Why This Exists
Squamish has plenty of places to go. We thought it could use a few more places to just be.
We Could All Use Another Living Room
There should be more places where doing nothing together is the whole point.
Squamish is exceptionally good at giving you things to do. Climb something. Ride something. Ski something. Paddle something.
But sometimes you don't need another activity.
You need somewhere to go, people to be around and a reason to get out of the house.
That's the idea behind Couch Club.
Movies give us something to gather around, but they're really just the excuse. The good part is everything that happens around them: meeting someone new, catching up with a neighbour, kids running around, sharing some popcorn, or simply being somewhere that feels good to be.
Why Movies?
Because staring at a screen together is surprisingly social.
You don't have to make conversation with a room full of strangers. You don't need to know anyone before you arrive. There's already a reason for everyone to be there.
Watch something. Eat some popcorn. Talk before it starts. Stick around afterward.
You need somewhere to go, people to be around and a reason to get out of the house.
A movie gives people permission to gather without requiring much from them.
And once you've got the screen, projector, couches and popcorn machine out anyway, you start wondering what else you could do with them.
Built One Night at a Time
We're figuring this out by actually doing it.
Couch Club didn't start with a building, a giant budget or a particularly sensible business plan.
It started by putting up a screen, finding some couches, making too much popcorn and seeing whether people would come.
Every time we do it, we learn something. What people show up for. What makes a space feel welcoming. What we should try again and what seemed like a much better idea before we had to actually set it up.
Couch Club is still taking shape, and we'd rather let the people who show up help shape it than pretend we already know exactly what it should become.
Where This Is Going
We're Not Entirely Sure What This Becomes Yet.
That's kind of the point.
Maybe Couch Club keeps popping up in courtyards, parks and unexpected corners of Squamish.
Maybe one day it has a permanent living room.
Probably it involves movies. Definitely popcorn. Almost certainly a few ideas we haven't thought of yet.
For now, we're building it one night at a time and seeing where the community takes it.