Anthropologist Mary Douglas once wrote, “If you want to change the culture, you will have to start by changing the organisation”.
When I started writing professionally, I had no grand ideas of changing anything besides my socks (and even then, probably not as often as I should have!). All I wanted to do was entertain people, express myself, and avoid the minimum-wage working world for as long as possible (I tried it for a while. Didn’t like it).
As it turns out, these are not easy goals to achieve (who would have thought, right?).
Fast-forward a first-class undergraduate Degree, and 14 poverty-dogged years as a freelance copywriter, and I was at last ready to strike out on my own. I felt finally able to tell those stories that, I felt, needed telling.
The trouble was, I had no idea where to begin.
That’s where Culture Contact entered the picture.
It’s surprising how many areas of our lives are touched by the academic discipline/occasional art form that is anthropology.
…Or maybe, given that anthropology is the study of humans and human behaviour, it was only surprising to me.
Securing the services of Helidth Ravenholm and her firm is one of the best professional decisions I have ever made. Over the course of several extended, friendly-yet-highly-informative chats, I learned things I never knew about subjects as diverse and varied as ‘author’s copyright’, ‘cyber-security’, ‘the changing role of AI in online businesses’, ‘protection from plagiarism’, and so much more.
In a few short hours, I became better prepared for the rough-and-tumble world of online content creation than I ever had been, even taking into account my prior professional experience.
Most consulting firms would specialise in just one of the above areas, then leave customers ‘high and dry’ as to the remaining subjects – neither acknowledging (nor understanding) that they are all inexorably linked.
It takes an anthropologist to truly appreciate something like that. It takes a truly SPECIAL anthropologist to understand and relate, not only these topics, but also their interconnectedness, in a simplified, yet nuanced, way.
Helidth is exceptionally gifted at understanding complex subjects, and simplifying them for rabble such as myself (and, if you’re reading these words, you – you big rabble!).
Basically, whenever I speak to Helidth, I feel WAY smarter than I actually am.
Einstein used to say that if you can’t explain something simply, then you don’t truly understand it (which, incidentally, is why I’m always suddenly busy whenever anybody asks me to explain exactly WHY ‘E = mc2’). By this logic, Helidth understands absolutely everything, and, after a consultation session or two, so will you.
So, no matter who you are, or whatever you do- you NEED Culture Contact.
Due, in part, to my sessions with Helidth, I eventually re-thought that whole ‘change the world’ thing, and how it applies to us lowly creatives. In the end, it’s the entertainers, (broadly, the sacred clowns) that actually have the biggest impact of all. You may therefore consider all my work from this point on to be a kind of ‘sacred pratfall’.
…I guarantee, after you’ve hired Culture Contact, you’ll find that quip rather insightful, perhaps even inspirational.
(Or maybe you won’t. Helidth has many abilities, but making my jokes funny may not actually be one of them).
The point is that, post-Culture Contact, I felt more secure, and better able to strike out on my own than at any other time in my professional life. Thank you, Helidth, for helping me bet on myself and chase my dreams harder, and faster than ever.
Also, in case you were wondering, E = mc2 because…Oh, look at that. I’ve run out of room.
To sum up, you should hire Helidth. She rocks.
Chris Messenger
Chris Messenger is the main ‘purveyor of horrors and creator of curious tales’ at The Spoook House on Substack (https://spoookhouse.substack.com/).
Prior to this, he worked for more websites than you’ve had hot dinners, son – and wrote about everything from the UK security industry, to consumer electronics, and Jack The Ripper’s dirty DNA.
You can follow his ass on BlueSky (https://bsky.app/profile/spoookhouse.substack.com) if you have nothing better to do with your time.