Brand and Community driven company #AirbnbOpen #Airnnb #CMO pic.twitter.com/z0Oo5q46yX
— Morgan Lomenec'h (@mlomenech) November 22, 2014
#AirbnbOpen not a dry eye in the house I suspect. Great video & behind the scenes video to mark fall of Berlin Wall http://t.co/5RJsKW7tAl
— Jude Habib (@JudeHabib) November 22, 2014
Belō the Golden Gate Bridge @Airbnb #AirbnbOpen pic.twitter.com/NXe0VPexzG
— Anne Ruthmann (@AnneRuthmann) November 23, 2014
Making new friends over dessert! #AirbnbOpen pic.twitter.com/Dsxo8KeB2V
— C Fahey (@chelsfahey) November 22, 2014
Annette saw on my profile tht I <3 tomatoes – they packed up fresh ones & brought them to #AirbnbOpen from Scotland pic.twitter.com/lP3CF73Amp
— Jessica Semaan (@jessemaan) November 22, 2014
The belo in the wild. #AirbnbOpen #airbnb pic.twitter.com/wYDAMfh2U9
— Nathan Blecharczyk (@nathanblec) November 22, 2014
Love the disaster response of airbnb, can be activated within 30 mins. Offer rooms for free to displaced. #AirbnbOpen
— rose dakin (@rosedakin) November 22, 2014
Day Two @Airbnb #AirbnbOpen All star Founder Panel, success! #GoodGuysDoExist pic.twitter.com/S55M7XabsV
— Ink Property (@InkPropertiesLA) November 22, 2014
"You're the average of the five people you surround yourself with" – @bchesky #AirbnbOpen #FoundersQ&A pic.twitter.com/wWe2YrTIjc
— Cristina Calzadilla (@ccalzadilla) November 22, 2014
Joe, Brian & Nate-3 founders of #airbnb are "3 legs of a Stable Stool". All 3 are essential to success! #AirbnbOpen pic.twitter.com/FyYVTsLCXt
— Seattle Airbnb Host (@SeattleLuxeLord) November 22, 2014
https://twitter.com/reginicec/status/536017659314188288
#AirbnbOpen creating friendships around the world. #KC #Vancouver pic.twitter.com/OmDcviOwKI
— Brittain (@BrittainKovac) November 22, 2014
Dinner last night at my house with some fantastic Airbnb hosts. #AirbnbOpen #airbnb pic.twitter.com/MCEqLrogNX
— Nathan Blecharczyk (@nathanblec) November 22, 2014
#BrianChesky Airbnb launched 4X! Never quit. Knew if people experienced what they experienced would work.#AirbnbOpen pic.twitter.com/EKXh3xq8M3
— cmackey (@cmackey) November 22, 2014
This is a guest post by Anh-Minh Le who attended Airbnb Open and is the editor in chief and cofounder of Anthology Magazine, as well as a regular contributor to the San Francisco Chronicle and SFC&G. She is also an Editor at Large for California Home + Design. Travel and design are among her passions, and browsing Airbnb listings never fails to give her a serious case of wanderlust.