BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Each Monday, we highlight a Buffalo City Shaper - someone who is working to make Buffalo a better place. This week 2 On Your Side's Kelly Dudzik tells us about the man leading the effort to bring millions of visitors to Western New York every year.
"What I love about Buffalo is that it does remind me more of the Midwest than the East Coast. When I interviewed, I said it really reminds me of a smaller version of Chicago, and I was like I hope you don't take offense to that, and they're like, oh my gosh, no, we love Chicago," says Patrick Kaler.
Kaler got the job, and in January of 2014 became the President and CEO of Visit Buffalo Niagara. Originally from a small town about two hours south of Chicago, he held similar positions across the country before landing in Buffalo.
"There were probably six to seven cranes in the air, HarborCenter, Canalside, that was still all under construction, they hadn't even thought about doing anything at the Richardson Complex yet, so that was really exciting for me because I had the opportunity to really change the narrative for Buffalo at that time," he says.
Kaler and his team have launched strong social media campaigns highlighting what Western New York has to offer tourists including the Unexpected Buffalo.
"We kept saying the Unexpected Buffalo and it just made sense that we would create this character, and so we do have the Unexpected Buffalo. He will show up at some meetings, but he's in all of our advertising now, and we have him doing fun things where he's pouring a beer at Big Ditch, or he's acting as a valet at a hotel, he's out and about eating dinner at Canalside, doing all kinds of fun things," says Kaler.
You can talk to the Unexpected Buffalo on Facebook messenger. Visit Buffalo Niagara just won a nationwide award for its branding and marketing of the Unexpected Buffalo.
"You can ask him questions, and he's pretty cheeky, and he talks to you, and he will reply, and the whole evolving of our ad campaign now is really in his voice and in his tone," Kaler says.
In 2017, Visit Buffalo Niagara hosted nearly 45 travel writers who wrote about 125 articles.
"And, not just in the United States, but around the world, and that's been what's really exciting, too, was that we're getting the attention of travel writers in Peru, and the UK, all over the world who are excited about what's taking place in Buffalo," he says.
Typically, more than eight-million visitors come to Western New York a year with an economic impact of almost $1.8 billion. Kaler wants to boost that to 10-million visitors and $2 billion.
"I think those are very attainable goals as our community continues to evolve and change," Kaler says.
If you know someone who would make a great Buffalo City Shaper, email Kelly to nominate them.