The Seattle project focused on reaching female sex workers, street youth, and non-gay-identified men who have sex with men. Each of these three populations was approached in different areas of the city. For example, non-gay-identified men who have sex with men were approached in indoor and outdoor locations where men were known to "cruise" for sex. The population was multi-ethnic, although a higher proportion were white compared with the other sites.

Separate intervention materials were developed for each population. Intervention materials for non-gay-identified men were distributed under the program name "Shifting Gears," and the publication for sex workers used the name "Girlfriends Talking." The youth program was known as "SKATE," which stands for Street Kids AIDS Training and Education.

Robert Wood, M.D., was the principal investigator for the Seattle site, which was operated by the Seattle-King County Department of Public Health. Other key staff were:

• Gary Goldbaum, M.D., M.P.H.
• Karen Hartfield, M.P.H.
• Thomas Perdue
• John Wiesman, M.P.H.
• Tianji Yu, M.P.H.