Airbnb Buy Black Marketplace

Company: Airbnb

Dates: February 2018 - February 2020

Event Type: Black History Month Marketplace + Digital Guidebooks

Role: Event Founder, Manager, & Project Manager

An annual marketplace happening during Black History Month to center Black owned businesses, makers, artists, and Black Airbnb hosts. Exceeding goals to help visitors and locals alike put money back into the Black community and support businesses in each of these cities beyond the typical tourist hotspots. In 2020, right before the pandemic hit, the San Francisco event turned out 400+ attendees and 27 vendors. Organized by the Black employee resource group, known as Black@, the annual marketplace grew from a San Francisco only event to the Seattle and New York offices over the course of 3 years. Today it continues to be held in person and activated digitally through digital guides highlighting Black owned businesses. Check out the archive of digital guidebooks here.

Event & Project Management included:

• Strategy concept and inception

• Planning and project management

• Internal team partnerships and resource allocation

• Vendor application, selection, outreach, and booth setup

• Marketing and promotion (internally & externally)

• Event registration (Eventbrite, Splashthat, & onsite)

• Coordination of shotlists with photographer and videographers

• Volunteer recruitment & staffing

• Floor plan design and venue management

• Venue walkthroughs

• Digital assets audit and review

• Collecting event attendee and vendor feedback

• Post event metrics and ROI reporting