by Paris Achen | Nov 1, 2023 | Advocate Engagement, Community Engagement, Leadership, Local Government, Politics & Elections, Press and Media, Short-Term Rental Regulation, STR Advocacy 101
Despite vacation rentals’ tenure and a pandemic-driven spike in popularity, misconceptions about VRs abound. Hearing them called Airbnbs can be particularly divisive. Nevertheless, Airbnb has become the deonym for all short-term rentals. “Airbnb … got lucky because...
by Paris Achen | Oct 3, 2023 | Advocate Engagement, Community Engagement, Leadership, Local Government, Organization, Politics & Elections, Short-Term Rental Regulation, STR Advocacy 101
An important part of running a vacation rental alliance is advocating for reasonable regulations and defending against oppressive restrictions. But as busy professionals, alliance leaders can’t be everywhere at once. Having a lobbyist to be your eyes and ears and to...
by Paris Achen | Sep 28, 2023 | Humans of Short-Term Rentals, Leadership, Organization, STR Advocacy 101
Rolf Blizzard grew up on a hog farm in the eastern part of North Carolina. Days on the farm started early, were filled with hard manual labor, and provided a clear idea of the basic effort it took to produce a stable, sustainable, and affordable meal – one of...
by Paris Achen | Jun 20, 2023 | Leadership, STR Advocacy 101
Kelsey Wood and fiance, Josh Knapp, stood to earn thousands of dollars from renting out their vacation rental, Mulberry Bungalow, during Super Bowl weekend in February in Phoenix, Arizona. Instead, the couple donated two nights at the vacation rental to a terminal...
by Paris Achen | Apr 10, 2023 | Advocate Engagement, Leadership, Local Government, Local Leaders Series, Partner Features, Powered by Vrbo
Jennifer Batchelder Polcyn, a vacation rental host and property manager in Montcalm County in Central Michigan, knows the power of showing up before the firestorm. Soon after she established her vacation rental management firm, New Journey Properties, she made a...
by Paris Achen | Nov 2, 2022 | Leadership, Responsible Renting, Social Responsibility & Giving Back, STR Advocacy 101
While Jonathan Wicks lived in Chicago in the 2010s, he had a lake house in Northern Illinois that he rented short-term. At the time, the busy CEO owned a national company that cleaned homes in bank foreclosure, and because he couldn’t service his rental on his own, he...
by Paris Achen | Oct 14, 2022 | Advocate Engagement, Leadership, Local Government, Organization, Politics & Elections, STR Advocacy 101
Today’s leading short-term rental advocates learned much of their skillset from mistakes they made along the way. Two of them, COO Alexa Nota and Head of Leadership Development Dana Lubner of Rent Responsibly, recently shared some of their tips and shortcuts for...
by Paris Achen | Jun 14, 2022 | Community Engagement, Leadership, Local Leaders Series, Organization, Partner Features, Politics & Elections, Powered by Vrbo
After an abrupt loss of income in 2009, Elaine and Mark Fekete faced a choice: either short-term rent their home year-round in Sandbridge Beach, a coastal neighborhood in Virginia Beach, or leave the community. Vacation rentals in Virginia Beach had not ever crossed...
by Alexa Nota | May 12, 2022 | Advocate Engagement, Community Engagement, Leadership, Local Government, Organization, STR Advocacy 101
With just 8,300 short-term rentals across the entire state1, Vermont might not seem like an important state to watch. But that couldn’t be further from the truth. Because the state is so small, it sometimes serves as a testbed for legislation other states could model,...
by Alexa Nota | Apr 28, 2022 | Leadership, Local Government, News, Regulatory News, Short-Term Rental Regulation, STR Advocacy 101
Originally posted on VRM Intel In 1994, the Conley family stepped onto their Emerald Isle vacation rental deck for a family photo. The deteriorated deck nails gave way under the weight of 20 people, and the deck collapsed, injuring several of them. Jim Batten,...
