About this blog

This blog contains vaguely anthropologically-flavored thoughts about businesses, consumers, and digital culture.

I am not a Professional Card-Carrying Anthropologist (see the About the Author section). This blog is the bastard result from an MBA mated with an Masters in Anthro.

Why “open range”? I just liked the sound of it. I grew up in the American West with the big sky and open spaces. My professional interests have never stayed within the traditional boundaries.

Is this stuff really anthropology? Eh, kinda sorta not really, depends on who you ask. There are some great anthropology blogs out there that are devoted to formal Anthropology, Anthropology Proper. This blog has its own weird little interdisciplinary niche somewhere in between anthropology, business, organizational development, consumer behavior and digital culture.

“An*thro*po*lo*gy, noun: the scientific study of the origin, the behavior, and the physical, social and cultural development of humans.” (American Heritage Dictionary, from dictionary.com). My plain-jane definition: “Anthropology” = the study of people in groups, i.e. group dynamics, behavioral patterns, belief systems, etc. That seems like a big umbrella; I figure I can shove this blog under there someplace.

Characteristics of this blog

This blog is a very informal version of applied anthropology. Professional anthropology has university tenure and writes peer-reviewed articles. This blog has an office job and writes PowerPoint presentations.

This blog likes the business world. Traditional anthropology isn’t very focused on business. This blog is.

This blog isn’t academically rigorous. This blog isn’t the place to learn the discipline of anthropology. There are other blogs and books that are good for that. Better yet, take a class taught by a real anthropologist. Yay university extension. 

If we were in the realm of cooking blogs, there would be serious cooking blogs that would teach you everything from the science of boiling water to how to prepare haute French cuisine. Meanwhile, this blog would be talking about the connotations of mustard versus mayonnaise and why the heck a restaurant would have Kobe burgers on the menu.

You reach me via email at openrangeanthropologist (courtesy of) gmail.com.

Blog linking is welcomed and I’m happy to reciprocate.

Many thanks to my blog designer and WordPress deity, Keith Solomon, for his help.