Jon Bounds

{{Short description|English writer}} {{Use British English|date=November 2017}} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2017}} {{Infobox person | name = Jon Bounds | image = Jon Bounds.jpg | image_size = | alt = | caption = Bounds outside Birmingham Town Hall in December 2001 | birth_name = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=yes|1975|06|30}} | birth_place = | death_date =  | death_place = | body_discovered = | death_cause = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates =  | other_names = Bounder{{citation needed|date=April 2015}} | known_for = B:iNS, TwitPanto | education = King Edward VI Grammar School, Aston | alma_mater = University of Birmingham | occupation = blogger, freelance social media and multimedia consultant | years_active = | spouse = Libby Hayward | awards = {{Unbulleted list| "14th Most Influential" in the Birmingham Post Power 50 | Official Honouree, Webby Awards }} | signature = | website = {{URL| www.jonbounds.co.uk }} | module = {{Listen| embed=yes | filename = Jon Bounds voice.ogg | title = Jon Bounds' voice | type = speech | description = recorded October 2012}} }}

'''Jon Bounds''' (born 30 June 1975), is a writer<ref name="101Brum"/> and blogger originally from Birmingham, England,<ref name="BBC-2012-11-08">{{cite news|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-20150580|title= Birmingham's bloggers need to 'fill in the gaps'|work= BBC News|date= 31 October 2012|access-date=11 April 2015}}</ref> resident in Oxford since the early 2010s.

Raised in the city's Perry Barr district, he attended King Edward VI Grammar School, Aston.{{citation needed|date=April 2015}}

After working as a technical and commissioning editor for friends of ED,<ref name="LinkedIn">Bounds' LinkedIn profile</ref> 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|date=April 2015}}

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.<ref name=GUAR-2006-11-04>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2006/nov/04/birmingham.unitedkingdom.budgettravel|title= Birmingham for beginners|work=The Guardian|date= 4 November 2006|access-date=11 April 2015|last1= Lanyado|first1= Benji}}</ref> In 2012, he told the BBC that the site attracted 10,000 visitors per month.<ref name="BBC-2012-11-08"/> He was listed as the "14th Most Influential Person in the West Midlands" in the Birmingham Post's "Power 50" in 2008.<ref name="BP-2008-07-15">{{cite web|url=http://blogs.birminghampost.net/power50/2008/07/14-jon-bounds-blogger.html|title=Power 50 – 14. Jon Bounds, Blogger|date=15 July 2008|work=Birmingham Post|publisher=Trinity Mirror Midlands Limited|access-date=12 August 2009|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100311184103/http://blogs.birminghampost.net/power50/2008/07/14-jon-bounds-blogger.html|archive-date=11 March 2010|df=dmy-all}}</ref> and was considered for inclusion again in 2009.<ref name="BP-2009-06-09">{{cite web|url=http://www.birminghampost.net/news/power-50/2009/06/09/in-the-frame-andrew-mitchell-paul-tilsley-paul-bassi-salma-yaqoob-clive-dutton-and-jon-bounds-65233-23831663/|title= In the frame – Andrew Mitchell, Paul Tilsley, Paul Bassi, Salma Yaqoob, Clive Dutton and Jon Bounds|date=9 June 2009|work=Birmingham Post|publisher=Trinity Mirror Midlands Limited|access-date=12 August 2009|archive-date=13 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090613014331/http://www.birminghampost.net/news/power-50/2009/06/09/in-the-frame-andrew-mitchell-paul-tilsley-paul-bassi-salma-yaqoob-clive-dutton-and-jon-bounds-65233-23831663}}</ref>

On 11 November 2008 (starting at 11{{nbsp}}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.<ref name="Eveven">{{cite web|url=http://elevenbus.co.uk/|title=11-11-11|last=Bounds|first=Jon|year=2008|access-date=12 August 2009|display-authors=etal|archive-date=21 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130621194441/http://elevenbus.co.uk/|url-status=dead}}</ref> 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|date=April 2015}} – again had a part, was hosted by Birmingham Hippodrome<ref name="TwitPanto2009">{{cite web|url=http://twitpanto.birminghamhippodrome.com/|title=Twitpanto 2009|last=The Cast|publisher=Birmingham Hippodrome|access-date=20 December 2010}}</ref> and named as an Official Honouree by the Webby Awards.<ref name="Webby">{{cite web|url=http://www.birminghampost.net/birmingham-business/birmingham-business-news/creative-industries-news/2010/04/15/webby-award-honour-for-birmingham-s-twitpanto-65233-26250590/|title=Webby Award honour for Birmingham's Twitpanto|date=15 April 2010|work=Birmingham Post|access-date=15 April 2010|archive-date=18 April 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100418212033/http://www.birminghampost.net/birmingham-business/birmingham-business-news/creative-industries-news/2010/04/15/webby-award-honour-for-birmingham-s-twitpanto-65233-26250590/|url-status=dead}}</ref> The event ran again on 20 December 2010.<ref name="TwitPanto2010">{{cite web|url=http://beanstalk.twitpanto.co.uk/|title=Twitpanto 2010|last=The Cast|access-date=20 December 2010}}</ref>{{Better source needed|reason=This is subject's own website and is not verified elsewhere|date=April 2015}}

