eCELLAR Profile: Dave Smith

Date

Our Senior Software Engineer is passionate about ensuring our platform helps wineries of all sizes bring their wines to enthusiasts everywhere. Balancing unique winery needs with universal functionality is a challenge he embraces. Living on the beach in Santa Barbara, he enjoys overseas adventures, especially cycling through Italy’s wine regions. His top advice for eCELLAR users? Keep reading to find out!

Your Title: Senior Software Engineer

Best thing about your work?

Knowing that our platform and efforts assist wineries of all shapes and sizes get their wines into the glasses and cellars of the wine consuming public. If you think about it more deeply, their clients really are our clients, and what we do and how we do it impacts them directly. 

Worst thing about your work?

Being somewhat of a people pleaser, I like to try and provide people what they want/need. Every winery is different; doing things in a manner specific to how they like to organize and think. It’s challenging sometimes to find the least common denominator of functionality that works for everyone, while balancing that with individual customizations. 

Dream job? Retirement… 😊 

“Game of Thrones” or “Dr. Who”?

Honestly, I’ve never watched either. But if I did, I think it would be a combination of both: the science-fiction and surrealistic aspect of Dr. Who, and the saucy, medieval fantasy aspects of G.O.T. are both appealing.

 Last Book Read?

“Taste. My Life Through Food” – Stanley Tucci. Great stories of growing up in an Italian family and his current and past explorations of Italian food and the Italian lifestyle. My Grandmother was from Italy, and some of the stories and recipes really resonate with me.

Vacation: Beach or City?

I live on the beach in Santa Barbara, California, so I get a fair amount of that year-round. And though I’d consider (another) SCUBA trip to Cozumel, Mexico, or Belize for the warmer and clearer water, I prefer to travel overseas to Europe. I’ve been to Italy 5 times (including 2 trips cycling through Piemonte and Tuscany), skied in France and Austria, and have Spain, Croatia and Portugal on my radar for future exploration. Overseas very often includes visiting specific wine regions and partaking in local food.

Single best piece of advice you have for eCELLAR users?

Clear organization, solid/predictable workflows and good training of everyone using the system are all keys to a successful implementation. Though using the platform in a manner outside of how it’s designed can sometimes satisfy a desired outcome, it can lead to issues later on. It’s good to reach out to us in such cases as there may be a better built in solution.