Bard's New Travel Tricks
Good morning, readers. I hope you all had a lovely weekend. Shall we get straight to the news? Fresh off a reshuffling of its C-Suite, Airbnb is looking to hire somebody to expand its local host clubs, Google's Bard got a useful update for travelers, and Hilton is keeping the trademark office busy. On the itinerary today:
Airbnb looks to expand local host clubs
Google's Bard has new travel tricks
Hilton filed a lot of trademarks
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Airbnb Eyes Expanded Local Host Clubs
Airbnb made some high-profile changes to its C-suite last week – and we’ll have a little more on that later – but there’s a lower-profile position they’re looking to fill as well. The company is hiring a Community Growth & Experience lead to hone the growth strategy of its 640 Host Clubs around the world, which currently count around 300,000 members.
What are Host Clubs? Airbnb launched them in 2016, in part to help with local campaigns against regulatory clampdowns. Now, it is seeking to expand these clubs.
Skift learned of the initiative through an Airbnb job posting. Airbnb removed the job posting on Friday because it received many applications and is beginning the interview process.
“In this role, you will work closely with and report to the Director of Community Management, and work across the Community Connection, Marketing, Geos and Policy teams,” the posting said.
Airbnb.com says the purpose of Host Clubs is for members to learn from “top hosts,” get “insider access” to Airbnb news and give feedback to the company, and “collaborate with your community and local organizations to positively impact tourism and important causes in your area.”
There is no shortage of regulatory crackdowns against Airbnb and other short-term rental providers these days. And the new community growth & experience lead would work with Airbnb’s public policy team, among other business units.
As promised, a little housekeeping on those C-Suite moves. Specifically, some compensation details.
Airbnb’s departing Global Head of Hosting Catherine Powell will receive her current base salary and her outstanding equity awards will continue to vest as she stays on in an advisory role through June 30.
Ellie Mertz, who is scheduled to become Airbnb CFO on March 1, will receive $600,000 as her annual base salary and would be in line for an annual bonus target of $450,000, or 75% of her base salary.
New Chief Business Officer David Stephenson was granted 4,040 restricted stock units.
Skift Aviation Forum 2023
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Industry leaders took to the stage at Skift Aviation Forum to decipher the trends and challenges facing today’s airline industry. Skift partnered with Allianz Partners to provide an overview of some of the most important conversations and insights shared at this year's event.
Google's Bard Has Some New Tricks
Google released a new version of generative AI technology that it says rivals ChatGPT. The technology, called Gemini Pro, has replaced the previous tech that powers the chatbot Bard. But what we really care about is how the new version performs on tasks for travel. Well, our Justin Dawes put it to the test.
Spoiler: It’s not a stretch to say that Bard is actually useful in some cases, but the experimental tech still has its limits.
Note that in September we tested Bard for travel shortly after it added several extensions to access real-time data through Google products: Maps, Flights, Hotels, YouTube, and Workspace, which includes Gmail, Docs, and Drive.
With the YouTube extension activated, Justin asked Bard to find and summarize videos from influencers about hidden gems in New York City.
The chatbot was able to “watch” five videos and present main points from each.
Justin also asked Bard to create an itinerary for Thursday evening to Sunday afternoon in New York City, showcasing “unique modern art, modern upscale bars, public art, and music events.”
It basically fulfilled the request, sharing three versions of itineraries that name places to visit and details about what they are. While Bard can share real-time information for flights and hotels, it does not have the ability to do the same for events or ticketed activities.
For more of Justin putting Bard through its paces, click the link below.
Hilton Files a Slew of Trademarks
Hilton is considering as many as 14 names for upcoming hotel brands, according to recent trademark filings. Presumably, the hotelier is considering these other names as an alternative to H3, its extended-stay apartment suites hotel concept.
Hilton announced Project H3 in May and applied in April for “H3 Suites by Hilton“ and “H3 by Hilton” as potential hotel brand names for Project H3, a long-stay apartment hotel brand.
CEO Chris Nassetta acknowledged in September that the trademark process is slow when he spoke on-stage at the Skift Global Forum 2023 about upcoming brands.
In mid-September, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office asked for more information because of potential confusion with an existing brand, H3 Ranch, a steakhouse restaurant brand for a company in Fort Worth, Texas.
In reaction, Hilton asked the government for additional time to respond. In late November, that wish was granted.
Hilton has filed trademark requests for several brand names that could apply to a suite-based hotel brand. Some of the suite-themed trademarks it applied for this year include Adapt Suites by Hilton, Belong Suites by Hilton, Dwelling Suites by Hilton, Livsmart by Hilton and Suitely by Hilton.
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