humor. A few years ago, the firm issued
an April Fools’ Day press release announcing that it had purchased the Ei;el Tower
and Statue of Liberty for exclusive use
as wedding photo backdrops.
Something the company takes a little
more seriously is professional develop-
ment. Two years ago, WeddingWire
established a Leadership Development
Program for current managers. “Many
of our managers had been promoted into
the role and were first-time managers. We
knew they needed training so they could
be confident and successful in their new
roles,” Markmann says. “Since then, the
program has been expanded to include
managers from every team, and we added
an Emerging Leaders Program for those
people who are poised to become man-
agers but do not yet have direct reports.”
On Glassdoor, a website where
employees and former employees
anonymously review companies and
their management, 74 percent of
employee respondents recommended
working at Wedding Wire, and turnover
at Wedding Wire is below the benchmark
for high-growth companies of 18 to 22
percent annually, the company says.
Chi hoped the culture he fostered
would grow organically. Helping that
along, WeddingWire created a “man-
ager of culture and experience” position
to be in charge of what might loosely be
called “fun and games.” New hires on the
sales floor can be found pushing a beer
cart called “Brews From Someone New,”
while the marketers toast their newbies
with wine from a welcome wagon named
“Grape Minds ;ink Alike.” Wedding
Wire Donate is an employee day of
public service with 30-plus nonprofits
nationally. Bring an idea to Chi, and if it’s
legal, it has a shot. “I’m generally willing
to try anything,” he says with a grin.
IF TIM CHI is the soul of Wedding
Wire, Sonny Sudip Ganguly is the sell.
Ganguly leads Wedding Wire’s business-to-consumer and business-to-business
marketing strategy, customer acquisition
and community development outreach.
As chief marketing o;cer, Ganguly has
studied what brides want and where they
look for it. He even co-authored such a
study with sta; from the Harvard Business
School, where he earned his MBA and
served as president of the marketing club.
By some cosmic confluence with Chi,
cars also figure into Ganguly’s entrepreneurial DNA. After attending the Barrie
School in Silver Spring—where he was
president of his class of 19 students and
captain of four sports teams—Ganguly
enrolled as a premed student at the University of Pennsylvania. In the summer of
T;; F;;; S;;; D;;;;;;;;;
• No buy-in required
• Luxurious rental apartments
• Vibrant social atmosphere
• Top-notch physical therapy program
• Indoor pool for year-round swimming
• Beautiful park-like setting
A FIVE STAR SENIOR
LIVING COMMUNITY
www.FiveStarPremier-chevychase.com
8100 Connecticut Avenue
Chevy Chase, MD 20815
Call (301) 915-9217
“We have plenty to celebrate at Five Star
Premier Residences of Chevy Chase.
Instead of buying, we each decided to
lease our beautiful apartments and pay
monthly, which freed up money to live
life to the fullest. Choosing to lease may
have been one of the best decisions we ever
made. Financial ;exibility is just one of
the many advantages that we enjoy here.”
Len - 11-year resident
Marie - 10-year resident
OUR RESIDENTS HAVE
A WAY WITH WORDS.
