Posts by Marc Schmid

The Christmas and New Year period will see huge demands placed on A&E departments across the UK as staff get to grips with an influx of alcohol and accident related admissions resulting from the cold weather.

Losing the love

By Marc Schmid on Aug 17, 12 04:34 PM in Guest Blog

For the first time I can remember I'm apathetic about the start of the new football season. It has nothing to do with how successful I think my team will be but instead i've found myself focusing more on everything that is wrong with the modern game - in other words I've lost the love.

A clear vision with an ability to take people with him. That's pretty much the best description I could give to Graham Burgess as someone who has worked with him for the last ten years.

Email scam ping pong

By Marc Schmid on May 17, 12 11:46 AM in


The perils of trying to sell something online. I recently advertised my car online with autotrader and was impressed when I received an enquiry about it the same day. That was, until I delved a little further into the request.

Carnage on our roads

By Marc Schmid on Apr 3, 12 11:12 AM in Guest Blog


It is a sad fact but between 1999 and 2010 36,371 people were killed on our roads - on average seven people every day. Each one of these accidents represents only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to trying to measure the impact every one of these has on a family network - the effects of which carry on for a lifetime. To illustrate this you can access this BBC interactive map which details every one of these terrible accidents giving you a snapshot of the horror that exists on many of our roads every day of the week.


The recent video of a Fed Ex employee casually tossing a PC monitor over a fence unaware of the fact he was being filmed offers both a lesson in how quickly a reputation threat can go viral but also how a modern organisation should deal with such matters. There have been plenty of past examples of organisations either burying their head in the sand or simply denying there is a problem when the world knows otherwise. The growth of social media and the ability of ordinary folk to post and comment on pictures of what they see makes it impossible to avoid the issue and hope it will go away.

The response of Fed Ex has been first rate both in the way they have used social media to respond but also the speed with which they responded. This doesn't surprise me. I had recent contact with them via Twitter after I posted a complaint about the erratic driving of one of their delivery guys. Not only were they scanning mentions on Twitter but their response was immediate and helpful.


In the middle of the debate around the health reforms a lesser trailed change has been implemented which if true to its word will give us the best chance of tackling long term health problems we've had in decades - the integration of public health into local government.

The approach to date has been flawed. We have allowed unfair, unjust and unequal environments and social systems to generate what in essence are avoidable diseases and illnesses only to then buy back the health that has been lost through expensive health service treatments. How many cases of asthma could have been prevented by ensuring no-one has to live in damp or squalid conditions? How many road accidents could be prevented by more effective road management especially in urban areas? We know that 70% of health and wellbeing is influenced by social factors rather than the NHS. By bringing the Council and NHS closer together, NHS practitioners can work alongside colleagues across the Council and influence decision on these areas.


Customer relations is changing and changing fast. Whether it is driven by cost savings or a recognition that audience habits are changing, there is no disputing that the way organisations interact with their customers is very different to 5-10 years ago. Social media has simply speeded up the change. Customers now expect instant responses and want their views expressed on a public platform. The most savvy businesses know this.

I recently lambasted the driver of an international delivery company who overtook me and two other cars on a bend in a village in Lancashire. He didn't care for the fact that children were on their bikes next to the road or that the speed limit was 30mph. Disgusted with the fact that he saw it more important he meets his delivery deadline than mine and others safety, I said as much on twitter later. I was then contacted by theUKmanager of the company in question who asked me to email him the details to pass on to the driver's manager.


I met with an ex-colleague last week who was in trouble at work as a result of email. I'm surprised there are not more incidences of this but then again perhaps there are, we just don't hear about them. Basically this person had reached the end of their tether over a colleague and was sending a particularly 'ranty' email to their manager only to find to their horror as they pressed send that they were so hung up on this particular person that they had inadvertently typed their name in the 'To' box by mistake. What was a difficult relationship just got worse.



As expected following the recent England v Spain game the country is polarised between those who are starting to whip themselves into a frenzy of expectation for the Euros next year and those who recognised the frailties of England's performance.

As someone with a personal interest in the standards of football coaching both of these views, to me, show why we will never be able to compete at the highest levels - not until the English game undergoes root and branch reform. England's cautious approach will never sit easy with a public crying out for someone to get the ball forward and attack. The problem is such as approach is doomed to fail against the better quality teams. Last week Xabi Alonso pointed out that a Carragher style quality of clearing the ball to row Z does one thing and one thing only - hand the ball back to the opposition. Similarly, at a young age suggesting a player is good because they can tackle should not be seen as a positive. Especially since the best players will avoid the need to tackle by pressing and intercepting the ball.

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David Bartlett

David Bartlett

City editor of the Post and Echo covering politics, regeneration, and urban affairs.
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