Howdy fam!
Here's a little slice of joy to kick things off today:
Ride waves, let them take you where they may 🌊
No fear, just go and seize the day 💪
Love hard, don’t let it fade away 💗
Live free, you’ll never be the same! ✌️
reporting live from SXSW 2025, this is
🎉 TOTEM TUESDAY 🎉
(the funkiest newsletter in your inbox, guaranteed!)
🤗
With most of our team exhibiting at the SXSW Creative Industries Expo as we speak, we're this keeping things streamlined this week on Totem Tuesday, with the top 3 things to know right now.
Attention all Austin Tribemates! The Expo will be open to the public tomorrow from 9AM-4PM CST. Come vibe with us, we want to meet you and show you love 😘
Bonus points if you bring your Totems with you! We can't wait to see all of your smiling faces and take pictures with y'all 🫶
OK—let's get this party started.
This is our weekly progress report to all our favorite people.
(especially you, friend)
Let’s go, Tribe!
😘
2 things to know this week
1) Totem x Same Same But Different
Welcome to the Festival of the Future!
This September, Totem is partnering with Same Same But Different Festival in Lake Perris, CA to create an immersive festival experience unlike anything seen before.
Now that we've debuted our Immersive Crowd Light Shows at SXSW, we're working with the SSBD team to evaluate sponsor organizations to outfit every single SSBD attendee with the Totem Compass 🤯
Attendees this year will experience:
💠 Phone-free freedom
💠 Immersive on-site gamification
💠 Beautiful synchronized crowd Light Shows
... and that's just the tip of the iceberg 😉
With this partnership, you'll be able to put your phone away and never worry about losing your group.
Not only that, but you won't just be able to enjoy your favorite sets—you'll actually become part of the show itself.
Welcome to the future of festivals.
Shoutout to CULTR for writing about this huge announcement, too 🥰
We'll keep you in the loop as we work out the details.
2) Bigger and Better @ SXSW 2025
Before we launch into SXSW 2025, let's take a little journey down memory lane...
At SXSW 2024:
💠 we had JUST gone viral a few weeks before
💠 we had just hired our FIRST employee (shoutout to Kailey!)
💠 we had only five 3D printed prototypes of the Totem Compass
💠 and we flew to SXSW with our entire booth in ten suitcases 😆
My oh my, what a difference a year makes 🤯
Since then, the Totem Tribe has grown by hundreds of thousands, we finalized production on the Totem Compass and now have over 25,000 users in 60+ countries worldwide
So it's only fitting that we come back to SXSW 2025 with a booth to match the year we've had 😎
Presenting... the PINKEST booth at SXSW! 💞
Over the past 3 days, we've met SO many of you who have followed the Totem story from the beginning. We even met several people who came to our booth last year 🥹
That said, the vibes are spreading across Austin—so many new relationships formed and new friends made.
Needless to say, our hearts are so full of love, and we're unbelievably grateful to be able to meet so many of you from around the world. We wouldn't be us without you, after all 💗
REMINDER: The SXSW Creative Industries Expo is open to the public TOMORROW, March 12 from 9AM-4PM!
If you're around the Austin area, please come pay us a visit at Booth #825 - right in the middle of the expo floor. We can't wait to see you 🫶
Closing out with a quote from Grant Kwiecinski—one of the Totem team's favorite DJs, who revealed some pretty exciting news today 😎
"The sun is shining, and the wind is always at your back
I hope you see how every shade of blue can transform into the most glorious rainbow hue
And appreciate how much we've grown into someone new
I pray you never lose your smile, and even though good things take awhile
I'll always be here, waiting for you
All we need is all we are...
Now, I love you. 💗"
See you next week!
✌️ + 🩷
The Totem Team
(P.S. — if this is your first Totem Tuesday, we hiiighly recommend that you go back and check out all the past Totem Tuesdays on our website. Every single decision we’ve made with the product is detailed extensively in past editions. Have fun 😘)
