Company: Mind & Media, Inc., Alexandria, Virginia
Company Description: Since 1994, MIND & MEDIA has combined incisive communication strategy with cutting-edge digital technologies to create communication solutions that transform the way audiences think and inspire them to take action. We’re in the business of giving our clients the “mind power” and the “media power” to surmount complex communication challenges with innovative solutions that create positive change.
Nomination Category: Individual Awards Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Best Creative Person

Nomination Title: Sara Hill Isacson, Writing Wonder

1. Tell the story about what this nominee achieved in the past year (up to 500 words). Focus on specific accomplishments, and relate these accomplishments to past performance or industry norms. Be sure to mention obstacles overcome, innovations or discoveries made, and outcomes:

Sara Hill Isacson is an accomplished writer with the ability to take complex subject matter and translate it into simple, clear, accessible language that displays a deep understanding of her intended audience. Because Mind & Media so strongly believes in reaching out to audiences and speaking to them with crystal clarity, Sara is a natural fit and an essential part of the creative team.

Mind & Media called upon Sara’s skills many times in 2006, and those skills
proved themselves over and over again. One notable project—National Guard’s
Answer the Call, an officer recruitment initiative—required Sara to
simultaneously reach audiences as varied as high school seniors and corporate
executives, all while carefully bridging the gap between marketing and training.
She conducted extensive interviews with recruiters to learn how they
communicated with those audiences. Ultimately it was her own ability to
empathize with her audience—to put herself in their hearts and minds—that
allowed her to create content for the project that reached every person it was
meant to. She crafted text for the project’s DVD, CD, and user’s guide that will
play a vital role in helping Guard recruiters find the leaders they need to help
Soldiers achieve success.

Another of Sara’s 2006 projects points directly to the heart of why she is so able to empathize with her audience: in this case it’s because she knows of what she speaks.   A law enforcement agency in the Department of Defense (DOD) needed a video that would educate its front-line personnel on critical post-9/11 topics like Pentagon security and hostile surveillance. Sara dove into the project with her usual enthusiasm, and this time she was not only prepared to see through her audience’s eyes: she had seen it with her own eyes.

Just days after the World Trade Center and Pentagon attacks, Sara was at both
sites filming the efforts of the American Red Cross for her then-employer. What
she saw affected her very deeply. Now tasked with creating the content for DOD’s
hostile surveillance training video, she was seeing some of the same things and
feeling the same feelings. While viewing terrorist training videos and
surveillance footage as research for the video, she needed to maintain emotional
detachment in order to get the job done. Ultimately, she was able to do just
that, and the result is a video that will play a huge part in helping to ensure
that tragedies like the 9/11 attacks do not happen again. Having been so close
to the front lines during the attacks, and being part of the effort to avert
future attacks, was invaluable to Sara.

Sara’s skillful hand turns complex, complicated ideas into easy-to-understand
messages that speak directly to their intended audiences. She adroitly steps
into their shoes to create communications products that will touch them while
inspiring them to action.

2. List hyperlinks to any online news stories, press releases, or other documents that support the claims made in the section above. IMPORTANT: Begin each link with http://, and enclose each link in square brackets; for example, [http://www.youraddress.com]:

http://www.thecreateawards.com/winners.php?category=Touch%20and%20
Feel&show=ETS0482
http://www.mindandmedia.com/recruitment.asp
http://www.mindandmedia.com/computer-based-training.asp

3. Provide a brief (up to 100 words) biography about the nominee:

After earning a bachelor’s degree in communications from SUNY Oswego, Sara Hill Isacson spent 10 years building an extensive track record as a film producer/director/ writer, winning awards for projects ranging from
multimillion-dollar national advertising campaigns to pro bono viral videos.  Ultimately, Sara decided to give up the production reins to focus her efforts on creative inception as a writer. At Mind & Media she is an indispensable member of the writing team who has lent her skills to many award-winning communications products.