We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Ryan McClain. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Ryan below.
Ryan, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Alright, let’s jump into one of the most exciting parts of starting a new firm – how did you get your first client who was not a friend or family?
Getting your first client is such a significant milestone in any business journey! The story of how it happened often fills me with excitement and determination, but more than anything it has:
Provided Hello Lamp Post as a business with validation and confidence that our product, service and expertise is valued by others.
Opened doors to new possibilities and opportunities – it’s set the stage for future growth, built our reputation and expanded our clientele.
Ignited a spark of motivation which has propelled us to move forward – it marks the beginning of a series of new experiences, challenges and successes.
So, what’s the story?
Wind back a few years to 2021 when I joined Hello Lamp Post and opened our US office. Hello Lamp Post had already been working with multiple cities around the world, but had little traction in the US. When I came on board, I went out looking for progressive forward-thinking cities who we could work with – and that’s where our story with the City of Scottsdale in Arizona started…
The City of Scottsdale stands out for its remarkable innovation due to its forward-thinking approach and dedication to embracing new technologies and ideas – it was the perfect fit for Hello Lamp Post! From pioneering sustainable initiatives and smart city solutions, the City has continuously demonstrated a commitment to pushing boundaries and finding cutting-edge solutions to complex challenges.
During our preliminary meetings, we spoke extensively about all the ways Hello Lamp Post could support the City’s community engagement efforts – whether it was around solid waste management, tourism or their visitor experiences. As a result, we’re now working with all three of these government departments!
Here’s some more information about our work together:
Solid Waste Management – We’ve made trash cans interactive to educate and inform residents on waste collection services. This has already reduced staff time spent responding to public queries and improved the efficacy of their recycling services.
Tourism – We’re bringing areas to life around the City to gather visitor feedback on City-wide events and share information about experiences happening in the local area. The City of Scottsdale now has access to real-time qualitative and quantitative data that has been directly shared by their community.
Parks and Recreation – This project is due to go live imminently but will be used to improve relationships between the public and parks department, helping to inform the City’s team to better meet the needs of its residents.
To summarize, signing your first client is a moment to celebrate, cherish, and channel into further growth and success! It serves as a powerful catalyst that has fueled our drive and enthusiasm to create meaningful experiences to communities all over the world.
As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?
Let me introduce myself, my name is Ryan McClain and I’m the Head of Community Engagement in the US at Hello Lamp Post. With over 9+ years of experience consulting with federal, state and local governments, I’ve focused my career on transforming the citizen experience to better connect people with their government and local area. I started my journey at Hello Lamp Post back in 2021, where I left my role at GovDelivery to join a startup, jumping into the deep end to open up our North American office – we’re now one of the fastest growing teams in the company!
Now, let me tell you more about the incredible work Hello Lamp Post is doing…
Hello Lamp Post is an interactive communications platform which allows members of the public to engage with areas of interest around their City. We’re better connecting people, information and places to enable public sector organizations to chat with their community, at scale. We do this by bringing to life any public space, object or infrastructure, using AI.By placing engaging signage at selected locations, people are encouraged to have a two-way conversation to share their real-time thoughts and feedback, while learning more about the area they’re living in, working in or visiting. In doing so, Hello Lamp Post has created a new communication channel that successfully increases public engagement reach and audience insights, with minimal effort.
Since 2018, Hello Lamp Post has been on the most exciting journey! We’ve served more than 400,000 people, launched in over 70 locations (across 15 countries and 4 continents) and supported a variety of sectors from Local and Central Government, Universities, Emergency & Healthcare Services, Visitor Experience & Tourism, Retail & Property Development, Urban Planning and the Private Sector.
And, what’s the best thing about Hello Lamp Post? We’re only just getting started!
If you’re keen to learn more about what we do, or want to stay up-to-date to hear about our latest news and launches, all you need to do is check out our website here – www.hlp.city
Any stories or insights that might help us understand how you’ve built such a strong reputation?
Building a strong reputation within the market is a valuable asset that has contributed to Hello Lamp Post’s long-term success! Here’s a couple of factors that have helped us get to where we are today:
– The quality of our product and services means our solution is globally recognized as an innovative tool that never fails to get people excited.
– Our product has no direct competitors – we’re the go-to solution for organizations who want to engage their under-represented communities, non traditional audiences and minority groups.
– The success of our projects – Hello Lamp Post regularly tracks KPIs and metrics for our clients, to ensure we deliver outcome driven results that directly benefit the organization and community.
– Going above and beyond to provide an excellent customer service for each and every one of our clients.
– Our team integrity and collaborative approach – not only are we honest and transparent, but our clients value the relationships we create and thoroughly enjoy working with us.
– Establishing ourselves as thought leaders means are content is valued and we’re invited to speak at industry events.
– Positive word-of-mouth has meant that our clients are happy to share their positive experiences with others.
– Our online presence – Hello Lamp Post is consistently sharing valuable content, engaging with our audience and showcasing our expertise. Many of our clients find us through our online channels.
– Continuous learning and innovation has helped us stay up-to-date with industry trends, meaning we can provide progressive and cutting-edge solutions to our clients.
Alright – let’s talk about marketing or sales – do you have any fun stories about a risk you’ve taken or something else exciting on the sales and marketing side?
There’s so many to pick from, but one of my favorite sales stories has to be with our current client Smart City Labs.
Smart City Labs was created to connect communities with technology solutions that address urban challenges like the digital divide, climate change and economic inequality – their mission perfectly aligns with ours ‘To make places better for people’.
What I’ve enjoyed most about working with this organization is how forward thinking they are! They’re leaders in the digital transformation and augmented reality world – and it’s brilliant to be working with another disruptive technology focused company, to help people better connect their fellow community and local place. Smart City Labs have brought countless creative ideas to the table that’s helped us bring something totally new to the market. This global partnership will see us collectively launching a number of different projects across multiple cities, but for now, we’re initially launching a project in Hollywood that will allow visitors to become a Hollywood Star for the day! Cool right?! This totally unique and fun concept in the Vinyl District area is aimed to transform their visitor experience and encourage people to experience Hollywood in a completely different way! I mean who wouldn’t want to be a famous movie star, musician or sports legend… even if it was just for a day!
The first phase of our project will be going live very soon – so make sure you keep your eyes peeled for news and updates about it!
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.hlp.city/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hellolamppost_/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hellolamppost
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/hello-lamp-post
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/HelloLampPost_
- Youtube: @hellolamppost8104