‘Trooper Ben’ comes to HutchCC

By Kat Collins
Staff writer

The Twitter-famous Trooper Ben came to Hutchinson Community College on Oct. 10 to talk about making a brand for individually, and how to get known on social media.

Some of things that he talked about included that social media is 95 percent fun and five percent business, and don’t use social media as a megaphone – use it as a Walkie-Talkie. In other words, use it for one-on-one interaction.

On twitter, Ben, whose real name is Ben Gardner, can be found @TrooperBenKHP. He has more than 59,000 followers. He is originally from Michigan, and when he joined the military, it brought him to Kansas.

During his time in Fort Riley, he met his wife, who was going to Kansas State University at the time. From the beginning that they were dating, she told him that “I won’t leave Kansas.”

So he left the military to be with his wife.

In 2014, Ben asked two of his fellow troopers, Tod and Gary, to join him on Twitter. At first, they were hesitant, but Ben convinced them. They soon agreed to it, and they soon became known as the “Tweeting Troopers”.

Trooper Ben says, “I use my twitter to humanize myself to others – to show that I am more than the badge I wear.”

Maybe the best thing about following Trooper Ben on Twitter? He follows back.

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