Ben Caldwell is engaging Rangitīkei residents with his social media savviness and sense of humour.
Photo / Bevan Conley
Ben Caldwell is engaging Rangitīkei residents with his social media savviness and sense of humour.
Photo / Bevan Conley
Followers of Rangitīkei District Council’s social media pages will have noticed the cheeky tone of some posts in recent weeks.
The person responsible is Ben Caldwell who joined the council team in August with over a decade of experience in communications and performing live comedy.
“It’s about using humour asa vehicle to deliver serious messages,” Caldwell said.
“People don’t respond well to being lectured so it’s about getting them to engage and take in the message while making them laugh. It can be a delicate balance.”
A recent post from Caldwell features a photo of the Donkey character from the Shrek movies and a reminder to keep animals safe as Guy Fawkes night approaches.
Caldwell responded with a greeting and a selfie photo.
“I knew you’d look as fun as your posts sound,” the follower replied.
Caldwell’s last communications job was with Manawatū District Council where he developed strong community relationships.
“I was still enjoying the job but I have a lot of family commitments and I’ve been able to reduce my hours in Rangitīkei. I work from home on Mondays and I have Fridays off.
“We live in Feilding and even though I have further to travel, it gives me more time with family.”
Caldwell and his wife Amberly have six children aged from pre-school to teens and the three older children have special needs.
“We’re a blended family,” he said.
“Amberly had the three older children in her care when we met and we’ve had three together so we’re a busy household. She works part-time for the Ministry of Education and things are a bit easier now that I’ve reduced my hours.”
Caldwell said although social media had some obvious downsides it was an excellent tool for anyone working in communications.
“I’ve joined a lot of the Rangitīkei group pages and they are great sources of information and a forum for me to introduce myself and inform people about what the council is doing in those areas,” he said.
“I’ve learned a lot about the communities in the district from chatting with people in those groups.”
While browsing a Taihape page in September Caldwell read a post that claimed American actor David Hasselhoff would be visiting the town.
“I was skeptical at first but I learned that he was working with Rhys Darby on a film he was making in New Zealand and when I contacted the company they confirmed that Hasselhoff really was coming to Taihape.
“He was so cool, very aware of his star power and he made sure everyone who wanted to be photographed with him got the opportunity. I really enjoyed meeting him and I’m sure everyone else did as well.”
Caldwell said he started his communications career with Kiwirail in Wellington and Wairarapa after completing a bachelor of communications at Massey University.
“I started out thinking I would be a journalist but decided to switch to expressive arts and media studies when I realised I was better suited to those areas.
“Working for Kiwirail was great and I’ve worked as a rail operator for them as well. I’ve also done a few other jobs - labouring and painting jobs.”
Caldwell said working for local government was the most satisfying work he had done so far because it had given him a sense of empowering people.
“In this role, I can be an advocate for the communities I’m working for.
“Finding out what people need from the council and keeping them informed about work being done by the council is awesome.”
Caldwell said a geographic information system (GIS) was being used to develop public cemetery maps for the council website.
“While we were at Hunterville cemetery, the parks and reserves team was there doing weed spraying and tidying the grounds to make sure it’s in good nick for summer.
“It was great to be able to post photos of that so people are aware that the work is being done.”
Ben Caldwell performs his comedy routines at venues around the region and often plays the role of MC for other performers.
Photo / Richard Dryden
When he’s not at his day job Caldwell is well-known to comedy fans as an entertaining and insightful storyteller regularly performing at Porridge Watson in Whanganui and he has gigs coming up in Waverley, Waitotora, and Raetihi.
His most widely-shared joke was unintentional however and happened in 2020 when he posted a weather warning on the Manawatū District Council’s Facebook page.
“The outline of the map had a phallic shape - something I didn’t notice when I posted it.
“People visiting the page noticed it and it was widely shared and laughed about. It was just after the first Covid lockdown and people really appreciated having something to laugh about so I’m glad I gave them that even though I didn’t intend to.”
Caldwell said it provided 15 minutes of internet fame which he was happy to take on the chin as he is used to making himself the butt of his own jokes and Amberly Caldwell, also a comedian, occasionally performs a tag-team routine with her husband making him the target of her gags as well.
Caldwell is one of a team of three Rangitīkei council communications staff working with Rhonda Morris and Leah Johnston.
Liz Wylie is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. She joined the editorial team in 2014 and regularly covers stories from Whanganui and the wider region. She also writes features and profile stories.
