By Eileen Buckley
Buffalo, NY – A brand new web site that promotes the positive side of Buffalo is scheduled to debut Monday. Buffalo Rising Online was created by the publisher of the "Buffalo Rising" magazine.
Buffalo Rising Online allows readers to interact and participate in the site's blog. Newell Nussbaumer is an Elmwood Avenue business owner. A couple of years ago, he began producing the magazine featuring cultural organizations, businesses and stories about the city. He says it originally started as an effort to explore the ever growing Elmwood-Allentown district, but then expanded to the entire City.
Nussbaumer says for area cultural agencies who lack funding to market their products, the magazine, and now the web site, offer free publicity. He says small Buffalo businesses buy the advertising that supports Buffalo Rising.
"The culturals have been suffering for a little bit now. They need all the support and marketing they can get," Nussbaumer said. "It's the small businesses in Buffalo that have supported the magazine since day one."
But Nussbaumer says there are nasayers who have criticized his effort to promote the positive side of the city. He says apparently some just don't see it.
"One of the things we didn't expect to encounter were people who don't want to hear good things about Buffalo," Nussbaumer said. "It surprised us and caught us off guard at first. But now, like anything else, we kind of brush it aside and focus on the positives."
By providing the online, version people can learn and talk about specific issues, events, and politics in a timely manner.
Its creators say so far, they've managed to maintain "Buffalo Rising" as a city-only publication, avoiding stories from the suburban region so they can focus on business, culture, people and life in Buffalo.