attracts a broad range of clients from among many different industries. Here you will find examples of some of the projects we've been involved in on behalf of our clients, as well as a description of what we've been able to accomplish for them.

Henry Ford Health System
The Henry Ford Heart & Vascular Institute has long been a pioneer in cardiac medicine. But its public profile needed a boost, especially among prospective donors. After consulting with surgeons, cardiologists and scientists, we wrote a 16-page brochure explaining the Institute's work to the public. We met frequently with marketing staff to present a style and tone that suited the Institute's mission, and to ensure the accuracy of technical information. Upon publication, the Institute's marketing director said she was "very pleased with the way the brochure turned out and in particular with the way we worked together."

Human Synergistics International
This leading human resources and training firm's reputation was assured more than a quarter century ago with the introduction of its ground-breaking team-building tools known as Survival Simulations. A few years ago, when they sought to add a new "Sea Survival" simulation to its product line, the company turned to . After researching survival techniques and meeting with survival experts, we composed the new simulation's primary components. Then we huddled with organizational consultants and other key employees to draft the leader's guide, which functions as an informative and entertaining presentation "script."

Lear Corporation
The Metals & Mechanisms Division of the giant automotive supplier was experiencing difficulties coordinating purchases among its stamping and assembly plants because each plant was using a different set of purchasing specifications. A writer-consultant surveyed all materials in use, identified discrepancies among them, and held a series of meetings allowing key personnel to hammer out their differences. These agreements were organized, collected and memorialized in a new Tool & Equipment Specifications Manual now in efficient use at all of Lear's North American locations. This new manual worked so well that less than six months later the director of a different division asked us to do the same for them.

Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone
As Michigan's oldest law firm looked toward its sesquicentennial celebration in 2002, partners decided they needed a very special publication - a book-length history of the firm that would recount its fascinating role in the rise of Detroit and the state over 150 years. Miller Canfield turned to us to dig through old archives, interview partners, and plan and compose a narrative that will bring an institution to life in words and images.

Storywork^TM
The success of Chuck Muer Corporation - which owns more than 20 fine dining establishments - is predicated not only on the preparation of the finest and freshest seafood but also on the delivery of first-rate service. Their employee handbook stated that "The Customer is Number One," but it gave staff members no real insight into how to make their diners feel special. A writer accompanied a Storywork consultant to a series of sessions devised to elicit stories from Muer employees about the everyday acts of kindness and special favors they grant to customers. These stories, written by our writer and collected and presented by a Storywork consultant, were bound in a new book. The old handbook, which employees barely opened, was replaced by the new storybook, which new employees now read from cover to cover.

Southeast Michigan Health and Hospital Council
The Southeast Michigan Health and Hospital Council, anxious about devastating cuts in Medicare and Medicaid funding, asked us for help with a public education campaign. We met with some three dozen front-line health-care workers at hospitals across the metropolitan Detroit area, gathering their accounts of the funding cuts' effects on patient well-being. Then we turned their stories into true-to-life narratives. The result was a compelling series used by the Council to present critically important messages to media and policy-makers.

TransWeb
Based at the University of Michigan, TransWeb is a nonprofit educational web site (www.transweb.org) that serves as a comprehensive resource for the organ donation and transplantation community, which includes not only transplant patients and their families but also students, teachers, health care professionals, and the media. The site also webcasts both the U.S. and World Transplant Games - Olympic-style contests participated in by transplant recipients to raise awareness about organ donation and transplantation and to celebrate the lives and successes of the participants. A writer served as a reporter at the 2000 U.S. Games in Orlando, Florida, and the stories he filed while covering this inspiring event can be readily found at this easily navigable site.

William Beaumont Hospital
When the administrators in the Human Resources department of this large suburban Detroit hospital desired to update its orientation program for new employees, they turned to writers and consultants to help them determine its new direction. After sitting in on orientation sessions and conducting a series of meetings with the trainers and presenters involved in delivering them, we embarked on a systematic re-tooling of not only the curriculum but also the manner in which the orientation information was presented. We introduced a series of skits, role-playing sessions, and other simulation games to enliven the atmosphere and make learning about the hospital a participatory event. We also drafted a presentation script to be utilized by the new program's facilitators, and assisted in its initial implementation phase.