Totem Tuesday: June 10th, 2024
Hey friend —
Boy is it a HOT one today!
We're sweatin' over here,
and it's not just because of this
Tennessee sunshine.
The real reason is because
🎉 TOTEM TUESDAY 🎉
is SMOKIN' HOT THIS WEEK!
Alright Tribe—let’s vibe.
It's a big, BIG week for
this company,
this product,
and most importantly—
YOU.
A quick reminder before we get into the EXCITING STUFF...
If you missed a Totem Tuesday over the past few weeks, here's where we are in the process:
We're still conducting QA testing, which is the final phase before rollout (keep reading for exciting Testing updates).
Right now, we expect that it will be at least another 6 weeks before we start shipping.
We are taking our time to conduct thorough testing all around the world, to guarantee a product that will blow your mind.
Good things come to those who wait, we promise 🫶
OK! Enough housekeeping.
Let’s get into it.
This is our weekly progress report to all our favorite people.
Welcome to the Totem Tuesday 3-2-1.
3 things we accomplished,
2 things to learn,
1 thing coming up
Let’s go, Tribe!
P.S. If this your first Totem Tuesday, welcome to the Tribe! We are so grateful that you found your way here. 🫶
3 things we accomplished
1) Testing in Chicago
Y'all, this one is HUGE.
This past weekend, the Totem marketing team completed the first leg of the Totem Testing Schedule: Rose on the River Music Festival in Chicago.
It was truly the perfect festival setting for QA testing of production-grade Totems.
All shows took place at one large stage, which made conditions ideal for testing how the Totems function in a densely crowded location while keeping it easily traversable for our team.
We spent two days testing the final, production-grade Totem Compass at the festival, and boy were we thrilled with the results 🤩
Here are some key takeaways from our testing:
💠 We confirmed that production-grade Totems can reliably navigate to peers in dense crowds at a festival
💠 The Totems got consistent satellite connection all around Chicago (and in urban canyons—more on this later!)
💠 Bonding worked perfectly around the city and at the festival
💠 Vibe Mode was beautiful, with the exception of one (particularly abstract) jazz show. We'll make some improvements here for all our jazz-lovers 😘
💠 We were able to successfully download Totem software updates via mobile hotspot in real-time at the festival
It feels so good to be making such great strides in QA testing. We're not done yet, but we're getting closer every week!
2) Testing in Europe
We get questions from customers ALL AROUND THE WORLD every day...
...so we decided to go and test the Totems overseas!
So much of the Totem Tribe lives outside the United States.
We hear you and see you, fam! Which is why we are doing everything we can to make sure that the Totems work beautifully in different countries.
In addition to Chicago testing, part of our team flew to Europe this past weekend and are now conducting QA testing around the continent. As of today, testing has officially concluded in London and Amsterdam!
Here are some key takeaways from Euro-weekend:
💠 The Totems got consistent satellite connection around major city metro areas and urban canyons
💠 We also got frequent satellite connection inside most buildings, including shops and restaurants. The only exception here is hotels and skyscrapers.
💠 The Totems were able to navigate to peers consistently through London crowds
💠 We were able to successfully update Totem software via mobile hotspot in real-time abroad!
Our next stop on the European testing tour is a big one...
Tomorrowland 2024!
Stay tuned for in-depth testing updates in the coming weeks.
3) Totem Support Chat Improvements
Customer service is the beating heart of this company.
It defines how we organize ourselves in the present. It determines how we move forward. Alongside product development, providing amazing customer service is our biggest priority.
The Totem Tribe is everything. We love hearing from you and interacting with you daily—because without you, there would be no us.
That said, there's only so much time in a day—and over the past few months, we've received over 15,460 emails from the Tribe! 🤯
Over the past week, Kailey (you've probably heard from her before 😘) has made crazy strides in improving our Totem Support Chat.
The Totem Support Chat is now 10X more robust and helpful.
By using the Totem Support Chat, you can now easily find answers to your questions about the product. You also now have more power & visibility in managing your order.
Check out the image below of how it works!
2 things to learn
1) Beta Testing
We get so many questions from curious customers all around the world, every single week (keep 'em comin!) 💗
Here's a common question we've gotten recently, with the answer you're looking for!
So many of you have reached out to us asking if you can contribute as a beta tester.
It's amazing how many people want to freely contribute to our work. This is turning into a truly global effort, and we couldn't be more grateful.
This month's round of QA testing will be handled purely by our internal team. But after discussion, we do think there will likely be opportunities for beta testers in the future.
The Totem Tribe has been actively involved in this process from the early days of Totem. This is why it makes so much sense to us to involve you in our final stage of testing. Let's close this loop—together.
We will keep you updated in the coming weeks!
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2) GNSS in urban canyons
One of our biggest takeaways from testing was the Totem Compass' ability to get consistent satellite reception in urban canyons—which is why we want to take a moment to highlight how big of a deal this is.
An urban canyon is a place where the street is flanked by buildings on both sides creating a canyon-like environment.
Because metal and other construction materials can impact reception from nearby satellites, you can imagine why certain urban canyons could cause an issue with the Totem Compass.
In fact, urban canyons are far more challenging for satellite reception than ACTUAL CANYONS because they are made of metal.
That's exactly why it's such a big deal that we are getting consistent satellite reception in urban canyons around the globe!
This means that the Totem Compass should work reliably in urban festival environments like Ultra, Governor's Ball, and Lollapalooza!
It also means that it will perform well in heavily-wooded areas and forests. Trees are LIGHT WORK compared to skyscrapers.
1 thing to look forward to
So many of you have reached out, particularly on social media, with one universal content request.
I think you know what I'm talking about here.
You've asked for footage of:
the Totem Compass
navigating through a crowd
at-range, un-edited,
in a festival setting.
We've got three words for you:
get.
READY
fam!!
This Friday, at 2:22PM EST, we will be dropping a video from Rose on the River in Chicago showing just that. It'll go live on all our social media platforms.
This is the first time that you will see exactly how the final, production-grade Totem Compass looks and functions in a festival environment.
And how easy it makes finding your friend in the crowd!
It's been (what feels like) a long time coming, but we can't frickin' wait to share this with you 🤩
In the meantime... check out our latest TikTok of the Bonding process at the festival! It's gotten a lot of hype over the past 24 hours.
Big Wins, Big Love
Hey there 😊👋
Man, we are feeling good today.
Our testing over the past week has produced a
BIG
FAT
W
We're doing our due diligence,
testing this product thoroughly,
all over the world.
We're making big strides—together.
This product will change the game for millions of event-goers around the world.
Thank you for being part of this progress we've made.
Your support, and your patience,
are divine.
Totem Team, out.
✌️
