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Kelly Hill is at the center of a network in McCall, Idaho that has real power against the regulatory tide sweeping our industry. She's even tackling seemingly unsolveable problems like low-income housing. Not every owner in her region can keep up with the dizzing pace of change, however. In this episode we find out what Kelly can teach us about balancing stakeholders and inch closer to an 'enforcement' score...
Hilton Head Island was conceived as a vacation destination, and rental homes have been a part of that vision since the beginning. Now, a small minority is reshaping the landscape, and Dru Brown and his colleagues find themselves at the center of a real advocacy fight. In this episode, we explore how things got out of hand in the land of golf, tennis, and pickleball and how a different kind of scorecard can...
Shelby Fletcher is the president of the The Dallas Short Term Rental Alliance...a very well organized advocacy group with more than 800 members focused on achieving fair, lasting regualtions in the Dallas area. They've faced years of delay, tough anti groups and backroom politics but they're making headway and the next step may be to bring in professional political help. At the same time, efforts are underway...
In this episode Dana and Matt discuss our progress so far this season and talk about what the scorecard really means. Matt shares audience questions on how the scorecard will be used, we dive into some lessons from the first three episodes and talk about what is to come as we look ahead to bill creation, lawsuits, measuring public sentiment and how to keep score. This season is made possible by Minut and...
@Dana 's quest to quantify vacation rental advocacy health continues in Episode 3 with Robin Craigen of Steamboat Springs and John An of Oahu. The mountains of Colorado and islands of Hawaii are facing some of the toughest regulatory fights in the country. Even if managers manage to stay afloat or win a battle, they're seeing underhanded tactics from local governments and punitive economic measures. We think...
Our quest to quantify vacation rental advocacy health continues in Episode 2 with Linda Curry of Arizonans for Responsible Tourism! Arizona is as good of an environment for short term rentals right now as any we've seen in the United States. (Though, as Matt cautions, we shouldn't assume the score of a destination before really digging into our research.) If we can pinpoint what is working in Arizona, we'll...
Welcome back to the How to Save Your Vacation Rental Business show! To tease the impending launch of Season 3 and to get a sense of the state of advocacy right now, Dana and Matt sat down with a panel from across the industry for a live recording session on where we are and whats coming in Season 3. This was recorded a few hours ago as the 2022 VRMA International Conference came to a close. The first episode...
@Dana just wanted to say I have heard from several people (most recently @JanS) who all are beginning to think about advocacy in unique new ways because of these efforts :) What a meaningful round table discussion...
In the first episode of Season 3, Dana sets off on a journey with Matt Landau and Jamie Lane to find the questions that will define our advocacy scorecard and shape our advocacy efforts moving forward. From housing data to OTA scraping to quantifying the unquanitifiable...we go deep with one of the best data minds in the business. This season is made possible by Minut and TrackHS as well as our thought...
Are you wondering if making your VR business more environmentally sustainable is relevant to you? then take a look at these two statistics from Booking.com 2019 Sustainable Travel Report 73% of global travellers intending to stay at least once in an eco-friendly or green...
Thanks so much for this Bob. We need to work harder on it and it’s very helpful to see all these suggestions in one place.
In this episode we unpack Dana's final takeaway of the season, that professional operators have a huge chance to differentiate themselves from the casual Airbnbers that often come to the table with us. And that strict and complicated laws may end up stifling the path to professionalism. Ryan Dame of Casago joins to give us the perspective of a large manager dealing with regulatory issues across the country...
In this episode we talk with Davide Proserpio, an Assistant Professor of Marketing at University of Southern California Marshall School of Business. David studies problems related to digital markets and has spent years analyzing the sharing economy. It all started with a research paper showing a positive correlation between Airbnb and housing rent and prices: a paper that was used by plenty of anti-STR...
In this episode Pam Knudsen, Senior Director of Compliance Services at Avalara, gives us perspective on advocacy efforts across the country through the lens of lodging tax data. We've been hearing a lot this season about outright bans and a curious reluctance by cities to take the economic impact of vacation rentals into account when creating regulation. Pam shares a more nuanced, hopeful outlook as well as...
In this episode we take a deeper look at statewide preemption with Tiffany Edwards of the VRMA Advocacy Fund and Right to Rent. We're very much about local community interaction on this podcast and nothing in this episode changes that, but sometimes going to a higher power might be the only tool left to save your business. Tiffany helps us understand the nuance of these issues, where they've worked, and how...
In this episode we dive into a case study on Santa Barbara and Theo Kracke, the man who sued his hometown and won. We dedicate a lot of time on this podcast to finding compromise and working with local government, but in the face of outright bans it doesn't always work. Theo's solution took a great deal of time, energy and resources, but his victory has ripple effects for vacation rental regulation across...
In this episode we dive into a Denver case study with Erica Rogers, an assistant City Attorney for the city of Denver, who is able to share some powerful parallels with other emerging industries such as marijuana and electric scooters. We discuss what regulation and enforcement look like from the government's perspective, and Dana provides context from the host side as she was on the front lines of countering...
