How to Present a Digital Signage Proposal to Your Condo Board

A good idea can still die at a board meeting if it arrives as a brochure and a single number. Directors are volunteers with fiduciary duties. They need to understand what they're approving, why, what it costs now and later, and what could go wrong.

Here is a structure that works.

1. Start with the problem, not the product

Open with what isn't working today. Be specific:

• Notices that went up late or stayed up after the work was done
• Repeat rule issues (garage cleaning, move-in bookings, amenity misuse) that residents say they "didn't know about"
• Complaints about the cluttered corkboard or paper taped in elevators
• How much time staff spend printing, posting and removing notices

If you have numbers, such as complaints logged or the cost of a towing incident during garage cleaning, use them.

2. Show exactly what's proposed

Directors should be able to picture it. Include:

• A floor-by-floor placement plan: which walls, what screen size, portrait or landscape
• Mounting method: flush-recessed or surface-mounted, and why
• Photos or mock-ups of each location if possible

3. Give an itemized price

One lump sum invites suspicion. Break it down:

4. Address the approval route

Explain whether the project needs notice to owners or an owner vote under section 97 of the Condominium Act, as confirmed by the manager and lawyer. Directors will ask. See does a condo board need owner approval for lobby screens.

5. Explain who runs it day to day

Who posts content, how long it takes, and who approves anything that isn't a routine notice. Directors worry, rightly, about a screen showing something embarrassing. A simple approval rule ("only management posts; ads require written approval under the board's policy") settles it.

6. Be honest about advertising

If the building plans to sell ad slots, present the revenue as a possible offset, not a guarantee. Use conservative assumptions about how many slots will sell. Overselling revenue is the fastest way to lose a board's trust. See realistic ad revenue expectations.

7. Cover risk and paperwork

Directors should hear that:

• Electrical work will be done by a licensed electrical contractor under an ESA notification
• Any work through fire separations will be properly fire-stopped
• The contractor will provide a WSIB clearance certificate and proof of insurance where applicable
• Finishes will be restored to match

8. Questions directors usually ask

• What happens if a screen breaks?
• Can owners turn it off or opt out? (It's in the common elements, so no, but content can be kept respectful and useful.)
• Is it secure? Could it be hacked? See network security for building digital signage.
• What does it cost per year to run?
• What happens at the end of the screens' life?

Have answers ready in writing.

9. End with a clear motion

Close with exactly what you're asking the board to approve: the scope, the price, the funding source, and the next step (notice to owners, if required). A clear ask gets a clear answer.