News

Where on earth do people march down the street glaring straight ahead, return a smile with a snooty look or show no recognition even after meeting you five times?

Vancouver, of course.

It's one of North America's least friendly cities, according to Steven Wood, a 31-year-old graphic designer born and raised in Terminal City. "Community-building is what we lack here," he says.

Mr. Wood considered leaving the city for a warmer social climate, but after travelling the world he says, "I couldn't find a better home than Vancouver."

So instead of moving, he invented the OK button.

Designed to be worn on clothing and carryalls, the 2.5-centimetre button lets strangers know it's okay to talk to you, he says. "It's not an excuse to hook up."

For fun, Mr. Wood created the logo, paid for manufacturing and started distributing the buttons free at local retailers (listed at Oksocial.org). "I wanted to make it as easy for people as possible," he says.

Since December, he has given out 1,000 buttons and fielded e-mail requests from fans in the United States, Australia and Europe.

Mr. Wood recently paid $2,000 to have 10,000 more buttons made. "Demand is really picking up," he says.

Kathy Sinclair, a 33-year-old magazine editor, says she started wearing the OK button on her purse a month ago.

"I think it's a great idea for breaking down barriers between people in the city," she says.

Although she has yet to be approached because of the button, she says it has changed her outlook in public.

"Wearing the button has made me more aware of opportunities to initiate conversation."

Richard Eriksson, a 29-year-old high-tech worker, says he wears the OK button on his backpack daily, "to keep myself accountable when people do want to talk to me."

He says Vancouver is socially guarded compared with his smaller hometown of Courtenay, B.C.

"I'm still used to giving people a signal on the street that acknowledges that they exist," Mr. Eriksson says.

David Thomas, a social scientist and professor at Simon Fraser University, says there's no hard evidence that Vancouver is more standoffish than other big cities.

Nevertheless, in places with a lot of migration and turnover in the population, social networks don't tend to be as broad, he says.

"It may be that we don't have a strong social norm for interaction in Vancouver because everyone is from someplace else," he suggests.

It's tough for newcomers to break into the social scenes, Mr. Wood says.

"There are a lot of really lonely people in Vancouver."

Vancouver entered its metropolitan stage only recently, he says.

"I see it as a teenaged city - it's dressing kind of expensive and garish these days."

The looming Olympics are making the city even more frantic, expensive and status-conscious, he says.

Mr. Wood says he hopes to shield the OK button from trend-mongering.

"The idea was to make it as not hip as possible and yet still attractive," he says.

The OK button still hasn't gained brand recognition.

But that's okay with Mr. Wood. He says he hopes it will eventually make its mark through low-key Internet marketing and word of mouth.

"I like the idea enough to keep it running until no one wants it any more."