My strangest IT request so far

T

TheGuy

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So one of the Team Leaders in my company today asked me if it's possible to have a Birthday message popup on the day that it's the staff member's birthday with balloons and fireworks. :D

Anyway so far I can think the only way to do it would be to create a powerpoint presentation then save it as a powerpoint show then include it in the startup folder of the users computer the night before their birthday.

Would there be a way to do it via group policy on specific dates?
 
go to bruma
buy fireworks and ballons.
leave them on your boss' desk with a bicycle pump, box of matches and a printed out list of people's birthdays.
 
Well, they make security messages, requests to update contact details etc. pop up at logon time in a domain, maybe look along those lines
 
I would imagine you can write a script to do this if the birthday is stored in AD.
 
murraybiscuit said:
go to bruma
buy fireworks and ballons.
leave them on your boss' desk with a bicycle pump, box of matches and a printed out list of people's birthdays.
Click to expand...

I tried that but for some reason I can't get GP to light the fireworks

Veroland said:
Well, they make security messages, requests to update contact details etc. pop up at logon time in a domain, maybe look along those lines
Click to expand...

I'll have a look thanks the problem is those messages are really dull.
 
For best results - tape fireworks to the underside of the chair and balloons hanging from the side for maxinum effect - the moment the user sits down ..light the fireworks....Guaranteed this person will remember the moment :)
 
TheGuy said:
I'll have a look thanks the problem is those messages are really dull.
Click to expand...

It actually looks like they are using custom apps for that here, it's got the company graphics on as well as images for news flashes etc.

Don't know how they do it, I'm not a domain admin or windows expert. I'm more of a *nix person
 
TheGuy said:
So one of the Team Leaders in my company today asked me if it's possible to have a Birthday message popup on the day that it's the staff member's birthday with balloons and fireworks. :D

Anyway so far I can think the only way to do it would be to create a powerpoint presentation then save it as a powerpoint show then include it in the startup folder of the users computer the night before their birthday.

Would there be a way to do it via group policy on specific dates?
Click to expand...

You would have to script it. But the permanent solution is to hire decent management that makes an effort to take 5min to wish someone happy bday...
 
RVQ said:
You would have to script it. But the permanent solution is to hire decent management that makes an effort to take 5min to wish someone happy bday...
Click to expand...

Yeah management just does not care.

I had a similar request, the easiest was to store the staff's birth date in a sql table and on the day mail the person wishing them a Happy birthday. In the body of the email, a url pointing to a special image which they can view. Even if their birthday fell on a weekend or whilst they are on leave, they would receive the notification and at their leisure view their birthday well wishes from "management".
 
RVQ said:
You would have to script it. But the permanent solution is to hire decent management that makes an effort to take 5min to wish someone happy bday...
Click to expand...

Not really this is just one of the things they are doing. They also decorate the users desk with all sorts of crap. Every person also gets a R500 gift voucher with a card and the company also has birthday tea and cake once a month for everyone. This is the one company that goes out of it's way for their people.

Thanks guys I came right but adding the following script:

ping 1.1.1.1 -n 1 -w 20000>nul

"C:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office14\powerpnt.exe" /s "\\fileserver\folder\test.ppsx"

It only about 10 people so I'll just add it in the day before their birthday.
 
Why oh why does management always come up with these crazy ideas to make life so difficult. It's not like we haven't got anything to do.
 
sounds like a waste of time honestly.

This can very easily be made an HR task- they have all the details of employees in the company anyway. On their birthday, HR sends out an office wide email congratulating x number of people on their birthdays or other special events (engagements, baby births, marriages etc).

Have seen this done in multiple companies. It's more personalised than your computer saying hello to you on a special day - who even cares about that really?
 
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