Valbyparkspejderne tried Oase in one section before the whole scout group moved

Today almost all communication in Valbyparkspejderne happens on Oase. Each section has groups for parents and leaders, and camps and events are planned in oases of their own. The older scouts have oases to themselves, where parents aren’t invited and the leaders stay out of it.

That has been the case since August 2026. The year before, only the micro section had moved. The rest of the group carried on with Facebook and email.

Why move away from Facebook

Facebook was easy to use, and many parents were already there, but not all of them. More and more parents and leaders had opted out of Meta’s platforms, and the group also wanted off a platform that lives on advertising.

“Among others, we have a very active leader who has opted out of social media. So all communication with her went through her husband, who was also a scout leader. It worked, but of course it wasn’t ideal,” says Jesper Voigt Vadskær.

A year in the micro section

The micro section’s leaders found Oase while looking for alternatives. They went in with their eyes open.

“We were aware that it probably wouldn’t stay a free platform, but of course we were unsure about the cost. We also expected there would be teething problems and features that didn’t work as well for communication as Facebook,” says Jesper.

The year in the micro section became the trial for the rest of the group. In summer 2026 the leaders looked at other solutions, but none of them worked as well. The requirements were a safe platform for children and young people, no ads, preferably Danish, and GDPR-compliant. The group didn’t want to be responsible for personal data itself.

How the parents came along

The leaders had a say in the decision, so they were easy to bring along. Parents heard about the move at a kick-off meeting, where QR codes for the different groups were ready. Afterwards every parent got an email, and for the first few weeks the QR codes came along to scout meetings. The old channels were only used to say that there were new messages on Oase.

There is one thing Jesper would do differently.

“We made the decision to switch to Oase right before the season started. That meant many scout leaders weren’t on the platform when we started bringing parents onto it. The transition would have been better if we had made the decision just a couple of weeks earlier.”

Some people also signed up without notifications and didn’t respond when the leaders wrote. Parents who forgot to add their child’s name and section after their own could be hard to reach as well. On the other hand, the group now reaches parents and leaders they previously had no contact with between meetings.

When two sections went to camp together, the leaders got an oase just for the camp. Afterwards the participants are removed, but the group stays. Next year the new leaders can read the evaluation and last year’s challenges.

Out of Meta’s clutches

Ask Jesper what’s best about Oase, and the answer is short:

“That we’re out of Meta’s clutches.”

They’re not all the way there yet.

“In general people have been very happy with the transition, but some leaders ‘give up’ if there are too many notifications,” says Jesper.

The group is also still working on getting people to reply to a post instead of starting a new one, so the conversation about a topic stays in one place.

His advice to another scout group:

“The platform can do everything it needs to for a scout group, and it’s very easy to get started with. Make sure to get leaders and volunteers onto the platform first, and train them in how to use it, including which oases are for announcements and which are for chat and comments.”