In 2008 the company Airbnb started in San Francisco. The idea was basic but hardly simple. Create a conduit for travelers to vacation all across the globe in local homes and apartments. The internet site matches those with places to rent for a day, week, month, any amount of time, really, and those looking to travel. The company now has host sites in more than 40,000 cities and 192 countries.

The Dockside Inn in Oak Bluffs was named 2013 best harborfront hotel in New England by Yankee Magazine’s Travel Guide to New England. The magazine cited the hotel’s contemporary design and nautical decor. The Dockside Inn was previously named in Boston Magazine’s 2012 Best of Boston.

The Permanent Endowment Fund for Martha’s Vineyard is accepting nominations for the 2013 Creative Living Award. Established in 1983 through the Ruth J. Bogan and Ruth Redding Fund, the award recognizes members of the Vineyard community who embody Ruth Bogan’s spirit and love for the Island. Ms. Bogan was a nurse by training but was also a self-taught painter, sculptor and photographer.

The Massachusetts Property Insurance Underwriting Association, or FAIR Plan, has submitted a request for a rate hike. The Cape and Islands have a proposed rate hike of 9.9 per cent on homeowner insurance premiums scheduled to go into effect July 1. A public hearing on the rate request will be held on Wednesday, May 29, at 11 a.m. at the Barnstable town hall in Hyannis in the second floor hearing room. Citizens for Homeowners Insurance Reform will hold a rally on the village green next to the town hall from 9:30 to 10:30 a.m. before the hearing.

Eating pizza is even more important when you do it for a good cause. Martha’s Vineyard Ice Arena is the beneficiary of dine-to-donate on Thursday, May 23, at the Flatbread Company, 17 Airport Road in Edgartown.

Visit flatbreadcompany.com or call 508-693-1137 for more information.