Bounds has written for a number of media outlets, including the Birmingham Post,<ref name="Recently">{{cite web|url=http://blogs.birminghampost.net/lifestyle/jon_bounds/|title=Recently by Jon Bounds|last=Bounds|first=Jon|work=Birmingham Post|publisher=Trinity Mirror Midlands Limited|access-date=12 August 2009|archive-date=26 June 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090626081648/http://blogs.birminghampost.net/lifestyle/jon_bounds/|url-status=dead}}</ref> the BBC website,<ref name=BBC- >{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/birmingham/content/articles/2008/01/31/spaghetti_junction_beach_feature.shtml|title= Spaghetti Junction beach|publisher=BBC|access-date=11 April 2015}}</ref> and The Guardian website.<ref name=GUAR-2013-01-21>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/travel/2013/jan/21/quick-city-guide-birmingham|title= A quick city guide to Birmingham|work=The Guardian|date= 21 January 2013|access-date=11 April 2015|last1= Bounds|first1= Jon}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/enjoy-england/digbeth-birmingham|title=Jon Bounds on Digbeth, Birmingham's vibrant heart |last=Bounds|first=Jon|date=25 July 2009|work=The Guardian|access-date=12 August 2009|location=London}}</ref> With Julia Gilbert, he presented a Saturday-morning radio show on Rhubarb Radio.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rhubarbradio.com/djs/julesandjon.aspx |title=Julia Gilbert & Jon Bounds |publisher=Rhubarb Radio |access-date=12 August 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090708140858/http://www.rhubarbradio.com/djs/julesandjon.aspx |archive-date=8 July 2009 }}</ref>

In 2011 along with Danny Smith, he undertook a trip around all 56 of the surviving pleasure piers in England and Wales.<ref name="PierR">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b041441x|title=BBC Radio 4 – Saturday Live, 19/04/2014|date=19 April 2014|work=BBC Radio 4|access-date=17 February 2015}}</ref> Their book, ''Pier Review'', was published by Summersdale in February 2016.<ref name="PierR"/><ref name="OffPR">{{cite web|url=http://www.pierreview.co.uk/|title=Pier Review website|work=Pier Review|access-date=11 April 2015}}</ref>

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.<ref name="101Brum">{{cite web|url=http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/101-things-birmingham-gave-worldincluding-8275967|title=101 Things Birmingham Gave The World...including America, Christmas and|date=14 December 2014|work=Birmingham Mail|access-date=17 February 2015}}</ref>

He now resides in Oxford,<ref name="BrumBlog">{{cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-birmingham-20150580|title=BBC News: Birmingham's bloggers need to fill in the gaps|date=8 December 2012|publisher=BBC News}}</ref> where he is standing for election to Oxfordshire County Council as a Labour Party candidate for Abingdon North, in the 2017 local elections.<ref name="OxLab">{{cite web|url=http://www.oxfordlabour.org.uk/jon_bounds|title=Jon Bounds – Oxford Labour|publisher=Labour Party – Oxford branch|access-date=17 February 2017|archive-date=18 February 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170218144739/http://www.oxfordlabour.org.uk/jon_bounds|url-status=dead}}</ref>

== Bibliography == * {{Cite book |publisher=Paradise Circus |isbn=9781782803997 |last1=Bounds |first1=Jon |last2=Cooke |first2=Liz |last3=Hickman |first3=Jon |title= 101 Things Birmingham Gave the World |year=2014 |display-authors=etal}} * {{Cite book |publisher=Summersdale |isbn=9781849538114 |last1=Bounds |first1=Jon |last2=Smith |first2= Danny |title=Pier Review: A Road Trip in Search of the Great British Seaside |year=2016 }}

==References== {{Reflist}}

== External links ==  * {{Official website|http://www.jonbounds.co.uk/}} * [http://www.birminghamitsnotshit.co.uk/ Birmingham: Its Not Shit] * [http://blogs.birminghampost.net/lifestyle/jon_bounds/ Bounds' Birmingham Post articles] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090626081648/http://blogs.birminghampost.net/lifestyle/jon_bounds/ |date=26 June 2009 }}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bounds, Jon}} Category:Living people Category:Alumni of the University of Birmingham Category:BBC people Category:People educated at King Edward VI Aston School Category:Writers from Birmingham, West Midlands Category:English bloggers Category:English radio presenters Category:1975 births Category:English male writers Category:Labour Party (UK) people Category:British male bloggers