Lay My Hat

Hello Owners and Property Managers.

I wanted to reach out to you directly to let you know about some big news for both HomeAway and me personally. After 12 years at the helm at HomeAway, I have made the very difficult decision to step down as CEO and have chosen John Kim, our current Chief E-Commerce Officer, to lead the company as President. We will gradually move through this transition and I will remain on board as Chairman until mid-January to advise John and the leadership team for the remainder of the year.

While it’s never easy to hand over the reins of something you built, I believe now is the right time to empower the next generation of leadership to take HomeAway to new heights. John is already an incredible driving force for the growth of our company. I’m very comforted in knowing we have someone of his caliber with rich experience in product development and innovation to lead our mission and strategy.
Bye bye brian ........

Statement received tonight from Homeaway

As the vacation market grows, so does the expectation of customers to have a superior online experience. John’s proven ability to transform web and mobile sites will help HomeAway build the right customer experience to attract even more travelers to your properties. John looks forward to sharing his vision with you and will be hosting a Q&A session on October 19th at 10:00am CT. Please click here to sign up. You may also submit questions in advance for John to address during this webcast.

I want to thank you for trusting HomeAway with your business and for the feedback and support you have provided me personally over the last several years. You have helped us break ground in this industry, and as a frequent HomeAway traveler, I look forward to seeing many of you at your amazing properties in the coming years

Brian Sharples

"I don't need this crap, I'm off".

Would have been easier to type that.

In other words "I can see the company has gone in the wrong direction and therefore am jumping before I am pushed"......

Quite satisfying in a way, to see these big companies enjoying the less than tasty fruits of their meddling labours. I do not imagine there will be many owners sorry to see the demise of the Big Bully Boys.

Someone switch the lights off after the last Big Boy has left.

I think it is less him choosing to go, more a case of him having to go as part of the Expedia take over. I do not believe he selected his replacement for one moment... his successor will be an Expedia yes man installed by them to ensure they get a return on their investment.

That said I doubt there will be many that will miss him but I don't think I will be celebrating as I am sure there will be more Expedia brown stuff heading our way soon!

Wouldn't bet money against someone saying this time next year "that Brian Sharples wasn't so bad after all" in response to the continuing fallout from the takeover and new leadership!

nealh wrote:Wouldn't bet money against someone saying this time next year "that Brian Sharples wasn't so bad after all" in response to the continuing fallout from the takeover and new leadership!

Almost certainly this. His replacement will implement even harsher policies than the ones we're seeing now. Sharples almost certainly isn't the driving force behind the recent greed objectives, this is an Expedia/Fear of AirBnB Dominance thing.

Anybody who says they want to 'reach out' gets my sick bag - when did this management speak first arise? But you are right, nobody knows what pressures he was under.

Nigel Goodwin wrote:Anybody who says they want to 'reach out' gets my sick bag - when did this management speak first arise? But you are right, nobody knows what pressures he was under.

Indeed. I really don't want people to retch out to me.

Nigel, as a farmer I have to use "management speak"! all the time. I find it get to the heart of things, I will give you an excellent example, used just today... Hopefully Greenbarn will not puke all over it. Anyway::

This is me in management speak mode.... clear throat, coff a bit...

"Now boy David, get yer ass on that tractor seat, hitch it up with that there muck spreader and go an spread that shit on the lower meadow."

anyone care to translate into proper management speak?

Nice one Rog I'm off to "share" that with the team so we can all "learn" from it going "forward".

Oh chuckle...

greenbarn wrote:

Nigel Goodwin wrote:Anybody who says they want to 'reach out' gets my sick bag - when did this management speak first arise? But you are right, nobody knows what pressures he was under.

Indeed. I really don't want people to retch out to me.

I've never been able to understand why there is always carrots in your 'ick even when you haven't eaten any, is there a secret imp that throws them in when your not looking, a bit a like a tooth fairy type phantom.

Diced carrots, standard diet for all, it seems. Always there...

nealh wrote:Wouldn't bet money against someone saying this time next year "that Brian Sharples wasn't so bad after all" in response to the continuing fallout from the takeover and new leadership!

Anyone under the age of 50 read no further.

Do you remember that sticker seen in the back windows of cars in the 1960's: "Come back MARPLES all is forgiven"? Mr. Marples was Minister of Transport in the UK and his policy on roads was unpopular for some reason, which I don't remember. There was an election and a change of government and the new transport minister made things twice as bad - hence the sticker.

Nealh's quote gave me that feeling of deja vu, but this time the sticker would read: "Come back SHARPLES all is forgiven".

Jumped or pushed matters not, he is a proven liar who no doubt will be very comfortable indeed during his sabbatical.
So in the spirit of 'management speak' - Do one Sharples

AndrewH wrote:

nealh wrote:Wouldn't bet money against someone saying this time next year "that Brian Sharples wasn't so bad after all" in response to the continuing fallout from the takeover and new leadership!

Anyone under the age of 50 read no further.

Do you remember that sticker seen in the back windows of cars in the 1960's: "Come back MARPLES all is forgiven"? Mr. Marples was Minister of Transport in the UK and his policy on roads was unpopular for some reason, which I don't remember. There was an election and a change of government and the new transport minister made things twice as bad - hence the sticker.

Nealh's quote gave me that feeling of deja vu, but this time the sticker would read: "Come back SHARPLES all is forgiven".

Maybe this is your chance to get in quick to prep and order 100,000 stickers from your favourite Chinese outlet in readiness for that moment. Would be rather ironic to get a profit out of him rather than the other way round.

As a total aside, with my brother being called Andrew, I always have to do a double take whenever I see a post from you! Mind you, your comments are always a lot more measured than many things he has to say.