Midnight in Australia and just bought two tickets for the AirBnB open. Only been to LA once around 30 years ago so looking forward to it. Need suggestions for where to stay? Is there a particular area of Los Angeles that would be preferred for the open? Want to be close to the action and not have to have long commutes each day! As we are travelling across the world, most of our funds spent already on Open tickets and airfares so looking at reasonable costs only. Any advice appreciated. Time for bed! (Will be in the USA for a couple of weeks we guess. No other plans at this stage.) Hope the Australian dollar improves! Currently at .75
Congrats!!! Enjoy LA!
Hey, youāre a better host than I. I honestly donāt think I would go across town for this event nevermind fly from Austrialia on my own dime. Certainly not for Gwnyneth Paltrow. What am I missing?
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We went to last years in Paris. We spend Nov/Dec in Spain, so we made a nice little road trip out of it and went to wine country and a Trappist brewery in Belgium my hubby wanted to see. I would not go just for the Open, as you will be sorely disappointed. However, its a great excuse to make a tax deductible vacation out of a ābusinessā trip.
Legit business travel expense claim for 2016 tax filing.
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VERY trueā¦Are you sure you arenāt my husband disguised as a Cat? These words come out of his mouth daily! But the expenses definitely help to offset taxable income.
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Sometimes,weād rather do fun things rather than pay taxes or settlements, even if there is not a dollar for dollar advantage. When my divorce was imminent and I knew Iād have to split up everything, I bought a purebred Maltese puppy with the profit from one of my writing jobs. It was safer as a puppy than as an asset in my bank account. Cash is splittable, but a puppy? Unsplittable! And sheās made me happier than that guy ever did. 
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Ah! Of course - and of course it is a business expense! I didnāt think of that. Doh! Enjoy LA!
We are skipping this years, but will go next year if its in a āfunā place for us. We live in NorCal and LA isnt all that exciting for us. However, it will be a great adventure for those wanting a vacation to California!
Yes, I also am curious why Gwyneth Paltrow? However I am not that interested in the keynote speakers who may or not be relevant. I am interested in:
- Getting to go to L.A and experience somewhere a little different to my village
- Meeting other hosts - yes I can do that back here, but networking is a great way to learn - same as we all learn from each other on this forum
- Claiming a portion on my tax bill. Not the main reason but will definitely help out a little
- Would have preferred Paris or somewhere more exotic - but the essence of travel is exploring - anywhere!
- Disneyland? Is that near L.A?
- Meeting Americans and trying to understand this whole Donald Trump thing. He was on the Simpsons once as I recallā¦
- Meeting Gwyneth? Does she host?
Come to stay with me in Florida 
Mexico too far sorry. Also, my daily accommodation budget would allow around 22 minutes at her place.
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no, just no. He is not one of us. 
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From someone who was at the Open in Paris you didnāt miss much! The coolest part was the Eat With dinners.
As for your priorities regarding the āOpenā experience, if you go in with the main goal to enjoy LA and meet other hosts you will be set. Do not plan to learn too much, unless you are a newbie host. If the breakout session sounds like something you already āknowā or are comfortable doing, then you pry can skip it. You will get lots a ārar rar rar Air BNB is the best!ā keynotes, and some will be interesting and give you hints of things to come. We tried to do everything bc we thought we would learn so much new information/techniques/etc that was the wrong plan. We were exhausted after Day 2, and was a really good thing bc were given ticket to the football match and decided to go home instead! (if you didnāt know the Paris open was during 13/11 attacks)
Most Americans in California donāt get the whole Trump thing either, sorry! My in laws in Sweden ask me every week, and I have no answer.
Yes, Disneyland is outside of LA and you should come up to San Francisco as well! Depending on how much time and if you are driving versus flying there as tons of options!!
Thank you for sharing your experience of the Paris gathering. Thereās a reasonable chance I might be in LA when Airbnb open is happening and was looking through the materials to evaluate whether I should go. The keynotes look pretty generic and not really Airbnb-specific (by which I mean people who are famous or have a stock inspirational talk that can be booked through a speaking agent). Reading your description of Paris helps me set appropriate expectations should I end up going in LA. I do love talking about Airbnb with friends who host and could imagine it would be fun to do in the larger community. Reading through this thread and your comments helps me realize what I really want is a weekend crash course in hospitality management with lots of practical information for the semi-pro Airbnb host.
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So out of the speakers on this yearās list, the ones that were there last year were; none of the celebs, obviously the Air BNB folks- and all of their keynotes were great, the Traveling Nomad couple- they were FANTASTIC, read their book, blog, etc, they offer amazing insight into what guests do in our houses, and a few of the other "Host Educatorsā. Unfortunately, the āHost Educatorsā were not my cup of tea, as I / we took away nothing from any of their break out sessions. I lied, there was one session where we got to interact with other hosts, and learn what they did in specific circumstances, that was interesting.
If you are going for a fun vacay and to see Celebs speak, then go by all means! Just donāt expect to take away too much knowledge to apply to your business. I canāt beleive how Celeb heavy this yearās Open is, kinda turn me offā¦Please tell me what Gwyneth knows about turning a house for a guest.
PS- We did meet other hosts but there were not a lot of host interactions outside of the one planned dinner.
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Thanks for the suggestions. Looks like some of the Airbnb Open 2015 talks are on Youtube:
Airbnb Open: Michael and Debbie - the Senior Nomads
Airbnb Open 2015 Playlist
Yes!! I think most of the keynote are on the web somewhere. Also, I canāt believe how much they are charging! Two separate fees, one for entrance and one for the awards