HomeAway SuperBowl Ad

HomeAway aims for major league splash with SuperBowl ad

Homeaway to Open New “Green” World Headquarters

HomeAway, the leading online marketplace for vacation rental homes, is one of Austin’s fastest-growing companies and also represents one of the world’s fastest-growing online travel segments. In just five years, HomeAway has grown from six to nearly 550 employees and raised more than $450 million.

Their new headquarters located in downtown Austin contains environmentally-friendly features including:

* Solar-powered panels on roof that heat the hot water provided to HomeAway (50 percent of HomeAway energy generated by solar and wind power)

* High-performance water-conserving fixtures in restrooms to save an estimated 234,000 gallons of water per year

* State-of-the-art control sensors to automatically adjust interior lighting levels to reduce energy consumption

* Enhanced daylighting through strategic space planning and the incorporation of large expanses of glass in the interior offices, and natural lighting and outdoor views have been maximized for entire office

* 32 bike storage lockers and four showers to promote carbon-free transportation and wellness

* Wood beams originally salvaged from New York State barns from 19th century

* Workstations manufactured using 46 percent recycled materials and are 97 percent recyclable

Look for Homeaway and other media outlets to post pictures this Wednesday evening.

Austin Companies Still Hiring

Some Austin companies seek employees in tough economic times

Firms are flooded with resumes from highly qualified talent

Austin-Based Homeaway Starts Spending

Today, HomeAway announced its acquisition of Paris-based Homlidays SAS, which operates Homelidays.com, the largest pan-European vacation rental site, featuring 40,000+ listings. This acquisition marks the first strategic-growth initiative since HomeAway completed its $250 million equity capital raise in November 2008.

HomeAway now features more than 360,000 worldwide properties and operates the top two vacation rental sites in France, United Kingdom and United States and the number one sites in Germany and Italy, further establishing its leadership in the $48 billion segment of the travel industry. HomeAway owners and advertisers now have an expanded distribution in France, Italy, Spain and Portugal, and travelers have a broader selection of properties—especially in France where vacation rentals are already widely adopted alternatives to hotels.

For more information: the full release is linked here.

Homeaway also recently broken ground on its new headquarters at the intersection of 5th and Lamar on the west edge of downtown Austin.

HomeAway not GoingAway

Seems the HomeAway gang is not taking a trip down to failed dot com beach anytime soon:

HomeAway Breaks Ground on State-of-the-Art World Headquarters: Schlosser Development Further Expands Downtown Market District

HomeAway, Inc. Selects Publicis in the West and Digitas for Global Assignment

HomeAway Raises Record $250 Million in Private Financing

Homeaway Buys Yet Another

EscapeHomes latest buy for fast-growing HomeAway

Wednesday’s Work Whereabouts #8

Yes, I know it is not Wednesday, but I’m not changing the title just because I posted this a day late.

On (some) Wednesdays I post a few online marketing, advertising, creative jobs.

Your end of the deal:
Job seekers: If you apply to one of my posted jobs, please tell them you heard about the job at Adomatica.com.
Job Posters: If you have any openings you would like for me to post, please send them my way. Also, If someone applies for a job and tells you they heard about it at Adomatica.com, please let me know.

That’s a fair deal, right?

Here are today’s postings:
Strategic Media Sales – Homeaway – Austin-based company – Job is in NY
Internet Retail Sales – BigShoes.com – Austin, TX

HomeAway Ranked 8th Most-Visited U.S. Travel Information Website

Was just sent this press release from Austin-Based and Austin Ventures backed HomeAway:

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HomeAway, Inc., which operates the world’s largest network of vacation rental websites, today announced it ranked 8th among the Top 10 Most Visited Travel Information Websites in the United States and 14th in the world in January 2008, according to comScore Media Metrix.

“With nearly 5 million unique visitors in January and listing more than 255,000 properties, the HomeAway sites, including HomeAway.com, VRBO.com and VacationRentals.com, have rapidly become an information resource for many travelers drawn to the diverse selection of vacation rental homes,” says Mike Butler, HomeAway’s chief marketing officer.

