OK Social
http://www.oksocial.org Here's one of those Harlequin romances that happened in Vancouver: there
was a girl who was pretty shy, but one day she came upon a stranger
sweeping broken glass in front of his house. They talked, and each
discovered the other already had a partner. But their conversation was
so fantastic, they thought about each other afterwards. While talking
they had exchanged business cards. After a few friendly emails, they
stopped communicating due to busy schedules and relationships. After a
year of not speaking, the girl, now single, contacted him. Turns out, he
had become single as well. They have now been dating for almost two
years.
That girl is me. If this doesn't inspire you to start talking to
strangers, how about this: Vancouver now has a simple tool to instigate
speaking with your neighbour. The OK Button, created by Steve, is an
easy way to show people that you are friendly, and they are welcome to
talk to you. Simple, hey? Apparently, Vancouver needs this sort of
tool.
"There seems to be this underlying dynamic in Vancouver, that it's
really inappropriate to speak to someone you don't know or don't have
any reference to, " observed Steve. "I think it's learned behaviour,
it's cultural. For whatever reason, we have a legacy of being on-guard
all the time. In a public space, people stand around not talking to each
other or only talk with their friends. (The OK button) is getting beyond
that with an icon that says, 'Hey, I won't think you're nuts if you walk
up to me and talk to me.' "
While speaking to a fellow traveler about the shyness of Vancouverites,
Steve's lightbulb went off and he started making the buttons. A former
graphic designer, he quickly churns them out for anyone requesting them,
free of charge.
"The idea is to make this a friendlier place, not make money. I love
this city so much. I grew up here. Every time I travel I consider
Vancouver to be the best place. It's just this one thing that drives me
nuts, so I'm trying to do something about it."
Get one, they're free for pick up or we can mail them to you. @
Clutch by auto/ONE
Trunk Gallery
1755 West 3rd Avenue, Vancouver, BC
Buttons available after August 3rd, 2007
Today's Link source: Joe Nidua (Thanks Joe, and congratulations on your
engagement!!)