In this episode we dig into the issues and possibilities involved with zoning laws as they pertain to short term rentals. We're joined again by Jarret Skorup of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and by Alex Haler, a host that stopped renting in Denver due to harsh regulations and has since joined his local planning commission in Leadville, CO. By engaging with policy at the planning commission level...
In this episode we discuss the case for stronger vacation rental regulation with Jessica Black of Moms Against STRs. We also get perspective on these arguments from our industry experts and talk about the troubles with 'character of the neighborhood' kinds of conversations when trying to enact fair public policy. We'll also hear from Jarrett Skorup of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy and begin to look...
This episode is about the non-host, non-manager professionals that are critical to the pursuit of fair regulation for our industry. We're talking about lobbyists and government affairs folks, here. You've probably heard about lobbyists in national politics, and most likely it wasn't always in a positive light. It turns out, though, that the most effective way of engaging all stakeholders and crafting...
Welcome to Season Two of the How to Save Your Vacation Rental Show! In this season we will focus on Fair Regulation: what defines it, why we need to be proactive about it, how to engage with stakeholders on all sides and how to get it written into law. Along the way, we'll be diving into case studies and talking with experts from both inside and outside the vacation rental industry. Sarah Bradford of...
Season Two of the How to Save Your Vacation Rental Show will focus on Fair Regulation...what defines it, why we need to be proactive about it, how to engage with stakeholders on all sides and how to get it written into law. Along the way, we'll be diving into case studies and talking with experts from both inside and outside the vacation rental industry. Episode 1 drops November 2nd. This season is brought to...
Welcome to How to Save Your Vacation Rental, a 10-part educational podcast series hosted by vacation rental advocate Dana Lubner that will teach you how to solve your business’ greatest looming threat -- unfair regulation -- from the ground up. In this episode, we take a look back at the season and provide our 'super-takeaways' from this journey through community-based advocacy. Our voices from around the...
Welcome to How to Save Your Vacation Rental, a 10-part educational podcast series hosted by vacation rental advocate Dana Lubner that will teach you how to solve your business’ greatest looming threat -- unfair regulation -- from the ground up. In this episode, we explore big ideas driving advocacy and the industry forward. We dive into regulation, taxation, OTAs, and antis. Dana also walks us through her new...
Welcome to How to Save Your Vacation Rental, a 10-part educational podcast series hosted by vacation rental advocate Dana Lubner that will teach you how to solve your business’ greatest looming threat -- unfair regulation -- from the ground up. In this episode, we share some harsh realities you'll face in vacation rental advocacy. Together with voices from around the industry, we'll also take a look at the...
Welcome to How to Save Your Vacation Rental, a 10-part educational podcast series hosted by vacation rental advocate Dana Lubner that will teach you how to solve your business’ greatest looming threat -- unfair regulation -- from the ground up. In this episode, you'll get an absolute masterclass on how to work with the media from Dana's secret weapon: Alex Lawson of Social Security Works. Dana, Alex and more...
Welcome to How to Save Your Vacation Rental, a 10-part educational podcast series hosted by vacation rental advocate Dana Lubner that will teach you how to solve your business’ greatest looming threat -- unfair regulation -- from the ground up. In this episode, you'll learn the critical importance of host group communications to the advocacy effort and the challenges we all face in bettering them. You'll learn...
Welcome to How to Save Your Vacation Rental, a 10-part educational podcast series hosted by vacation rental advocate Dana Lubner that will teach you how to solve your business’ greatest looming threat -- unfair regulation -- from the ground up. In this episode, you'll learn step by step how Dana and her group created the Good Neighbor Summit and learn why a similar event could be critical for your community...
Welcome to How to Save Your Vacation Rental, a 10-part educational podcast series hosted by vacation rental advocate Dana Lubner that will teach you how to solve your business’ greatest looming threat -- unfair regulation -- from the ground up. In this episode Dana accepts a challenge from Matt to put Mile High Hosts on firm financial footing. Together, they explore key ideas around generating revenue that host...
Welcome to How to Save Your Vacation Rental, a 10-part educational podcast series hosted by vacation rental advocate Dana Lubner that will teach you how to solve your business’ greatest looming threat -- unfair regulation -- from the ground up. In this episode, you'll hear why we go farther when we go together. You'll also learn key steps and techniques for starting and running a sustainable host group and how...
Welcome to How to Save Your Vacation Rental, a 10-part educational podcast series hosted by vacation rental advocate Dana Lubner that will teach you how to solve your business’ greatest looming threat -- unfair regulation -- from the ground up. In this episode, you'll hear how Dana got into advocacy, and how she's been able to take it farther than she ever thought possible. As we explore Dana's journey, we'll...
Welcome to How to Save Your Vacation Rental, a 10-part educational podcast series hosted by vacation rental advocate Dana Lubner that will teach you how to solve your business’ greatest looming threat -- unfair regulation -- from the ground up. In this Episode, The Wake-up Call, you’ll meet Dana and hear from voices around the industry about the scope of the problem and how the pandemic has made regulation an...

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