We've had a hectic time lately, but it has been worth it as we delivered some fantastic results for our clients, and had a few surprises on the way...
First up, I was over in Southampton last week for the launch of a major project we have been developing with IKEA, and their partners LIDA and GB. The "Swipe a Surprise" promotion is an innovative loyalty scheme that gives every a customer a prize every time they make a purchase. I think it really embodies the spirit of IKEA that everyone is a winner! Dovetail provided custom software development for both front-end (touchscreen kiosk) and back-end systems (registration, prizes, printing etc) for this exciting new development. It made the press quickly and is going down well!!
One of the perks of the trip to England was that I got to stock up on some essentail office supplies:
Why are pork scratchings not available in Ireland? Our colleagues in IKEA quite rightly consider us deprived!
Next up was not a typical software development job, but we delivered a hardware solution for Alstom for use in one of the LUAS control centres in Sandyford. The surprise here was that I never before realised that the CCR is a room with a view: it's right beside the Stillorgan reservoir and feels like the seaside! Sort of.
Finally an unpleasant surprise: we really love Pinchy our office crayfish, but he is now the only resident in our tank. Without going into the sad details, he's a bit fatter now, and the other fish are gone. Bad Pinchy. Ollie - your gift of Pinchy will always be greatly appreciated, but we'll need to be more careful about choosing tankmates in the future!