There was an article in the Buffalo News late last week about Thursday at the Square:

The Buffalo Place board Wednesday learned revenues for the 21-year-old concert series missed budget targets by $200,722, up from earlier projections that it would fall flat by a maximum of $140,000. In presenting the updated revenue figures, Buffalo Place Treasurer John R. Koelmel said the free summer shows, which rely on sales of beer and food to cover costs, have probably hit their peak.

This is a ridiculous response:

We had a bit of a monopoly for a while, but now we’re facing competition from other venues, especially the casinos,” Koelmel said. “I think [that] in terms of upside, we have hit the wall.”

Secondly, the acts that made up the 2007 concert series were “part” of the problem but not the biggest one. I actually thought it was a good lineup. But bringing acts that an over 21 crowd might actually enjoy will definitely ensure more beer sales. Wh,en you cater the music to people under the age of 21, guess what? No beer sales, duh…

The biggest problem though is simple, yet one Buffalo Place refuses to address. Location. Depending on where you wind up in that mass of humanity every week, you can’t hear. Half of the concert grounds are covered by trees.

It is one of the most common refrains at the end of every year during the Erie County budget process.

“Fully fund the Buffalo Convention and Visitor’s Bureau with their full share of the bed tax”

Since I don’t like to hear a problem restated over and over again without the proposition of a creative solution, I’m going to offer one…because that’s how I roll.

Why should the CVB be funded out of a tax that is collected by Erie County? The revenue stream sources from the hotels themselves and the County simply acts as a pass through, while taking a piece of the revenue as a vig.

Why not abolish the bed tax altogether?

Poking around the CVB’s website, I came across a series of videos that were recently completed which help tell the story of Buffalo-Niagara. By the way, if you want people to actually watch these videos, shorten up the vignettes and post them on sites around the web, not just on your own.  The only people who will find these videos will be people who were looking for them in the first place, viral marketing 101.   I digress…

Last week’s announcement by the Buffalo Bisons that Torey Lovullo would be returning in 2008 for his third season as the Herd’s Manager made be very happy, but also came the realization that his time in Buffalo might soon be coming to an end.

Make no mistake, Torey is a great guy, and covering the team in the media becomes so much easier because this man always welcomes you into his office as on old friend, readily makes himself available for interviews and comments, and his love for the game and his role in it rubs off on anyone who gets the chance to get close to him. If there is one annoying thing about him, it is that he too joyous and positive. He never rebukes or calls out one of his players publicly after a subpar performance. He will always put a positive spin on the worst scenarios. I can only guess that he’s got be the world’s greatest dad, greatest husband and someone’s greatest best friend.

It seems so long ago–but we just got word tonight that an interview we did back in Oct when Sundance was here–is on the air and the web! Here is a link to a podcast from an interview by Joyce Kryszak of WBfO–featuring Jon Markle, David Bennink (our consultant) and Michael Gainer–who had a sore, raspy throat at the time.
look here

You have staked out a position in direct opposition to that of Rep. Brian Higgins. I think it’s safe to say that few politicians have done more to advance the cause of the waterfront - especially Buffalo’s outer harbor - than he.

You use rhetoric that is either hyperbolic or patently false. Route 5 is a road - not a wall. I have been told that the reason why it was bermed in that location has to do with continuous wintertime snowdrifts due to the unimpeded wind off the lake. The at-grade section further south has the former Bethlehem Steel plant land as a buffer. Did you know that?

You constantly bring up the Skyway even though it has nothing whatsoever to do with this particular project. The Southtowns Connector project has one aim and one aim only - to reconfigure Fuhrmann Boulevard to a 4-lane boulevard, and to improve access to and from it off of Route 5. As you well know from your press conference this morning, it is extraordinarily difficult to navigate around the outer harbor. All you’re doing, whether you know it or not (and whether you care or not), is hindering and delaying the improvement of that access.