Visit Seattle and Airbnb are partnering to promote and broaden local-led Airbnb Experiences, which provide authentic, unique adventures for visitors.

Airbnb Experiences offer travelers unprecedented access to communities, places and activities they’d never have through traditional tourist travel, such as rowing through Seattle’s urban waterways with a Guinness World Record holder or visiting Ballard’s small neighborhood breweries with the director of a documentary about the local craft beer industry. With experiences and places to stay located throughout Seattle, Airbnb brings the economic benefits of tourism to neighborhoods that haven’t typically benefitted from visitor spending. 

The Vendry: A Central Resource To Find Vendors, Agencies and Venues

Over the years, any corporate event planner can admit to spending countless hours researching the perfect venue or vendors for their gatherings. After attending or hosting hundreds of events, New York-based Daphne Hoppenot was no stranger to this research and was frustrated by its repetitive nature. However, it was planning her wedding in 2018 that pushed her to realize the lack of resources in the corporate events market compared to the wedding industry, and set out to see if other meetings and events professionals were struggling with the same problem.  

 
Soundings Connect Boosts Industry Freelancers

Freelancing has become a new ball game since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, as many companies cannot afford to keep full-time positions, but still need those tasks completed. Although many more professionals have had to join the freelancing community since March, Tracy Judge had the passion for the freelancing community two years ago–long before the pandemic hit–and founded her company Soundings Connect in order to directly connect meetings and events industry freelancers with customers. 

 
The Allison Inn Offers New Team Building Opportunities

Located in Oregon’s wine country, The Allison Inn and Spa is offering some new team-building options for meeting planners. Experiences include:

» Smith Teas Tasting: Claire Boyer, Smith Teamaker’s head of education, offers a hands-on class uncovering the exotic world of tea.

» Lotion Blending: Awaken the senses and heighten creativity with a hands-on lotion and essential oil-blending workshop.