A popular Victoria-based community organizing group is looking to expand their work across the country.
In recent years, LampPost Social has exploded into the community organizing scene in the city.
Noticing discussion about how difficult it was to find community in Victoria, the two co-founders of LampPost, Jared Leary and Simon Laroque, wanted to help locals find community and expand their social circles.
The organization started as an online bulletin, but grew quickly. With the help of Pierre-Olivier McGeough, the organizer of UVic’s Polar Dips, they quickly expanded to start offering events themselves.
There was a large appetite for this type of work in Victoria, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic, and LampPost found success hosting events from pub crawls to sporting leagues and pop-up shows.
Through social media and word of mouth, the team quickly made a name for themselves in the community as a place that people could go if they were struggling to make connections in the city.
Thousands of people have attended LampPost events throughout Victoria since they’ve started, and the group says that they see lasting friendships formed at the events they host.
The community embraced the work that LampPost was doing so much that the team was trusted with co-organizing the beloved FernFest this summer. The day was a smashing success, with thousands turning up to the free event.
LampPost is now hoping to keep developing on this success, and expand their work to large cities across Canada. They’ve recently begun operations in Vancouver, Calgary and Montreal, with their eyes set on Toronto and other cities in Eastern Canada in the coming months.
“Basically what we’re trying to do here is take the super community-first model that we’ve done here and take that to other cities, like Vancouver and Calgary,” Learytold Victoria Buzz.
“Those are just platform-only at the moment, so what we’d love to be able to do is start the events there that set us apart here. Having a local presence in the community, being involved with local hosts and actually doing things in the community rather than just being a faceless platform.”
LampPost are hoping to hire locals in those communities to run events similar to the ones they run here in Victoria, but with a focus on things that appeal to folks there.
“The idea is to build out the local teams, with events running everywhere that we’re going. We’d love to get out to Eastern Canada too,” Leary explained.
“We’ve just heard from so many people what a difference we’ve been able to make in terms of their social life and being able to meet people.”
Leary says that while it may feel out of the ordinary, he loves that a tech platform can help people find community when it has a local presence.
He explained that big cities are often where people feel most isolated.
Even when surrounded by people, community can be hard to find, and the loneliness epidemic that is so often talked about is something that they aim to fight.
That’s the mission of LampPost Social. To help others connect with people in their community, and to create a sense of belonging for everyone.
“There’s been so many studies on how lonely people are, and I think that picked up during COVID, but it’s not taking in the full picture, which is that it’s been a trend for a long time.”
“That’s really what we’re fighting. Less the platform, less the expansion, we’re fighting that loneliness across Canada.”
To help with this expansion, the team at LampPost will be hosting a crowdfunding campaign.
Working with Canadian fundraising company FrontFundr, which has helped other local organizations like Bloom and Ecologyst, LampPost hopes to raise the funds to bring their work out to other big cities across Canada.
Leary explained that they originally looked at raising the money through venture capital funding and were very close to making a deal, but felt that route was antithetical to the organization’s roots.
What was supposed to be something that started as a grass-roots organization and built by people would have instead become all about shareholder value, and squeezing every bit of profit from the people that helped to build the platform.
That didn’t feel right, and they instead decided to go back to the community that helped grow their brand into what it is today and let that community be a part of their new venture.
The fundraiser comes with plenty of perks for investors.
A commitment of $500 gets individuals a season’s pass to all LampPost events, while $1000 gets the same perk plus a coveted LampPost hoodie.
The fundraiser officially launched on Monday, September 21st.
As of this publication, the LampPost has raised $4,400. Those wishing to donate can do so online here.
While they continue to work on this exciting new venture, they’ll continue to host events here and there across the city, so make sure to keep your eyes on LampPost’s website and join their weekly newsletter to stay in the know about everything happening in Victoria.
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