BANNER DROP HOW-TO GUIDE
Meet and Plan
Get together and plan out your action with folks you trust and work well with.
Figure out what you need, what you have, and how to make up the difference.
Organize a banner painting session in your garage, a public, community or school
art space. In this day and age, when police and FBI and Dept of homeland Security
are listing in on all kinds of activists, its better to keep the planning and
details of banner drops off of email.
Sheets and Paints
Gather lots of bed-sheets and paint simple, large slogans: "Support Our
Troops. Bring them Home" and "No War on Iraq". Always use drop
cloths and water-based paints, and clean up your messes. Rinse your brushes
in an appropriate sink or soak them in turpentine. It’s a good idea to
brainstorm short and simple slogans that will be inspiring to a wide audience,
and sketch them out on paper and then on the banner before you paint.
Material sources
you can find sheets from: thrift stores, your friends’ closets (ask them
first), bedding shops, art supply stores, hotels, restaurants (we won’t
tell you HOW you can get lots of sheets from the later two…). You can get
cheap paints at local hardware stores (ask them for half-used cans), and some
towns have a paint-exchange or paint-shed at the dump. Invest in different sized
paint brushes.
Maps, Locations, Times
Use maps that show all the roads and distinguish between roads that go over
vs. under the highways. Decide out which bridges to hang banners from. Hang
one banner per bridge. This way, if cops see the banner and go to take it down,
they’ll only get one per trip. Pick a direction based on which audience
you want to reach and where they’re driving from. The best overpasses to
hang banners from are those that do not have an exit/entrance from the highway
below. This way, if police see the banners from the highway, it will take them
a while longer to exit and make their way back to the bridge. Its also safer
for you as there’s less traffic. The best times to hang the banners are
early morning, about 6:00-7:00 am. That way you will catch morning rush hour,
but be putting them up without too many motorists or police to see you. Some
people are becoming shepherds for bridges near their homes, where they can just
jog to every morning with a new banner and keep the message there! Just be careful
about having too regular of a schedule. And keep your times and locations secret.
Banner Preparation
Cut a hole in both corners at the top of the banner. Reinforce the holes with
tape. Tie about 5 feet of rope through both ends. Tie the loose end of the ropes
to the handle of a 1 gallon or large juice/milk container, which you will fill
with water. You will place these jugs on the bridge itself to weigh the banner
down. This is because most bridges have concrete barriers on the edge with no
place to tie banners to. Weigh the banner itself with water-filled zip lock
bags or plastic bottles taped, tied, or stapled to bottom underside corners
of the banner. The best way to do this is to duct tape once vertically around
the ziplock to make a tab of tape at the top of the bag. Staple/safety pin through
the tape tab.
Media Advisory and Press Release
Now, you’ll reach thousands of motorists with each banner in morning traffic,
but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try to get more exposure. First,
go online or call your local newspapers and TV stations. Get the fax, email
or phone for their newsroom and/or editors. Write up a short one-page press
release about why you are doing it, what the banners say, and locations you
will hang them at. Wait until right after you’ve hung the banners to send
out the release (altering it in case locations change) and attach digital photos
if you can. Send it through an anonymous email if you are concerned about the
police following up on your handy work. The banners will speak for themselves.
If you really want to get creative, send photos of the banners before they are
put up along with a media advisory stating that media will be notified of a
banner drop(s) at 7:00 am sometime this week. Always find the email/fax for
the Associated Press bureau nearest you - go to www.AP.com
to get contact info.
Hanging the Banners
Have a driver and 2 banner hangers. The drive should pull over safely before
the bridge. The Hangers should wear bright clothing so that motorists can easily
see them, quickly walk along the shoulder to the middle of the bridge, hanging
over the medium in case it falls. First put the milk jug weights down on the
bridge, then flip the banner over the side, then pull the jugs out to the side
until the rope it taught and the banner is straight and hanging at the height
you want it to hang. Take a moment to check on all the fastenings. DO NOT LEAN
OVER THE EDGE! Leave quickly. Take photos, write a report and post on Indymedia.
Be anonymous about it.
Upkeep
Having someone drive by the banners throughout the day (every 2 hours or so)
can help you keep track of how long they stay up, and increase their effectiveness
by allowing you to fix them up if the wind has blown them back over the barrier
or tension in the ropes has slackened and allowed the banner to dip