Waipā District Council finds internet fame in an unlikely place

A Waipā District Council livestream has almost inexplicably gone viral on the internet as hundreds of thousands of viewers flock to the District Council YouTube channel.

The innocuous video – a regular Finance and Corporate Committee zoom meeting streamed in April 2020 in the midst of the first COVID lockdown – has had nearly 300,000 views to date, with viewers from around the world considering it the quintessential Zoom meeting video.

Comments left behind by viewers paint a better picture of why its become so popular - many viewers are using the meeting livestream to create the impression of being in a busy, important Zoom meeting.

“I have used this meeting 6 times now... It feels like I am part of the group now,” one comment read.

“Good video to use so that no one disturbs me while working.” Said another.

The video is also the first result when searching ‘Meeting’ in YouTube, charting above a song of the same name by rapper Gucci Mane and US President Joe Biden.

Waipā District Council Deputy Chief Executive Ken Morris saw the humour in the situation.

“It’s great to see the internet community finding humour in Council Zoom meetings, especially as the ongoing pandemic makes meetings in person difficult.

“We run these meetings regularly and livestream them as part of our democratic process, so this video is quite the high-water mark for our YouTube channel. Quite clearly one of our meetings going viral like this is unexpected, however it does highlight our transparency as a Council and this hopefully reinforces the confidence our ratepayers can have in Waipa being a well-managed and well-governed district.”

Viewers further praised Council for running such a cordial, polite meeting with some thanking Waipā District Council for unintentionally creating the ultimate diversion tactic to get away from friends, family, school and coworkers.

Councillor Marcus Gower was also praised for his inventive Zoom background choice of the Death Star, while the distinctive New Zealand twang was acknowledged as making the conversation more than interesting for some.

“[I] Ended up learning more about their Council than my own company,” one comment said.