We wanted to take the storytelling of Sundance, the innovation of TED, and the wonder of Burning Man, and combine them into a buzzworthy event that would celebrate, support, entertain, and educate our community of hosts and guest, as well as local LA residents. From the golden hour as the sun descends over the beaches of Venice and Malibu, to the historic theaters of Downtown LA and the vintage signage gracing everything from parking lots to marquees, we found no shortage of inspiration for the festival’s design.

The event lasted 3 days and was spread across 5 historic DTLA theaters and 2 custom-built outdoor spaces, The Valley & the Oasis, which became centerpoints for attendees hosting +20 workshops; 13 musical acts, and 19 Shop Small vendors.

Truly a community-produced event, after the Trips keynote on day 1, local hosts and organizations hosted explorations around the city. On Day 2, we hosted over 7k guests for dinner in the homes of local hosts and restaurants.

On the final night the festival transformed into Open Spotlight, a party with performances by Lady Gaga, Maroon 5, Strut & Fret, a La La Land screening, and late night dance party.

In addition to 57 Host Speakers, we invited 54 Influencer speakers such as Gwyneth Paltrow, Brian Grazer & Frank Gehry, whose stories of turning passions into careers we hoped would expand our audience’s minds around potential paths as Airbnb Experience hosts.

- Real connections: 19,137 Contacts exchanged via the digital bracelets worn by attendees

- 20,000 attendees from 102 countries

- +29M million video views across Facebook Live, Instagram & Twitter including 2.7 mil+ views of CEO Brian Chesky’s Trips reveal keynote

- 23 million earned impressions on social (note this is Open + Trips)

- 3,148 Press hits from publishers including People, Adweek, Forbes, Refinery29, USA Today & Daily Mail