Lachlan Woods reflects on four years leading OGAE Australia

After four years as President of the official Eurovision fan club OGAE Australia, Lachlan Woods has officially stepped down from the role following the club’s recent AGM.

Lachlan first joined OGAE Australia in 2018 after discovering the club through an SBS News article, before joining the committee in 2020 and becoming President two years later.

In announcing his departure, he described the experience as “far more exciting, stressful, chaotic, joyful and infuriating” than he expected when he first joined the club.

For Lachlan, there is plenty to look back on with pride.   

I think the biggest highlights for me has been the continually growing preview parties, as well as the growth of the club generally,” Lachlan told Aussievision.

“We’ve had the club go from 500 or so members to just over 1000 members in the course of five years, which is something that we can all be really proud of.”

He also points to some of the less visible changes made during that time.

“I’m also proud of refining certain processes to make it easier for members to engage in our processes,

including transitioning to TidyHQ for membership management, and creating a digital membership card that is useful for members and links to their Apple or Google Wallet.”

The work behind the scenes

While members may see the parties, events and Eurovision activity, Lachlan says much of the work involved in running OGAE Australia happens in the background.

“I think it’s a lot of the little things, like looking after Cardskipper queries, to making sure we file legal documents on time, to attending meetings at 5am in the morning with fellow OGAE clubs,” he said.

“It’s a lot of those little things that can make it challenging at times, but it’s all part of the fun of being part of a fandom that primarily exists on the other side of the world.”

Australia itself also creates some unique challenges.

“For me personally, one of the biggest challenges has been looking after committees that are spread all over the country, particularly in summer,” Lachlan said.

“Organising events and activities in summer means that we are dealing with five different time zones at least.”

In his farewell post, Lachlan said the demands of the role had reached a point where he could no longer give it the time required without other parts of his life being affected.

“While I continue to have a strong love for OGAE Australia, the best fan club for all things Eurovision down under, I am also aware that I cannot commit the time required to keep on going without other parts of my life being compromised,” he said.

What comes next for OGAE Australia?

Lachlan says he hopes the club continues to build on the work already done.

“I genuinely hope that OGAE Australia continues to grow and be seen as the primary fan network for all things Eurovision down under,” he told Aussievision.

“We’ve laid a really strong groundwork for whoever comes into committee to pick up and run with.”

He also points to work on a strategic plan that can be taken forward by future committees.

“We hope that it will allow for OGAE Australia to continue to grow, to emphasise the benefits of being an OGAE member regardless of the changes or decisions that are made by the EBU and other production companies and the networks themselves.”

For Lachlan, though, the club’s culture remains just as important as its size.

“My dream is for OGAE Australia to continue being the warm, welcoming and inclusive community that we are.”

OGAE needs to modernise

Looking beyond Australia, Lachlan also reflected on the future of the wider OGAE network.

“I think OGAE as a concept does need to modernise, and it is something that I have consistently advocated for within OGAE International," he told us.

“There is still a very strong perception that OGAE is a pale male and stale organisation, which doesn’t reflect the reality of what has happened within OGAE Australia.”

He says the makeup of the Australian club has changed significantly over the past five years.

“The majority of the 500 or so members that we’ve had join over the past five years are younger, more likely to be women or non-binary, as well as being from right across Australia, so we want to really emphasise that as being the future of OGAE.”

Lachlan believes OGAE should be making that case more strongly to broadcasters and the EBU.

“We should make it clear to the EBU and to the broadcasters that this is the core of the Eurovision fandom, and that we can continue to be that foundational ally to the values of Eurovision.”

He says modernising the organisation will require stronger social media, better engagement with younger fans and more support for clubs struggling to attract and retain members.

He also wants to see greater cooperation between national fan clubs.

“We should be collaborating more with our fellow clubs, which is something that we’ve been trying to do in Australia in engaging with the clubs in Ireland, the UK, and the Rest of the World,” Lachlan said.

“But there is more that we can do, so now more than ever we need to modernise and we need to engage more closely together to show why we continue to play an important role in Eurovision.”

Lachlan is stepping away from the committee, but not from the community itself.

As he said in announcing his departure, he now looks forward to supporting the club and future committees from the perspective of a “diehard Eurovision fan”.

You can find out more about OGAE Australia here.