Douglas Atkin, Global Head of Community at Airbnb, explains how AirBnB manages to create a powerful and loyal culture of members amongst its audience.

1. Community Culture
Douglas Atkin 10-30-14

2. A Journey through all kinds of Communities
Cults

3. A Journey through all kinds of Communities
Cults Communities

4. A Journey through all kinds of Communities
Cults Communities Movements

5. Cults Communities Movements
Grass-Roots
Organizing
A Journey through all kinds of Communities

6. Communities that
Scale and Take
Action
Douglas Atkin 10-30-14

9. Movement:
A population that’s
mobilized to take action
driven by a shared
vision of how the world
should be.

10. “Never doubt that a small group
of thoughtful, committed
citizens can change the world;
indeed, it is the only thing that
ever has.”
Margaret Mead

11. Grass-Roots
Organizing
____________________________
San Francisco

12. Grass-Roots
Organizing
____________________________
Barcelona

14. “...proponents demonstrated a much larger grassroots base. At
hearing after hearing, hosts outnumbered
opponents...Supervisors continually ran into people who
used Airbnb, liked Airbnb, and saw nothing wrong with Airbnb’s
practices. That’s why you heard very little anti-Airbnb rhetoric
from supervisors, including those who do not hesitate to
castigate real estate speculators and Ellis evictors.”
- Randy Shaw, BeyondChron
“Scores of Airbnb hosts spoke at public meetings and
rallies over the past several months, supporting the version of
the law that the supervisors green-lighted.”
- Carolyn Said, San Francisco Chronicle
"Airbnb and its backers, who've been well-organized in San
Francisco, have argued throughout the public battle that short-
term rentals help keep the city affordable..."
- Emily Badger, The Washington Post

16. Scale:
Call Attempts (SF)
Total#ofAttempts
0
6000
12000
18000
24000
30000
April May June July August

17. Scale: Contacts Made
(SF)
Total#ofContacts
0
1400
2800
4200
5600
7000
April May June July August

18. Action: Growth in Supporters
(SF)
#ofTotalSupporters
0
1200
2400
3600
4800
6000
April May June July August

19. S.F. Universe
Total hosts + guests with addresses
6,288
People reached
8,660
5,954
People who have been reached
and are supporters

20. Support
Levels
5,354
Low-Medium Supporters
494
Strong Supporters
106
Core Members
Interested in attending events and other
high-engagement activities, ex: join
Action Team, attend public hearings
Strong supporters who are reliable,
trustworthy and politically savvy. In regular
contact with Organizers. ex: attend last-
minute event, meet with city official
Interested but non-committal, want low-
engagement activities, ex: signing
petition, writing a letter

21. And what they all have in common…

22. Idea #1: The Commitment Curve

23. • Lower the barrier to
entry
• Make incrementally
harder...
• ...But more rewarding
and effective
This helps you model what ‘Asks’ you should make, and
when.
4. Commitment Curve
Sign Petition
Tell your Story
Attend Action Meetup
Tweet Senator
Attend Rally
Senator Visit
Oped
Story Postcard
Month 1 Month 4

24. Commitment Curve
Sign Petition
Month 1 Month 4

25. Commitment Curve
Sign Petition
Tell your Story
Month 1 Month 4

26. Commitment Curve
Sign Petition
Tell your Story
Attend Action Meetup
Month 1 Month 4

27. Commitment Curve
Sign Petition
Tell your Story
Attend Action Meetup
Tweet Senator
Month 1 Month 4

28. Commitment Curve
Sign Petition
Tell your Story
Attend Action Meetup
Tweet Senator
Crowdfund Ad.
Month 1 Month 4
We are Peers.
We’re asking lawmakers for
more sharing, not less. We want
to play by the rules, but New
York needs laws that are safe,
fair, and clear.
Support sharing. Fix the Law.w.
peers.org/fixthelaw
This ad was paid for by 1,165 Peers
who crowdfunded this message to
ask lawmakers to support sharing.
“I worked at a company that declared bankruptcy
before paying me. Sharing my home made it possible
for me to keep my house.”
EVELYN
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
“As a cancer survivor who lost disability insurance,
sharing my home gave me the bandwidth I needed to
pay rent. The best part was the families, who had a
home close to the hospital—my home.”
WENDY
NEW YORK, NEW YORK
Sharing is revolutionizing the
way New Yorkers participate
in the economy, creating new
opportunities for our families,
our communities, and our state.
But outdated laws treat
law-abiding New Yorkers like
slumlords.
Do we look like
slumlords to you?
“We were afraid we’d have to leave our farm, our
animals, our home. We started sharing our home to
make a little extra, and it has saved us from losing
our farm!”
LAURA
ITHACA, NEW YORK

