We’re back and ready for another exciting year at Hello Lamp Post! But, before we look towards the future, we’d like to take a step back and share some of our best moments from the past year. From new project launches to award recognitions, we’ll be showcasing some of our highlights and sharing a glimpse of what’s to come later this year!
Our Newly Launched Deployments
From the UK to Australia, here’s a little taster of some of the deployments that we launched around the world in 2023.
Around the UK 🇬🇧
Environment Agency | Flood Resilience
Our continued national partnership with the Environment Agency has seen us go live across 10 locations! The latest deployments include a multilingual town-based project in Luton, educating the public about the changing coastline across Lincolnshire, and a flood-risk awareness scheme in Bude.
Dundee City Council | Climate Action
From air pollution to green spaces, we’re working with Sustainable Dundee to educate residents about sustainability initiatives, and how they can personally reduce climate change impacts. We’re looking to hear from all members of the community on these important topics, and people will even have a chance to win a prize as a thank you for sharing their thoughts.
FOR Cardiff | Virtual Tour Guide
Visitors are being encouraged to take a trip through the City of Cardiff with two new virtual walking trails! With each trail tailored to different age groups, and available in both English and Welsh, we’ve teamed up with FOR Cardiff to boost awareness of the city’s rich history and its unique sites.
South West Water | River Usage & Safety
With South West Water, we’re gathering real-time data from their community to better understand water quality and safety at local rivers. In doing so, South West Water can identify how safe their rivers are to swim in, at any time, and how the water flow changes throughout the day.
Across North America 🇺🇸 🇨🇦
Downtown Iowa | Interactive Art Installations
In Iowa’s Downtown District, inflatable rabbits came to life as part of the touring ‘Intrude’ installation. Six rabbits, each with a distinct name, interacted with visitors to share stories of their travels across the world and to highlight the importance of the community protecting their local environment.
UBC Accommodation | Virtual Concierge
At the University of British Columbia, a new automated tool is streamlining the way public queries are handled within their accommodation. Visitors can receive instant responses to questions like ‘How to book a room’ and ‘Where can I eat’, saving valuable staff time.
In Australia 🇦🇺
The Harbour Trust | Public Query Assistance
In the next phase of our collaboration with the Sydney Harbour Federation Trust, we’re answering public queries thanks to our virtual assistant located in Sub Base Platypus! Whether visitors want to find out about the local activities, or where to park, we’re ensuring their questions are instantly answered. Keep an eye out – more virtual assistants will be coming to life across the Harbour Trust’s iconic destinations soon!
City of Stirling | City Planning
Our first deployment in Western Australia, locals are invited to share their opinions on local parks and community centres to improve city-wide planning for the future. There’s also an opportunity to ask AI-nsley, our virtual assistant about upcoming events and public spaces within the region!
Exposure
We’ve had the privilege of attending various events, webinars and presentations to share the stories and impact we’re bringing to our clients and their audiences.
Let’s explore some of those special occasions where we’ve forged new connections…
1. Flood & Coast Conference 🌎
Invited by the Environment Agency for the second year running, we were able to share our vision for building a sustainable future and get involved in discussions around key flood and coast risk management topics.
2. Comms2Point0 UnAwards 🏆
We were honoured to join the judging panel for the 8th Annual UnAwards, which recognised the most innovative and creative stars within the communications industry.
3. New Local: Stronger Things 💪
Our good friends at New Local hosted this year’s Stronger Things event, where we spoke on the panel discussion: “From the Cities of Old to the New: How to Design Urban Places Around Their Communities.”
4. Behaviour Change Network: Role of AI 🧠
Our CEO Tiernan Mines joined the Behaviour Change Network to chat about how we’re using AI for good and share the misconceptions people have when using artificial intelligence. You can watch the webinar here.
5. NHS Suicide Prevention Forum 🏥
We were invited by NHS Midlands to join the Suicide Prevention Forum to educate people about our impactful work with North Lanarkshire Council. You can watch the recording here.
6. Community Engagement: Age of AI 🤝
Our US team featured alongside other community engagement experts and AI practitioners to explore how artificial intelligence enables decision-makers to stay better connected with their residents. Watch it here.
Award Winners
We’re delighted that Hello Lamp Post has been recognised with both nominations and award wins throughout 2023.
Here’s a round-up of the accolades we’ve earned in the past year…
- WON: SME Business Elite Awards (Most Innovative Community Engagement Platform 2023)
- WON: SME IT Awards (Best Community Communication Platform Developer 2023
- SELECTED FOR: Connected Places Catapult’s The Future of Air Mobility Accelerator
- SHORTLISTED FOR: AiG Analysis in Government Awards (Impact Category) alongside the Environment Agency
Top Blogs of the Year
Fancy revisiting some of our best blogs from the previous year? We’ve covered a range of topics, including how to enhance visitor experiences and the key principles to effective engagement, all of which are available to read using the links below!
Honourable Mentions
With so many other noteworthy moments worth sharing, we’ve picked a small handful of other commendable mentions to share with you…
- We were selected to be part of Microsoft’s Entrepreneurship for Positive Impact Accelerator Program
- Hello Lamp Post joined the National Suicide Prevention Alliance
- Our work was showcased by the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology
- Hello Lamp Post was included in LGComms ‘The Future of External Channels’ White Paper
Looking to the Future
With the new year well underway, we’re very excited to share a sneak peek into some of the projects we’ll be launching in 2024!
- As part of our ongoing collaboration with the Environment Agency, we’re introducing a new interactive flood warden, which is dedicated to answering the public’s queries about flood risk, at the touch of a button.
- At the Pacific Museum of Earth, we’re collaborating with the University of British Columbia to educate visitors on science-related topics including fossils, climate change and plastic pollution.
- In Bristol Temple Meads, we’re collaborating with Network Rail and Connected Places Catapult to gather passenger feedback and insights on the first station innovation zone in the UK.
New Product Launch
Now, last but not least, we’re thrilled to share with you one final announcement – the launch of our new system!
With a host of new and exciting benefits, V2 is set to improve the experience for both clients and their users. Here’s a quick look at what V2 is bringing to the table:
- Setup has been streamlined for a faster and simpler experience.
- Improved rich-media integration, allowing for rich text formatting (bold, italics etc) and the use of URLs, YouTube videos, GIFs and more.
- We’re blending decision-based smart scripts with AI technologies. This allows for a high level of control over what is said and done, alongside the power and flexibility of AI.
- The ability to gather even more data analytics, providing customers with the opportunity to see the data that means the most to them and track which locations receive the highest traffic.
Before we go, our team would like to say a huge thank you to our amazing clients and incredible partners for their support throughout 2023. We’re looking forward to the year ahead and cannot wait to share more successes from 2024 with you soon.
If you’d like to find out about all the projects we’ve worked on last year as well as our upcoming deployments, please head to our case study page. If you have a project in mind that you need support with, please contact our friendly engagement team in the UK or the US via our contact form.
