Excerpts from Client Letters

Recent Projects

"... (AUTHOR) reinforces on EVERY article to the working team that Lisa is the best editor he has ever worked with. I’ve shared that with her previously, but feel free to tell her again if you’d like."

Jennifer G, co-author, 2024

"The document was perfect. No one asked for a single change."

-2021

"I would like to repeat my brilliant decision, and hire you to work for my new company."

C. H., 2020

"Brilliant, simply brilliant!!!"
Dave H, project manager, 2011 January 05

"I love your letter! I have no changes to suggest. It's great."

John B., 2010 December 10

"I really appreciate your work on our *** Report. The report was exactly as I hoped and we will be sending it on to FDA in a few days."

H. C., Senior Director R & D, 2010 Dec 09

"... was the highest rated form of communication of all our channels on the survey at about 8.5 on the 10-point scale....I'm a very satisfied client!"

Joe, Director of Public Relations, 2010 June 11

I thank you so much for taking the time to visit us at Cameron and serving as our Sanner Scholar for 2010. Your presentations were well received by all the students and faculty and you received glowing reviews from the students. I appreciate you very much and all the service you give to the ACS and the chemical profession. 2010 May 05.

E. Ann Nalley, Professor, Cameron University
ACS President, 2006

You ARE the best!!!

Norbert, Manager, Product Development, 2009

"In April, about 80 laid off Pfizer chemists from Ann Arbor traveled to nearby Detroit to hear a talk by career consultant Lisa Balbes. Ms. (sic) Balbes told them the story of a former chemist who now users her skills to enhance asoustics in stereo systems. Her message: Start thinking about different career paths."

"As Drug Industry Struggles, Chemists Face Layoff Wave" by Avery Johnson, Wall Street Journal, Tuesday, December 11, 2007, pages A1, A24.

You are being recognized for your invaluable service to our customers and the Department. In particular, for all the times when we are in a tight jam and need help you stepped up. You rarely complain and you give a 110% of your effort in everything you do.

Kemie, Project Manager, August 2007

Dr. Balbes has been very attentive to our needs in writing our new system's user manual, including dealing with many iterations due to changes in the software design, or wording requested by various internal customers around the world. She has tirelessly incorporated all of the painstaking technical details, and has put it in terms that even first time users can easily pick up.

I hope she will be around for many years to come as we definitely appreciate the quick turnaround and attention to detail.

Sue K., Senior Engineer, July 2006

I'm already noticing an improvement in writing skills since you started teaching our technical staff. Keep up the good work!

Drew K., Project Manager, March 2006

A minor security issue came up with a function in our application that was easily resolved by using both the Reference Manual and Administration Guide. Kudos to your documentation.

Stan B., Project Manager, January 2004

I just wanted to say what a great job I think you did on the trace matrix. Actually it is more then the trace matrix--it is how very careful and thorough you were in making sure that every little detail of every little new software request and defect along the way got incorporated into the user manual! I checked very carefully and I could not find anything you missed! Which was then reflected in the thorough and accurate trace matrix that you provided. Wow!

Anyway, I wanted to say thanks. Your efforts have made a tremendous difference in the quality and timeliness of this project, and will make a tremendous difference to our customers as well.

Thanks!

Beth, Project Manager, August 2003

Article in St Louis Business Journal, 10 March 2003

..." Likewise, Kirkwood-based freelance science writer and consultant Lisa Balbes said blogs are an excellent source for discovering "cutting-edge" news and trends because the information can be disseminated faster on blogs than traditional online and hard-copy sources.

Balbes said the niche focus of blogs also ensures that their postings contain pertinent topics of interest, as opposed to online chat rooms, bulletin boards and e-mail updates, where topics can be more diverse.

"Other mediums are more of a push, in the sense that they're pushing the information onto you. With blogs you're going there because you have a real interest in the topic," she said. ..."

I just read your article about analyzing web site traffic and found it really informative.....I've wondered about what happens after the web site is up and this article of yours is a great intro. to that type of information. Thanks!
Donna Gonzalez

I'm a big fan of what you've done, and your site is definitely a model for other sections. Keep up the good work!

Sarah W. Nash, Webmaster, American Chemical Society

Prompt and good work. I appreciate your rapid response and turnaround. The data was very useful and the meeting went quite well. I hope to be coming back to you in the future to do some more work.

Mark. W. Schwartz, Ph.D., Vice President and General Manager Accelerated Discovery Services, Tripos, Inc.

(We've) put up your changes (internally) now, and I've been taking a look. I like the style, you've done a great job of explaining things simply and clearly for the first time user.

Catriona Galbraith, Cherwell Scientific Publishing.

Lisa's comments on our Internet Demo and the accompanying flyer were extremely useful. She quickly identified problems that some clients might have with the demo and corrected some English grammar oddities that no computer program would ever find. She was worth every dollar we spent.

Patrick M. van der Valk, BetaCyte Consultants

Dr. Balbes provided accurate, rapid feedback about our programs. She gave a verbal summary over the phone within a few days of receiving the software, and followed up immediately with a detailed list of problems--suggesting fixes via electronic mail. Her means of communicating really made it efficient in using her services. In addition to the list of problems, she included a list of possible enhancements for future versions and improvements to the interface design--most of which were incorporated.

Dr. Balbes' suggestions and comments were useful, and allowed us to improve the next version of our products. We were pleased with her work, and plan to use her services on future projects.

Patrick Spink, Ph.D., Vice-President of WindowChem Software.

Working entirely on her own, Dr. Balbes was able to identify a number of problems that existed in the program, allowing us to address them before release. In addition, she provided not only a written list of problems, but suggestions to help improve the program.

Through Dr. Balbes' efforts, we were able to produce a better product. Dr. Balbes is a knowledgeable professional, and I recommend her to anyone that needs a self-starter that can get the job done with a minimum of supervision.

Kevin Koboldt, Tripos Inc.

Thanks again for looking over the manual. The comments were exactly what I had hoped--it was nice to have some comments from someone who hadn't even seen the program before...I have fixed up the manual and have a "first draft" that we are going to put in the version 1.0 package.

Keith Doolittle, Washington University Institute for Biomedical Computing

Copies of original letters and additional references are available upon request.