UUAP


> Diag Banners

 

Hours of Operation:

Mon-Thurs 10am-10pm
Fri 10am-6pm
Sun 12pm-10pm

Diag Banner Poles

There are 10 sets of banner poles on the Diag, which are avaiable on a week-to-week basis. Student organizations and university departments can rent Diag Banner Poles to advertise for their events; they are not available to unaffiliated businesses or individuals. During "Lottery Week," advertisers complete a contract with SORC for up to six weeks per semester. SORC drivers place all banners; group members may not place banners themselves. banner

 

Basic Description and Eligibility

Advertisers may reserve Diag Banner Pole locations on a week-by-week basis. Advertisers create their designs on vinyl and submit them to SORC staff before the deadline, and SORC drivers place banners on the steel poles.

Due to high demand for Diag banners, a lottery is conducted each semester. Contact SORC staff for more information about the lottery or click here to get on the mailing list.

 

Availability

Diag Banner Poles are effective and inexpensive, so they are very high in demand. SORC conducts a lottery at the beginning of each semester for Diag Banner reservation appointment times. SORC does not assign Diag Banner locations to specific groups; rather, each group is assigned an appointment time at random. A representative of your group chooses from the available locations at your appointment time. Earlier appointments have better selection of the "good" spaces. Appointments are scheduled in the afternoon and evening, so as to minimize the likelihood of conflicting with students' classes. Spots that remain open after appointments are available on a walk-in basis.

Click here to see a list of spaces that are currently available (updated weekly during the school year, generally on Sundays).

Dates change every semester, but the full details of the lottery are announced via SORC's email list and explained in greater detail on this website in December (for winter lottery), March (for Spring/Summer lottery), and April (for Fall lottery).

Banner pole rental is limited to 1 per week per organization unless space permits.

Click here to apply for the Banner Pole lottery.

 

Limits

Your organization can reserve as many as 6 banner spaces at its initial lottery appointment, not to exceed 1 space in one week. When all scheduled lottery appointments have passed, you may return to SORC and reserve more spaces. Be forewarned, though, that selection may be very limited at that point.

 

What Are the Best Spaces?

Effectiveness of locations varies according to each group's needs. For example, if you are advertising for a weekly meeting in the Union, your need might be different than someone advertising for a concert at the MLB. But over the course of time, we observe trends. The list below shows a general idea of the order in which banner spaces are selected.

Banner Pole Maps

Click to view the banner pole map

 

Payment

SORC holds contracts for 48 hours (this is extended to Thursday after the lottery).

If you have not paid or made alternate arrangements by then, your contract will be canceled and your spaces will be available to other groups. SORC staff will extend the deadline on a case-by-case basis. Just call during regular SORC hours and explain the need for an extension.

 

How to Make a Banner

Content Requirements

All basic content requirements established by SORC apply, most importantly

Hint: Successful advertisements are those that are colorful, eye-catching, and concise. Most people are on the go, and they do not have the time (or attention span) to read a lengthy advertisement. Stick to the basics: Who, What, When, and Where.

 

Materials You Will Need

Banner vinyl is available at SORC for $4.25 per foot. Free samples of material are available if you would like to purchase the material elsewhere.

You may not use tape, staples, contact paper, laminates, or any other adhesive materials. You must use marker or paint directly on the vinyl. Use permanent markers or acrylic latex paint; markers are available at SORC. Vinyl lettered banners made by a professional sign company are also acceptable.

Hint: Use markers if your banner is going to stay up for one month or less. With prolonged exposure to the sun, markers will fade. Use paint if your board will be up for more than a month. Painting takes up to 8 times as long.

You may not use oil-based paint or spray paint. A latex brand called Liquitex has a good color selection and dilutes very well. Campus bookstores and major craft stores have a wide selection of colors, but it is important that you choose "opaque" colors rather than "transparent" or "translucent" so that the paint will completely cover the surface. Otherwise, several coats will be necessary and brush marks will show. Craft paint (less than $1.00 at Michael's, for example) is generally acceptable but doesn't cover the white vinyl as well as a higher quality artist paint like Liquitex.

The simpler the design, the better. Complex designs with great detail can be difficult to trace and paint; they ultimately might look different than you intend.

 

Construction Requirements

You can reserve the Banner Production Area and a data projector at SORC. You must provide your own laptop when using the data projector. Bulbs and repairs can be very expensive, so SORC charges $10.00 per hour to help defray these costs. The maximum charge for the projector rental is $50.00 per day.

Banners are 3 feet tall x 10 feet wide. Design your banner in a 3" X 10" space (or other comparable scale) on a standard 8.5 X 11" piece of paper.

Banners must have grommets in all four corners and one on the top and bottom edge (center). At least 6-8 ventilation slits must be cut in your banner before it is submitted to SORC.

 

Deadlines and Placement

Diag banners are due at SORC by 9:45PM on Sunday night. If SORC is closed on Sunday (for Spring Break, for example), this deadline is extended to Monday at 12:00 noon. You can submit banners as late as 5:00PM Thursday, but a $10.00 late fee applies for each item. Here's when you can expect your late banner to be placed.

If you submit your banner on... It will be placed...
Monday before 3PM Monday evening
Monday after 3PM Thursday night
Anytime Tuesday Thursday night
Anytime Wednesday Thursday night
Before 5PM Thursday Thursday night

Banners submitted after Thursday at 5PM will not go up until the following Monday during the regular Monday route (provided that your organization has the space for an additional week).

 

Fallen / Damaged Banners

Although SORC drivers make periodic checks, reporting banner vandalism is your organization's responsibility. Drivers will go back out if the banner is not readable, has fallen down, or has been vandalized. Inform SORC staff, and in most cases drivers will make adjustments within 24 hours. If your banner is damaged and requires grommet repairs, additional charges may apply.

 

Non-consecutive reservations

If a banner is scheduled to come down, and then go back up at a later time, it is the advertiser’s responsibility to retrieve the item and re-submit it for placement.  This can be done either in person, by phone, e-mail, or AIM. 

 

Retrieving Your Diag Banner

Once SORC drivers have taken a banner down, it will be at SORC for two weeks, during which you may pick it up for free. After two weeks, it becomes property of SORC and may be discarded. If you find your group's banner in the "used" closet, you can always take it back for free, no matter how old.

 

Tree Banners

Banners are not allowed in the trees on the Diag or anywhere on the University of Michigan grounds. It is dangerous to climb trees in order to hang a banner, not to mention harmful to the trees.

 

Material Costs

 

Prices