Our offices were still lodged in university buildings, and our CEO, Prof. Camara was already talking about the library we would have once at the new building headquarters. Our future library would serve to gather all of YDreams’ bibliographical resources, as well as large numbers of books Prof. Camara had acquired over the years.
By the time we’d settled into the new building, I had already earned a “bad reputation” as the person who would steal books from the professor’s office. Maybe as a form of “punishment”, Prof. Camara and Ivan (our Director of R&D) invited me to implement and manage the YDreams’ library – an invitation (and challenge) I accepted gladly! Read the rest of this entry »
Last Friday, all the men at YDreams Portugal were entitled to a (pre)Valentine’s day treat: a heart-shaped candy and personal message, signed, sealed and delivered by all the girls at the company.
You may argue that Valentine’s Day is just a marketing gimmick to boost greeting card sales, fill up restaurants and make people rant about what a marketing gimmick Valentine’s Day is, but it made every guy’s Friday even sweeteer (while probably reminding some of us that they better get that card or reservation going for the next day).
This is what my work station looked like when I arrived from lunch. The card read: "André, for you, we'd blog everyday. YGirlfriends". How's that for commitment to a Social Media strategy? :,-)
YDreamers react in different fashion to the perennial sensation of falling in love.
Digital Signage Expo 2009 is just around the corner. Underway from the 24th to the 26th of February at the Las Vegas Convention Center, this year’s expo is as much about the exhibition floor as it is about educational sessions focusing on interactive technology, self-service and digital signage.
I was thrilled to see Obama’s inauguration ceremony, not only because of his charisma and what he represents, but also because it was the beginning of a digital era in the presidency of the United States. The White House changed its website to a more collaborative one and CNN joined Microsoft to use Photosynth (MS’s latest photo 3D navigation technology) as an interactive collective album dedicated to the ceremony.
The result was amazing, a very rich collection of pictures of D.C. the Mall sent by people that were there at that very specific moment. I may say that even though the technology was not new for me (as I´ve seen some videos about it before), that was the moment where it really caught my attention.
Later on I thought – Why not use YDreams’ hardware solutions to interact with such a rich interface? In the same week I got a call from Rene de Paula, a Microsoft Brasil User Experience Evangelist, asking for a meeting. What a coincidence. I had no doubt, he needed to see this idea working. So I teamed up with Renan at our Rio de Janeiro office to build this prototype.
The main idea was to use hand gestures to control the navigation in a more appealing scenario than a computer desk. This video illustrates the result, I hope you all enjoy it.
Early into his Memorabilia of a Company post, Sergio mentions that ‘The Häagen-Dazs years were still to come’. I thought I’d reminisce a bit and explain why he dubbed them as such.
In mid 2001, the company consisted of little more than the five founders and a handful of staff – there were maybe about 12 of us. In keeping with the spirit that we were from the get-go a less than conventional start-up, our CEO, António Câmara had a Häagen-Dazs ice-cream freezer brought in and placed at the entrance to our work-space (yes, the one Sergio refers to as ‘the main room’). That’s right, ‘in the beginning’, for close to a year and a half, everyone was free to gorge on Häagen-Dazs morning, noon and night – and some did! For the calorically-challenged it meant staying clear of the ice-cream ‘treasure trove’ but for those who could afford to indulge it was quite the treat.
I remember what a kick clients and partners got out of it when they came to visit, and since we were located at the heart of a university campus I also recall the occasional student popping in to say ‘he’d heard we were giving out free ice-cream’!
The contract we had with the Häagen-Dazs rep in Portugal required us to replenish our stock every three weeks or so. Needless to say that by the end of week one we were usually down to 3 or 4 mini-cups of Lemon Sorbet (clearly the least popular flavor in the house). I also remember that the rep would occasionally pop in to check that the freezer was being properly stocked and maintained; there was this one time when she unexpectedly showed up and we had a hec of time explaining why the thing was stocked with Manuel Costa’s fresh-fish catch of the day, and Sergio Cardoso’s Alheiras (traditional sausages from northern Portugal)! She eventually calmed down after we explained that they were being temporarily stored for the company’s 1st anniversary celebration the very next day – of course we had to place a new order right away and promise that the freezer would be adequately ‘fumigated’ Ah, the good ol’ days
I thought I’d reminisce a bit and explain why he dubbed them as such.
