If you ever want to get to know me in music form, listen to the Bonzo Dog Band’s song My Pink Half of the Drainpipe. (I mean, only if you’re in a legal state of mind… otherwise it might be a little bothersome.) It’s a song about escaping banality and being unapologetically weird.
I’m typing this post with my left ring finger trussed up in a bandage because last night it met with a potato peeler and the two had a disagreement. So now you know a little bit more about me – I’m Mark, by the way, hi – let me tell you what I’m planning to do here.
A return to my civic roots
2008 was a big year for me. A friend introduced me to a group of bloggers who met monthly in a bar in Birmingham. From there I discovered the Created in Brum site – someone should bring that back, by the way – where I found out about a radio station that was spinning up.
👆 This is me recording a podcast at work in 2008.
I quickly gained a reputation for being a prickly but proactive sort of techie, who loved building things that helped creative people get ahead… especially if circumstances were keeping them behind. I started a local hackathon in 2009 and a museum accessibility app in 2011, and when I founded a software business for podcasters in 2016, I made it pay-what-you-can.
I sold that business in 2021 and have had the privilege of working with lots of great people since: coaches, consultants, and good-hearted people-helpers.
But that word “privilege” has been weighing heavily on me, and as I contemplate the world we’re moving into – which is becoming harsher, colder, and more fragmented by the day – I feel like it’s time I used my brain, keyboard, and mouse for good again.
So in March 2025 I founded Sounds Local, a community interest company with two missions:
- to help social enterprises and small not-for-profits punch above their weight on the web
- to run, support, and fund local events that get people talking in real life
As far as I understand it, it’s not how CICs are usually conceived, but to me it makes sense. Offer affordable creative and technical support to likeminded organisations who have a net benefit to the world, and using the profit I make to bring people together.
Right now, I offer web design and development (something I’ve been doing since the turn of the century), podcast production (which I studied at university and have been doing professionally since 2016), and technical consulting (which marries the two disciplines of deep tech knowledge and human communication).
At the time of writing, I’m spinning up a 90s-themed singing group and have been asked to lead a men’s group. I’m also building a beer-and-pizza fund for local meetups, to make the sharing of knowledge a teeny bit more appealing.
Open arms
The other song you should listen to if you’re curious to understand me is Elbow’s Open Arms.
It’s a song about friendship, love, warmth, and acceptance. In the days when I’m kindest to myself, those are the signals I hope I put out into the world. It’s in that spirit that I offer mentorship to people who wouldn’t otherwise get a leg up, and to make my community offerings free at the point of use, as much as possible.
I don’t know what I’m doing
I’m really good at building websites and making digital content – especially podcasts. I’m a fully functioning human being and everything – I just don’t pretend to know what’s going to happen next.
I have these ideas, and I hope they’ll appeal to some people. That feels like the best I can do right now, which is more than I was doing a year ago. Next year, I hope to be doing a lot more.
Wish me luck!
🤞