Diag Boards

Diag boards are plywood advertisement boards in over 60 different locations on campus. Despite their popular name, they are not limited to the Diag. Locations range from the Diag and the Arch to the Hill Area and North Campus. Student organizations and university departments can rent these spaces to advertise for their events; they are not available to unaffiliated businesses or individuals.

Basic Description and Eligibility

Advertisers may reserve Diag board locations on a week-by-week basis. The minimum reservation is one week; the maximum reservation is one semester. Advertisers create their designs on canvas and submit them to SORC staff before the deadline, and SORC drivers place canvases on the plywood boards.

Due to high demand for Diag boards, 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 boards are effective and inexpensive, so they are very high in demand. There is a lottery at the beginning of each semester for Diag board reservation appointment times. SORC does not assign Diag board 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 once a week during the school year, generally on Sundays).

Fall lottery held the second week of classes in September
Winter lottery held the second week of classes in January
Spring/Summer lottery held on study day (the day after classes end) in April

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).

Diag Board rental is limited to 2 spaces per week per organization unless space permits.

Click here to apply for the Diag Board lottery.

Limits

Your organization can reserve as many as 16 spaces at its initial lottery appointment, not to exceed 2 spaces 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 would be different than someone advertising for a concert at the MLB. But each location has 1-4 sides. SORC maps are numbered so that side "1" is best, "2" is next best, and so on. This may vary according to your needs too, but it gives you an idea of historical preference.

We have four classifications of Diag boards based on location:

Tier 1 'Premiere' Locations: A1, A2, C1, C2, D1, D2, D3, E1, E2, F1, F2, G1, G2, H1, I1, M1, M2, O1, O2, P1, P2, Q1, T1, T3
Tier 2 'Standard' Locations: B1, B2, B3, C3, F3, G3, H2, H3, I2, I3, J1, J2, K1, K2, L1, L2, N1, N2, N3, P3, Q2, S1
Tier 3 'Discount' Locations: A3, E3, K3, Q3, R1, R2, T2, U1, U2
Tier 4 'Economy' Locations: K4, L3, M3, O3, R3, S2, U3, V1, V2

Diag Board Maps

Click below to view maps of the boards' locations.

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 Diag Board

Content Requirements

All basic content requirements established by SORC apply, most importantly:

The name of the student organization or department (in its entirety; no acronyms) must be visible on all Diag boards. Multiple student organizations or department names may be included, but at a minimum, the name of the organization that reserved the space must appear. Letters identifying this information must be at least 2" tall.
Contact information for the organization must be included. Contact information may include a phone number, e-mail address, and website, but must include at least one of these things. Letters identifying this information must be at least 2" tall.
Click here to see a complete list of SORC content requirements.
Your organization must not violate any content, trademark or name usage policies.

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

Diag board canvas is available at SORC for $3.00 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 canvas. Use permanent markers or acrylic latex paint; markers are available at The SORC. Vinyl lettered canvases made by a professional sign company are also acceptable.

Hint: Use markers if your canvas 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 canvas 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. Furthermore, passers-by generally only take the time to absorb the basics of your banner. Too many words - it might be ignored.

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.

An 8.5 x 11" sheet of paper with 1.25" side margins and .5" top margins is a good scale for a Diag board. Be sure to allow sufficient margins when you make your Diag board canvas:

Dimensions of canvas: 48" x 72" or 52" x 72" (we have two different kinds of material currently in use, so be sure to understand what size you are buying)
Actual viewing space: 42" x 66"

A few inches on each side do not show when the sign is in place. Measure carefully and keep all important information (date, location, phone number) away from the edges.

Deadlines and Placement

Canvases are due at SORC by 9:45PM on Sunday. If SORC is closed on Sunday, this deadline is extended to Monday afternoon. You can submit canvases as late as 5:00PM Thursday, but a $10.00 late fee applies for each item. Here is when you can expect your late canvas to be placed.

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

Canvases 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 Diag Boards

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 canvas 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 Board Canvas

Once SORC drivers have taken a canvas 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 either be discarded or sold as a used canvas. If you find your canvas in the "used" closet, you can always take it back for free, no matter how old.

Material Costs

New Diag board canvas $18.00
Used Diag board canvas $5.00
Sharpie markers (black only) $1.50
Medium permanent markers $2.00
Jumbo permanent markers $4.50

Prices