In what felt like a blink of an eye, it was suddenly the last day of the Airbnb Open in Los Angeles. My presentation was over, and now I could truly relax and focus on the list of classes I wanted to attend. Staying true to my theme of “Self Care,” I wanted to make sure I had some downtime. You know, enjoy my surroundings and pamper myself a tiny bit. You gotta love, “self-care!”

As with any BIG event, some controversy is bound to pop up. Good or bad, I wouldn’t want it any other way. True to form, we had received an email earlier from Airbnb, warning us about some protests that were going to be happening outside the Open that Saturday.

Of course, as I reached the venue Saturday and saw a mob of people, I was thinking, “Ahhhhh, protesters! PROTESTERS!” But no, they were not protesters. This “mob” was holding a run/walk event for the homeless. Yes, homeless. You see, that’s why I hate making judgments.

There were people walking and running, and an amazing cheerleading squad was performing. It was great watching all of those folks coming together for such a GREAT cause. What wasn’t so great was watching one of those amazing acrobatic cheerleaders being tossed and dropped to the ground! Ouch! I mean, OUCH! However, in true cheerleader pep, she bounced, literally, back up and brushed it off. You would’ve thought they rehearsed it that way. Cheerleaders, you gotta love them.

My first class of the morning was Rebecca Morgan’s session: Make Your Listing a Money Machine which was part of the Optimizing Your Listing session. Rebecca is a member of my Facebook Group: “The Hosting Journey.” I was glad to finally catch her class! I’ve wanted to see it since the 2015 Airbnb Open in Paris.

Some of the highlights of her class included the following.

Proactively Market Your Space:

    Business cards

    Flyers/Brochures (I’ll also add Postcards)

    Website for your Airbnb

    Email Guests

    Social Media

I know some people might tend to be a bit more reserved when actively promoting themselves. It can feel odd making promo phone calls, or worse, going on a cold “meet and greet,” but do it anyway. What's the worse that can happen? They say no? Big deal. Trust me, it's worth it.

Look for nearby establishments that will need lodging for their members or for their visitors. Contact the business, introduce yourself, and ask to be added to their list of recommended nearby lodgings. It doesn't hurt to try. The benefits (and there are plenty) will outweigh the risks (none).

    Hospitals

    Convention Centers

    Adult Day Care or Nursing Home

    Yoga or Art Studio

    Local Business

    Festivals, Art Fairs, Street markets

    Neighbors (my neighbors use my home a lot for visiting parents, aunts, etc)

You can read more tips from Rebecca’s class at her website:

Rebecca Morgan's Class

Next off, The Game Plan: Strategies for Entrepreneurs session. This was a two-part session with Brian Chesky interviewing actor and investor, Ashton Kutcher. OMG! It's Kelso!

The session was interrupted by a protester. A real one. You can view the interview, protest, and response at Airbnb’s YouTube channel:

Ashton Kutcher:

“This company is about bringing people together and about loving one another.”

Awww, to be a millionaire. Great quote, though.

I’m sorry to say that by the time Chip Conley interviewing Peter Guber rolled around, I had checked out. What I did take away was this:

“If you’re not willing to fail, you will not succeed,”

and

“Be comfortable with uncomfortable.”

So, off I went to see the Cultivating the Art of Taste & Style session, where once again, Brian Chesky was interviewing a celebrity. This time it was Miss Gwyneth Paltrow, actress, entrepreneur, and founder of the lifestyle website, Goop.

It was interesting to get Paltrow’s take on the differences between her life as an entrepreneur and an actress. She also unveiled her new app, GSpotting. The fascinating part was how uncomfortable Gwyneth and Brian were just mentioning the name, GSpotting.

I say if you have a controversial name…. Own It! After all, that’s probably why you chose it!

You can view the interview here:

By then, it was lunch time! Woohoo! Love my new “Cali Healthy Lunch!” Downside was, this time I did encounter protesters! Protesting against us! Me! Airbnb!

Fairbnb? Oh, well. Nothing I can do. So, off to lunch!

Lunch with my lovely friends from Properly, Tammi Simm, Alex Nigg, and Adrian Avedisan.

We decided not to go back to our lovely Airbnb to freshen up and to just hang out around the Airbnb Village.

This was in the Superhost Lounge. Is the host the deer?

Before long it was time for the Belo Awards, with James Cordon as MC.

Loved his line,

“Tonight, people are at your house getting busy.”

Due to the tragic events in Paris during last year’s Airbnb Open, the Belo Awards were rightfully canceled. Airbnb highlighted last year’s recipients during this year’s show.

You can view 2015 Airbnb Belo winners here.

The night was young! There were different shows in all the different theaters. We went off to see, enjoy, and partake. Partake, we did. Fun was had by ALL!

Alex and Tammi wanted to see one of the concerts. In true “self-care” fashion, I decided to skip it. Because of my hearing issues, it’s hard to be in places with loud music. I know, you’d think not hearing would be a plus in loud concerts, right? It’s not! LOL! So, off I went with Emily Benkart, and we found this amazing Thai food restaurant. Food =  Self-care.

In conclusion, it was an informative, hectic, fun filled three days at this years Airbnb Open. The City of Angels was a great host, and as I said before, our LA Airbnb apartment and hosts were AMAZING!

As I board my flight back to New York City, I am exhausted… Happily exhausted.

I want to thank EVERYONE, Airbnb, hosts, friends, cyber friends, NEW friends, who made this Open in LA such a wonderful experience. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Next year, the BIG APPLE? Come on! Party at my house!!