29. Commitment Curve
Sign Petition
Tell your Story
Attend Action Meetup
Tweet Senator
Oped
Story Postcard
Month 1 Month 4

30. Commitment Curve
Sign Petition
Tell your Story
Attend Action Meetup
Tweet Senator
Senator Visit
Oped
Story Postcard
Month 1 Month 4

31. Commitment Curve
Sign Petition
Tell your Story
Attend Action Meetup
Tweet Senator
Attend Rally
Senator Visit
Oped
Story Postcard
Month 1 Month 4

32. It works for all kinds of Communities

33. Read%Purpose%
Look%at%Resource%Pages%
Read%Forums%
Contribute%to%Forum%
Lead%Forum%
Become%key%contributor%in%forum%
Read%Member%Profiles%
Look%at%photos/videos%
Read%blogs%
Comment%on%blogs%
Write%blog%post%
Message%other%member%
Upload%video%
ParBcipate%in%live%video%discussion%
Join%sub%group%
Start/Lead%subEgroup%
AGend%event%
Organize%event%
Adopt%leadership%role%
COMMITMENT%
TIME%
Become%a%member%
Lead%live%video%disc.%
The%Community%Commitment%Curve%

34. It works for all kinds of Communities

35. That Awesome Slide Title of Yours

36. Idea # 2: Operation and Programming

37. City Hall Event 4/29
102 supporters attended

38. Planning Commission Hearing 9/15
107 people attended
82 speakers during public comment

39. 1st Land Use Committee Hearing 9/15
219 people attended
89 speakers during public comment

40. 2nd Land Use Committee Hearing 9/29
102 people attended
61 speakers during public comment

41. Board of Supervisors Hearing 10/7
Pre-Hearing Event: 120 attended

42. Board of Supervisors Hearing 10/7
Pre-Hearing “Canvass” of Supervisor offices: 38 hosts participated

43. Board of Supervisors Hearing 10/7
In the Hearing Room: 92 supporters

44. How do they get these results?
Operation Programming+

45. How do they get these results?
Operation Programming+
1. Operational
discipline applied to the
‘soft’ skills of
relationship-building
and community
development at scale.

46. How do they get these results?
Operation Programming+
1. Operational
discipline applied to the
‘soft’ skills of
relationship-building
and community
development at scale.
2. Building an external
community
infrastructure that is
scaleable, self-
sustaining, and built for
the long-term

47. How do they get these results?
Operation Programming+
1. Make varied asks that
track up the Commitment
Curve and that suit
members’ capacity and
comfort

48. How do they get these results?
Operation Programming+
1. Make varied asks that
track up the Commitment
Curve and that suit
members’ capacity and
comfort
2. Develop programming
that makes regular and
escalating asks (c. every
2 weeks) to maintain
engagement and get shit
done.

49. How do they get these results?
The Operation

50. How do they get these results?
The Operation:
1. Field Organizers

51. How do they get these results?
The Operation:
1. Field Organizers+
2.
Goals/
Metrics

52. How do they get these results?
The Operation:
1. Field Organizers 3. CRM++
2.
Goals/
Metrics

53. How do they get these results?
The Operation:
1. Field Organizers 3. CRM
4. Build a Self-
sustaining
community
infrastructure
of Hosts
+ ++
2.
Goals/
Metrics

