Jon Bounds

Jon Bounds
Bounds outside Birmingham Town Hall in December 2001
Born (1975-06-30) 30 June 1975 (age 49)
Other namesBounder[citation needed]
EducationKing Edward VI Grammar School, Aston
Alma materUniversity of Birmingham
Occupation(s)blogger, freelance social media and multimedia consultant
Known forB:iNS, TwitPanto
SpouseLibby Hayward
Awards
  • "14th Most Influential" in the Birmingham Post Power 50
  • Official Honouree, Webby Awards
Jon Bounds' voice
recorded October 2012
Websitewww.jonbounds.co.uk

Jon Bounds (born 30 June 1975), is a writer[1] and blogger from Birmingham, England.[2]

Raised in the City's Perry Barr district, he attended King Edward VI Grammar School, Aston.[citation needed]

After working as a technical and commissioning editor for friends of ED,[3] he spent nearly four years working for the BBC as technical co-ordinator of the Public Space at BBC Birmingham, and studied Computer Science at the University of Birmingham. He was Online Editor for the Big Picture project.[citation needed]

Bounds is known for creating a blog called "Birmingham: It's Not Shit" in response to the 2002 bid for Birmingham to become a European City of Culture.[4] In 2012, he told the BBC that the site attracted 10,000 visitors per month.[2] He was listed as the "14th Most Influential Person in the West Midlands" in the Birmingham Post's "Power 50" in 2008.[5] and was considered for inclusion again in 2009.[6]

On 11 November 2008 (starting at 11 am), Bounds spent eleven hours on Birmingham's number 11 bus route, the outer circle, documenting his journey online, using Twitter, Facebook and a blog, elevenbus.co.uk.[7] The next month, he organised TwitPanto, a pantomime on Twitter, which featured a cast that included Government Minister Tom Watson MP and Guardian writer Jemima Kiss. A further TwitPanto, on 18 December 2009, in which Watson – by then a back-bench MP[citation needed] – again had a part, was hosted by Birmingham Hippodrome[8] and named as an Official Honouree by the Webby Awards.[9] The event ran again on 20 December 2010.[10][better source needed]

Bounds has written for a number of media outlets, including the Birmingham Post,[11] the BBC website,[12] and The Guardian website.[13][14] With Julia Gilbert, he presented a Saturday-morning radio show on Rhubarb Radio.[15]

In 2011 along with Danny Smith, he undertook a trip around all 56 of the surviving pleasure piers in England and Wales.[16] Their book, Pier Review, was published by Summersdale in February 2016.[16][17]

In the meanwhile, in 2014, Bounds co-authored a book with Birmingham City University lecturers Jon Hickman and Craig Hamilton. Titled 101 Things Birmingham Gave the World, it was published by Paradise Circus.[1]

He now resides in Oxford,[18] where he is standing for election to Oxfordshire County Council as a Labour Party candidate for Abingdon North, in the 2017 local elections.[19]

Bibliography

  • Bounds, Jon; Cooke, Liz; Hickman, Jon; et al. (2014). 101 Things Birmingham Gave the World. Paradise Circus. ISBN 9781782803997.
  • Bounds, Jon; Smith, Danny (2016). Pier Review: A Road Trip in Search of the Great British Seaside. Summersdale. ISBN 9781849538114.

References

  1. ^ a b "101 Things Birmingham Gave The World...including America, Christmas and". Birmingham Mail. 14 December 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  2. ^ a b "Birmingham's bloggers need to 'fill in the gaps'". BBC News. 31 October 2012. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  3. ^ Bounds' LinkedIn profile
  4. ^ Lanyado, Benji (4 November 2006). "Birmingham for beginners". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  5. ^ "Power 50 – 14. Jon Bounds, Blogger". Birmingham Post. Trinity Mirror Midlands Limited. 15 July 2008. Archived from the original on 11 March 2010. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
  6. ^ "In the frame – Andrew Mitchell, Paul Tilsley, Paul Bassi, Salma Yaqoob, Clive Dutton and Jon Bounds". Birmingham Post. Trinity Mirror Midlands Limited. 9 June 2009. Archived from the original on 13 June 2009. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
  7. ^ Bounds, Jon; et al. (2008). "11-11-11". Archived from the original on 21 June 2013. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
  8. ^ The Cast. "Twitpanto 2009". Birmingham Hippodrome. Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  9. ^ "Webby Award honour for Birmingham's Twitpanto". Birmingham Post. 15 April 2010. Archived from the original on 18 April 2010. Retrieved 15 April 2010.
  10. ^ The Cast. "Twitpanto 2010". Retrieved 20 December 2010.
  11. ^ Bounds, Jon. "Recently by Jon Bounds". Birmingham Post. Trinity Mirror Midlands Limited. Archived from the original on 26 June 2009. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
  12. ^ "Spaghetti Junction beach". BBC. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  13. ^ Bounds, Jon (21 January 2013). "A quick city guide to Birmingham". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  14. ^ Bounds, Jon (25 July 2009). "Jon Bounds on Digbeth, Birmingham's vibrant heart". The Guardian. London. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
  15. ^ "Julia Gilbert & Jon Bounds". Rhubarb Radio. Archived from the original on 8 July 2009. Retrieved 12 August 2009.
  16. ^ a b "BBC Radio 4 – Saturday Live, 19/04/2014". BBC Radio 4. 19 April 2014. Retrieved 17 February 2015.
  17. ^ "Pier Review website". Pier Review. Retrieved 11 April 2015.
  18. ^ "BBC News: Birmingham's bloggers need to fill in the gaps". BBC News. 8 December 2012.
  19. ^ "Jon Bounds – Oxford Labour". Labour Party – Oxford branch. Archived from the original on 18 February 2017. Retrieved 17 February 2017.