328 replies to this topic

[G-Man]

There is one on Cityhall I believe too...

yup here

http://maps.google.c...027595&t=h&z=15

[Holden West]

^Oh, good one. Any others?

The City Hall sign looks to be old, at least 1938 (click hi-res version).

[Holden West]

I would love if this happened at the Save-On video sign:

Russia: Hacker arrested in video billboard stunt.

Disclaimer: I mean, I would be appalled. Dylan and VHF should not conspire to do this as it would be illegal.

[D.L.]

I read you loud and clear, Mr. West.

[Coreyburger]

There were a couple of issues that were raised with the arena sign.

The first was size and brightness being a distraction. There were some days and light levels which were initially a problem, but I think that has been resolved now.

Th second issue was the idea of using signage as a 3rd party billboard rather than promoting the specific business owning the sign. At first the city challenged some of the content (especially since the city is supposed to get 25% of the content for free to promote local events and services) but either by design or lack of complaints nobody seems to care anymore. When there are no upcoming events the sign is pretty much exclusively used for 3rd party paid content.

It is the second point that I was more concerned about with respect to precedent. I have no issues with a nice attractive digital sign promoting a business. What I have a problem with are electronic billboards popping up all over town.

The sign specifically isn't 3rd party content of any type. It is people who advertise within the building. RG Properties was really sneaky and wrote something in the contract with the city that allows them to advertise outside the sponsors inside. Which meant the city was screwed when it came to getting it pulled down.

[VicHockeyFan]

The sign specifically isn't 3rd party content of any type. It is people who advertise within the building. RG Properties was really sneaky and wrote something in the contract with the city that allows them to advertise outside the sponsors inside. Which meant the city was screwed when it came to getting it pulled down.

I don't think there was all that much sneakiness involved. If your store sells coke, your sign can say coke. So what they are doing is not all that much of a stretch. I am a little surprised I haven't seen anyone else using the same work-around.

[Holden West]

I don't think there was all that much sneakiness involved. If your store sells coke, your sign can say coke.

Does that mean I can go to the arena and renew my Harbord house insurance policy?

[VicHockeyFan]

Does that mean I can go to the arena and renew my Harbord house insurance policy?

I did say there was some stretching involved. You can go to the arena a receive a direct referral to Harbord Insurance, they have the number very handy. You just have to complete the rest of the transaction elsewhere.

[VicHockeyFan]

The City has hung some very nice-looking Salmon Kings Kelly Cup Playoff banners on it looks like about 20 utility poles in and around the arena. Two blocks of Caledonia, and three blocks of Blanshard, at least. Now, of course, the Kings are not exactly a lock on the playoffs this year, but they can be used again in subsequent years. Wonder what deal they cut to get those? Normal businesses are not allowed to do third-party advertising like that. But the team does play in the City-owned facility, and some money from each ticket goes to the City.

It'd be nice to hear if maybe they auction them off for a charity after they are done with them.

[jdsony]

I've never liked the sign and I'm unsure why anyone actually does. It doesn't actually serve a purpose that benefits anyone except the advertisers using it. The old Arena sign actually displayed what was going on, you could glance at it as you drove by and know exactly what was going on or coming soon. The video sign sometimes has the events but you have to sit around and wait for it. I'd love to see more interesting signs around the city but not video signs because 90% of the time they are going to be sold for advertising space. I love the old neon signs and they aren't that imposing in China Town. If power consumption or the glass/gasses are a concern there are modern LED versions of Neon tubes.

I don't hate advertising but these days most of it is selling products or services you don't need. Much of the local ad work has no actual artistic merit because most people aren't even actually good at their job (it's just a job). Signs of old were usually for companies selling basic essentials not crappy buy on whim consumer garbage.

[G-Man]

I like the billboard it brings some life to any area that is overly car-centric. I have been walking to work along Blanshard for a change and find it one of the more interesting parts of the walk.

[Mike K.]

Telus adorns downtown building with giant billboard
By Mike Kozakowski, VibrantVictoria.ca
http://vibrantvictoria.ca/?p=2607

The Telus-owned BC Telephone Company building at 826 Yates has a new exterior feature that is sure to bring more attention to the otherwise nondescript facade.

A giant billboard advertising Telus’ mobile telephone network, complete with bunnies and a hippopotamus, was installed Sunday afternoon across almost half of the building’s Yates Street frontage. [...]

[Rob Randall]

This contravenes the City's sign bylaw. It will be interesting to see if the City enforces this or not.

You may remember the Sitka surf shop on lower Yates that has the cedar shingles on the exterior, in contravention of the Old Town bylaws. It's been about a year before the City asked them to change the facade yet they remain.

If the City drags its feet with the Telus billboard, you can expect other business owners to follow suit and install their own third party billboards, finding a loophole in the third party bylaw like the arena did with their electronic sign.

[Baro]

Ah Victoria, where a simple billboard can make the news...

[VicHockeyFan]

Hmmm. I do seem to recall the RBCM went through some hoops to get their signs. Or maybe they technically violated city bylaws but the bylaws were unenforceable on provincially owned buildings or something like that.

[Rob Randall]

It could be Telus got permission. The RBCM example is interesting, I don't know what happened there. The bylaw is here:

http://www.victoria..../bylaw92-30.pdf

[VicHockeyFan]

It could be Telus got permission. The RBCM example is interesting, I don't know what happened there. The bylaw is here:

http://www.victoria..../bylaw92-30.pdf

And under the most generous ratio allowance there you can have .186 m2 of signage for each 30cm of business linear frontage.

[Rob Randall]

I got confirmation from City Hall that no permission was sought for the Telus sign and that it does go against the sign bylaw.

It should be noted that the bylaw is complaint driven, meaning that non-conforming signs are not automatically condemned by City Hall unless someone makes a fuss over it.

[D.L.]

I'm not saying anything.

[gumgum]

As long as there's that horrible arena electronic billboard, the city has no credibility.