Staff profile: Leonid Vaner

What do you do at Easy Weddings?

I’m Easy Weddings’ Development Manager, so I work in IT. This means that I look after the IT team and the technologies used through Easy Weddings internally and externally. So, everything from the computers used by our staff to overseeing the site’s recent relaunch, as well as development of new products.

What did you do before you joined Easy Weddings?

I’ve always wanted to work in IT. I decided that I would when I was seven and visited my uncle’s work. He was a Systems Analyst and he let me play with a programmable keyboard that had lights on it. When I pressed certain buttons, the computer did things. I was hooked and from that moment, I knew I’d work with computers.

I graduated with a double degree in Computer Science and Communications Systems Engineering, I’ve worked for more than a dozen companies across the globe, doing everything from database optimisation to rebuilding Easy Weddings’ planning tools.

What are the three most common questions you hear from EW clients?

• Why can’t I log into my advertisers’ login?
  – We get this question from suppliers quite regularly and, when prompted, it’s usually that they’re trying to log onto their profiles at http://www.easyweddings.co.uk and not http://advertisers.easyweddings.co.uk/login.aspx.
• Why are my images stretched or pixelated since the relaunch of the site?
  In the old system, we didn’t require high resolution images, however, since the site relaunch everything has been optimised for both mobile, tablets and PCs. This means that images will automatically resize according to what device the bride is using to access Easy Weddings and, since most of the images on the old site were too small, when we flicked over, those images automatically resizied.
• Why do I get a blank page when trying to edit my EW profile in the advertisers’ login?You’ve probably got an ad-blocker or similar plugin installed with your browser. You need to add http://advertisers.easyweddings.co.uk/) to your ad-blocker’s white list. In addition, please ensure, any pop-up blockers are also turned off for the same URL.

What do you like best about working at EW?

I love the diversity of the work we do here. One day I could be working on optimising the site’s speed and the next on a future version of our iPad planning app. Also, the atmosphere is really encouraging and fun. We work really hard and do lots of cool tech stuff, but we also really enjoy working together as a team.

What’s something fun we don’t know about you?

I have a crazy memory for The Simpsons or Futurama quotes! I can give you a Simpsons or Futurama quote for any situation.  One of my favourite quotes, from none other than the timelessly wise Homer Simpson is, ““Books are useless! I only ever read one book, To Kill a Mockingbird, and it gave me absolutely no insight on how to kill mockingbirds!”