John Dunlevy

About me

he/him

I live in a Chicago bungalow together with my wife, Martha Chiplis, and our two cats, Messrs. Tober Piet and Gaston Ruffalo Longchamps, in the suburban Cook County city of Berwyn, Illinois, near Chicago. At home I may be found gardening (vegetables and native plants), making vegetarian food, and sometimes brewing beer. Whether home or out and about, I am probably taking pictures.

I am an experienced digital product and strategy leader with a passion for optimizing information and presentation for digital delivery, including by web, email, and social media.

I am currently engaged in some freelance digital product and consulting work, and I am open to new opportunities. Any leads or advice is appreciated. Contact me!

See my LinkedIn profile and résumé (PDF).

(My Muckrack Portfolio may also be of interest.)

Previously, I worked for more than a quarter of a century at the intersection of media and technology, ultimately as Director of Digital at the Chicago Reader.

I have a strong background in web development and site and systems management and administration, including Apache HTTP Server, mySQL, HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript, analytics, digital marketing, SEO, and various advertising and CMS platforms, including of course WordPress.

In a previous life, I ran Chicago’s Loud Devices record label.

You may also know me from WHPK, where I was a rock DJ and involved for many years—mostly as sound engineer, sometimes as booker, host, producer, or interviewer—with the Friday night Pure Hype show featuring local and touring bands playing live in the studio.

For a time I also worked in commercial AM radio at WCEV as a master control board operator, which also involved editing, compiling, and reading news and weather reports on air as well as selecting and playing music as a DJ.

I am active in the local grassroots Berwyn Tree Canopy Initiative community group working to expand and improve the tree canopy in Berwyn, Illinois. I am a member of the Caxton Club, a private social club and bibliophilic society founded in Chicago in 1895 to promote the book arts and the history of the book, and I served on its Council from 2015 to 2018.

I am an active supporter of the Chicago Fire and Chicago Red Stars soccer clubs. I also follow Chicago House AC, Fulham, Turbine Potsdam, the U.S. Open Cup tournament, and the U.S. Men’s and Women’s National Teams, as well as Chicago Blackhawks hockey.