Tell me about your work at Gumtree?

I am the Community Manager at Gumtree so I look after all the social media stuff. Some very exciting projects coming up including a new Gumtree blog (which is in beta), a Gumtree widget, web TV programs and a few more very exciting things that I can’t talk about just yet!

What is new at Gumtree and what can we expect?

Gumtree has had a major shift towards the user experience in the last few months. There are some big shifts in the way Gumtree is used coming which will make life a lot better to use whilst still maintaining the simplicity that we are famous for. Some of the improvements are evident in the subtle design changes @cyberdees has been working on throughout the London site.

What do you do that is green?

I cycle to work every day and I don’t own a car. And then the standard stuff like recycling and changing over to energy efficient bulbs and so on.

What is one thing about you that not many people know?

What’s your favorite book?

All three of the His Dark Materials series by Phillip Pullman.

What is on your iPod?

An insanely broad range of music from Leonard Cohen to the Killers to Katie Melua to the Violent Femmes. My last upload was Mazzy Star. It has that hauntingly brilliant track from the new Virgin Media TV ad.

What are your contact details (email, company, blog, facebook, myspace, forums, etc)?

You can catch me at:

@joninseconds
http://www.linkedin.com/in/jonbishopmarketer
I also chat on the Gumtree Twitter account: @uk_gumtree

What events do you go to?

I like to go to events were I can talk to people and not be spoken at like Tuttle, Aperitweat and of course Twitter.

How do you prefer to communicate?

On Twitter, for better or for worse!

Who would you recommend, and why?

@cyberdees – Colleague and UX superstar!
@Farhan – Has a great passion for conversation and human interaction
@melattree – One of my favourite South African twitterers. And she does social media PR the ‘correct’ way
@NiamhHughes – Not a social media geek but loves hanging around them. Bundle of energy and fun!
@BenjaminEllis – Simply a social media superstar. Not a talker, a doer.
@RadioKate – Passionate advocate of the very worthy BBC Save Our Sounds project.
@darika – Fellow lecturer and great blog writer!
@ericagrigg – Passionate about using online media to promot green issues

What is one thing people can do for you?

Stop talking and start doing. There are way too many people in the social media space talking a big game and attenting lots of conferences but not actually doing anything useful. The change comes in the action. And while you’re at it, stop shying away from measuring ROI, it’s not that hard to do.

Gumtree Classifieds Community and Social Media Manager Jon Bishop at Gumtree Classifieds, an Interview