ALGIM Workshop: How to be funny (and professional) on socials with Ben Caldwell

Humour is being used more and more by public sector social accounts, but it’s fraught with risk. While the results are hard to argue with, some councils and government organisations are still adverse to taking that silly walk into the humorous space.

It doesn’t have to be scary though! And who better to lead you into this world than a comms professional, who’s also comedian with 16 years of stage experience? Well… probably heaps of people but, Ben is as good as we could get!

Learn how to take dry or unsexy content and turn it into something that gets awesome results for your socials, or how to respond to “hecklers” in a way that is funny and creates more allies than enemies.

Bring with you your creative mindset, a willingness to push boundaries and a few examples of content/comments that in hindsight you wish you’d taken a humorous approach.

About the presenter

Ben Caldwell

Rangitikei District Council

Ben Caldwell is better known in Rangitīkei as Ben from Comms, a cheeky and cheerful face of Council’s social media accounts. Combining a decade’s worth of communications experience with his seventeen years of stage experience as a stand-up comedian, he has developed a unique style that includes sketches, memes, badly written parody songs and no BS messaging that cuts through the external noise.

This approach, supported by his management, has seen incredible results for the Council (2^nd out of 78 councils in the country for percentage follower growth) and has helped to humanise Council to residents and followers.

He's not afraid of pushing back on trolls or people getting aggressive in the comments, and also shows vulnerability in posts around online bullying and mental health in the social media space.

More info