Joe Gebbia – Cofounder AirBnb

Joe Gebbia was an entrepreneur from an early age and Airbnb’s ground-breaking online peer-to-peer rental platform began in his San Francisco apartment. Airbnb now has over two million listings in over 190 countries, and has created a new economic model for thousands of people around the world. He recently launched Samara, an innovation and design studio within Airbnb dedicated to exploring new ideas and initiatives centred around the trust that has built up in the Airbnb community. ‘How can brands empower communities? Create tools and get out of the way.

What not to do? Impose the ego of your brand on top of them. Instead, communicate what you believe in order to attract those who believe the same. Provide them with tools or a platform to work on top of, have their back when the tools break, and then get out of the way.’ ‘Through our project for this year’s House Vision exhibition, Yoshino Cedar House, we wanted to celebrate a town in Japan and truly design a space for them. We worked with local craftsmen, used local wood, and are in the process of installing it for their use. I believe people from the town will be proud to host visitors in a home that so accurately reflects their town. I think this also opens the door for further engagement from the community, whether the chopstick factory decides to host tours of the space, or the local sake purveyor asks guests in for a tasting, I believe this could be the spark for the Yoshino community.’ ‘It’s so important to get out of the comfort of the brand headquarters, go and meet the people and experience the local nuances firsthand.

Skip the reports, surveys and agencies, and go talk to the brand zealots on the ground. Hold a meet up. Invite them for coffee. Engage in a conversation to understand.’ ‘Airbnb joins together the essence of global and local: there is nothing more global than a worldwide platform, and nothing more local than a person’s own home. We serve a global audience, enabling them to have a truly local experience wherever they travel and celebrate the local culture, communities, customs and norms. What’s great about Airbnb is that it doesn’t make you choose one or the other; you can have a global experience – where you encounter a new place, try new things – all while staying incredibly local and gaining new understandings and meeting new people.’ ‘I think one of the strongest ways we try to give our community the tools they need to be better hosts and guests is through our OPEN convention each November. People travel from across the world to join us in different locations to meet other members of the community, learn about how to be a better host, and hear directly from us how Airbnb is growing and changing. We have found it an incredibly powerful experience, in learning how engaged and excited our hosts are about the brand, as well as how much their ability to use Airbnb has changed their lives.’