54. !
!
Qualifica)ons/Characteris)cs:
!
•
Experience
with
community
and
poli5cal
organizing
•
Flexible
and
adaptable
to
changing
circumstances
• Communica5on
skills
-­‐
ar5culate
and
ability
to
improvise
• Great
rela5onship-­‐building
skills
-­‐
comfortable
talking
to
all
kinds
of
people
face-­‐to-­‐face
and
over
the
phone
• Willing
and
able
to
work
long
hours,
including
weekends
!
Responsibili)es:
•
Build
a
network
of
supporters,
with
a
close
group
of
“core
supporters”
at
the
center
•
Collect
and
enter
data
on
a
daily
basis
•
Organize
events
such
as
neighborhood
mee5ngs
•
Recruit,
train,
and
manage
volunteers
to
take
leadership
roles
in
a
las5ng,
volunteer
driven
grassroots
organiza5on
• Manage
rela5onships
with
supporters
-­‐
earn
trust
in
order
to
make
“asks”
Field Organizers____________________________

55. What’ they’re NOT What they ARE
1. A phone bank
1. Relationship-
Builders Who use phone
lists to identify, convert
and recruit Hosts to
engage
2. Canvassers
(Low-level
recruitment and
training to make
simple, one-off asks)
2. Community-
Builders at Scale
Who build self-sustaining
community of Hosts by
identifying, training and
supporting leaders,
captains etc.
3. Goal-driven,
metrics accountable
Managers
3. Traditional
Community Managers
Who have built strong
relationships with c. 50
key hosts and run events.

56. Self-Sustaining
Communities

57. Self-Sustaining
Communities
Organizer
Advocacy Team
Advocacy Team
Events
News + Information
Storytelling
Rapid Response Captain
Training
Action Team Action Team
25-50 Members in each community

58. Programming

59. S F F I R E S T A R T E R C A L E N D A R
July
Sunday' Monday' Tuesday' Wednesday' Thursday' Friday' Saturday'
' ' 1' 2' 3' 4' 5'
' ' ' ' ' ' '
6' 7' 8' 9' 10' 11' 12'
' ' ' ' ' Mandatory'Fun!' '
13' 14' 15' 16' 17' 18' 19'
'
Sunday'Streets'
In'Richmond'
' Brand'Launch'Week!' Supper'Club' ' Volunteer'Event'@'E.R.'
Taylor'Elementary'
'
20' 21' 22' 23' 24' 25' 26'
' ' ' ' ' ' '
27' 28' 29' 30' 31' 1' '
' ' ' ' Press%Event*%
Campaign%Launch%
Home'Sharers''
Happy'Hour'
'
'
D2'Chiu'ATM' D10'Chiu'ATM'
D4+7'Chiu'ATM' D1'Chiu'ATM'
D10''ATM'@Byron’s''
D5'ATM'''
D2+3'ATM'''
D6'ATM'''
D4+7'ATM'''
D8'ATM''
D1'ATM'''
Haight'Ashbury'
Neighborhood'Council'
EVNA'Meeting'to''
discuss'Home'Sharing'
Corbett'Heights'NA'–
Home'Sharing'presents'D9'ATM'@Gregg’s''
City'Hall'Meeting'
with'Avalos'
D8'ATM'X'Weiner'
D2'City'Hall'
Meeting'w/Farrell'
Commiss.'Meeting'
with'Cindy'Wu'
D9'City'Hall'Meeting'
w/Campos' D10'
Meeting'
w/Cohen'
D5'City'Hall'
Meeting'w/Breed'
D6'Chiu'ATM'
Meeting'with'Planning'
Commiss.'Fong'and'
Johnson'
Commiss.'Meeting'
with'Hillis'

60. Scaled Asks
- Testify at a Rally/Hearing
- Share story publicly
- Advocacy Team (speak at N.A.
meetings)
- Meeting with city official
- Join neighborhood association
- Attend public hearing
- Host a meeting
- 1:1 with Organizer
- Attend Action Team meeting
- Write letter
- Share story
- Post to social media
High engagement
Low engagement

61. Summary

62. Communities in action

63. Communities
that scale
#ofTotalSupporters
0
1200
2400
3600
4800
6000
April May June July August

64. Commitment
Curve

65. Operation
and
Programmin
g

66. New model for Community?

67. Thank You

68. Commitment
15,876 Hosts Activated
11,113 Facebook Likes
3,812 Volunteers
400 Team Leaders
2,668 Team Members
August October November
31,500 Live Conversations
7,779 Petition Signatures
5,445 Event Attendees
September December January
31,513 Hosts
Paris: 25 Field Organizers