The Advertising Club of Buffalo kicked off its program year with a dynamic program on Wednesday, October 29 over lunch at the Millennium Hotel in Cheektowaga. Submitted by Shelley Stoeckl, event chair Selling Buffalo As A Visitor Destination presented by Ed Healy and Matt Steinberg of the Buffalo Niagara Convention & Visitors Bureau. This was a great topic to kick off the Ad Club year programs. Ed and Matt gave us an overview of the challenges of the Buffalo Niagara name as compared to the draw of Niagara Falls. Most folks who want to come to this region for a conference want to be close to the Falls and typically don’t have much time to drive there from other locations. The CVB continually conducts research and hold focus groups. Funding comes from Erie County and from bed tax, sales efforts and trade shows. The BNCVB has partnered with WNED-TV and have produced a spot promoting the Buffalo-Niagara region that aired on over 100 PBS affiliates nationwide. A spot on Buffalo Architectural Treasurers was also filmed and aired, as well as being posted to the CVB website, YouTube and on DVD. Podcasts have been produced for their website on the Martin House and the Rainforest Falls at the Buffalo Zoo, which was sponsored by M&T Bank. They try to always stay ahead of the curve. A recent San Francisco Chronicle article on the Buffalo Garden Walk was great free, national publicity for our area. A question and answer period followed the presentation. Survey results of those who attended indicated this was a successful event, with ratings for the topic 4 out of 5 and speakers 4.5 out of 5. Many thanks to those who attended.