Travel analysts predict hotel rates will increase 5 to 8 percent in the United States this year. That, coupled with the overall increase of travel, has experts touting the value of vacation rentals and adding to the interest in alternative accommodations, Butler says. HomeAway research indicates vacation rentals, on average, cost 50 percent less per square foot than hotels.

“HomeAway’s U.S. and global rankings reinforce the opportunity the sites give advertisers looking to reach both the traveler and second home owner demographic,” says Steven Goldberg, Vice President of Advertising Sales and Strategy.

The U.S. comScore Media Metrix report indicates that nearly one third of the HomeAway travel audience earns more than $100,000 per year. On average, travelers spend approximately $1,600 per week to stay in a vacation rental, according to HomeAway.

The National Association of Realtors reports baby boomers are more active than any other group in the second home market, owning 57 percent of all vacation/seasonal homes and 58 percent of rental property.

According to comScore Media Metrix, HomeAway ranks #14 among popular travel information sites in the world, and #8 in the United States, for January 2008:
1. Yahoo! Travel
2. Travel Ad Network
3. Trip Advisor Sites
4. AOL Travel
5. About.com Travel
6. Vacations To Go.com Sites
7. MSN Travel
8. HomeAway
9. Away.com
10. Cheapflights.com
About HomeAway, Inc.:

The HomeAway, Inc. websites connect homeowners and property managers with travelers who seek the space, value and amenities of vacation rental homes as an alternative to hotels. With more than 255,000 global listings across the sites, travelers may easily search for budget to luxury-priced vacation rentals on HomeAway.com, VRBO.com, VacationRentals.com, CyberRentals.com, A1Vacations.com, GreatRentals.com, TripHomes.com, Holiday-Rentals.co.uk, OwnersDirect.co.uk, FeWo-direkt.de and Abritel.fr. The sites also feature Reviews and the HomeAway Rent with Confidence Guarantee™, which help ensure a memorable HomeAway from home® experience. HomeAway is headquartered in Austin, Texas and funded by Austin Ventures, Redpoint Ventures, American Capital, Institutional Venture Partners and Trident Capital.

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Who’s Watching Who #24

Here’s a Who’s-Who of folks that have contacted us and/or checked-out the blog
and/or called to praise/complain, and/or any combination thereof over the past week:

Charles B Travis Architects – Austin, TX
FODA Studio – Branding and Design – Austin, TX
ITD Consultants – Mechanical and Electrical services – UK
J Walter Thompson – arguably the world’s first advertising agency
Pictage – Wedding Photo related website – Torrance, CA
Vocus – On-Demand Software for Public Relations Management – Lanham, MD

Veteran Visitors who came back for more (and more and more):
BBDO – Ad Agency Network – Worldwide
Crispin Porter + Bogusky – Ad Agency – All over the place
Fatty Paws – Large Breed Dog Care – Santa Barbara, CA
GSD&M Idea City – Ad Agency – Austin, TX
Homeaway Vacation Homes – Austin, TX
Neiman Group – Ad Agency – PA
WPP Group – Agency Network – Worldwide

Been to the blog but don’t see your company on the list? Shoot me an email or post a comment. If you email us, make sure you send it from your company email account so that we know it is the real-deal. Let us know what you think and maybe share a bit of info. The ~worst~ that will happen is that you get a free link to your site. Not a bad trade for a bit of good SEO if you ask me. If you don’t know what SEO is then please email me sooner rather than later.

Selling 3.0: A (R)Evolution in Sales

Last night I attended the February meeting of TEXCHANGE – Austin. Texchange events are basically networking, dining, a presenation, and round-table discussion groups for technology entrepreneurs.

Last night’s panel was comprised of:

Dave Panos, CEO – Pluck
Justin Halloran, VP Sales – HomeAway Vacation Homes
Michael Osborne, VP Sales – Bazaarvoice
Randy Meriwether, President – Meriwether Consulting Group

A comprehensive summary of the presentations and discussion has been posted by Thom Singer
and can be found here: Selling 3.0: New Business Models Driving a (R)Evolution in Sales