We know that while customer service teams are crucial to onboarding Axon products and platforms, and documentation provides a critical foundation for platform development, often times developers aren’t able to get the nitty gritty details of what they need in order to fully integrate the Axon system. 

 That’s why we're announcing the launch of the Axon Developer Community forum, designed for developers building tools and experiences using our platform. We wanted to create a space that feels familiar, but one that deeply and uniquely connects our developer community to each other and to essential documentation and other support tools.

 The forum is designed for developers to ask and answer questions relating to apps and app development in conjunction with Axon products and services. We believe that developers understand the Axon platform as well as anybody and we want to foster and encourage a community where people can utilize their acquired expertise and help support one another overcome mutual challenges.

 The forum is available for use by anyone with a MyAxon account, and can be easily enabled by an agency admin as part of the MyAxon experience. The agency admin can also opt to accept the Terms of Use on behalf of all the agency members from the “My Agency” page to further streamline the initial experience. 

Here’s how the platform will work:

Landing Page
 When arriving at the Developer Community forum you will find useful features like a search bar which will allow you to search for questions similar to your own, as well as a feed of the most recently asked questions. Those inclined to answer questions will be able to respond to questions, or create a new question. We also provide a brief community profile overview, including the Community Policies and a link to contact the community owner. Below, modules provide access to files uploaded by members and an ability to search for members. Key among those files is the Partner API Manual. That’s right, from this point on developers with community access will be able to retrieve the latest releases of the Partner API Manual directly from the community! In the future we hope to expand the resources available with additional collateral and material.

Points & Badging
 As valued members of the Developer Community we want to recognize the contribution you've made helping other developers and growing our community. This will be done via a points and badging system described here. Your community profile displays points you have received, earned through various interactions completed such as, upvoting answers & posts, providing your own answers to posts and having one of your answers selected as the correct answer. Points will accrue and help increase your level. Over time, badges (which are visible tokens that may be awarded by the community moderators) will be made available to recognize special achievements made by members. 

Creating a Question
 Creating a question is easy! First, click on the “Question” tab. From here, all you need to do is enter your question. To receive the best answer, provide clear context regarding the API you are asking about (if known), then fill out your question and your description. One cool feature is that all questions support markdown, meaning that you can style your question content for easy readability. Content can also be directed to specific users.

Viewing & Answering Questions
 Answering questions is similar to creating a question. You simply open the question you want to answer, type your response and click “Post Answer”. People have the ability to upvote your answer which may result in its higher ranking over other answers. If the question creator is happy with your answer they (or the moderator) can select it as the best answer. If a better one comes along the next day or week, they can update that selection accordingly.

 The Axon Developer Community forum is now open to Axon Platform Developers. We welcome and encourage all developers to explore the forum, and help grow it into a resource that helps support everyone. Start asking, answering questions and be recognized for your efforts.

New to MyAxon?
 MyAxon is a new one-stop portal experience providing online access to your customer support resources such as how-to articles, product guides, firmware updates, training, support cases, account management information, training and much more. We are working hard to consolidate and enhance all of these support and service resources into a single easy to use platform with many more self-service features coming over the next year. Learn more HERE.

ARTICLE: Building an Axon Community for Developers

Building an Axon Community for Developers

In June 2020, Alex Hickey wrote that many of the most influential brands on earth had made powerful commitments to improve racial equity last year. But their legacy in confronting racial injustice will be determined by their actions when the world isn't watching. That is the definition of character. Who you are when everyone is watching, and your actions when no one is looking.

What used to be a jumble of acronyms meant to convey corporate responsibility to a greater, more representative society is, in fact, a social imperative that takes time. We cannot unwind 100s of years of racial divide by merely adding new corporate seats and commitments. Instead, we can look for people with the drive for change and the leadership to support dynamic, consistent, and committed actions. There's one other requirement for dedicated DEI work, empathy—the ability to understand and share another's feelings. Axon recently added Lara McLeod as the Director of Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion to our team and launched the JEDI initiative.

“Establishing a formal DEI program allows us to effectively monitor and measure our progress against the goals most companies want to achieve. At Axon, though, we seek to go beyond traditional DEI by including a social justice aspect. We needed someone who similarly goes above and beyond the conventional DEI role. Lara is exceptionally talented and exactly the right person to lead the groundbreaking JEDI initiative at Axon. I couldn’t be more exuberant to have her on our team,”,” commented Jawad Ahsan, Axon CFO and JEDI Executive Sponsor.

At 19, Lara McLeod found herself amid a terrifying trauma that changed her career trajectory and law enforcement perspective. She shared, "I shifted my career focus because I refused to be defined as a victim and instead chose to use the experience as a defining moment in my life — turning what could have been another statistic into courage and positivity for change."

Ms. McLeod's approach is more nuanced and deeply empathic. She sees the current state of our binary belonging and polarizing viewpoints as disconnected from our inherently multi-dimensional human existence. She offers guidance for understanding discomfort, and comfortable space for brave dialogue by offering grace in return. We need to re-learn how to offer grace to each other—the grace to change your mind and the grace to hear a person's truth.

"Look, people are terrified to have a race conversation. We've over-indexed on generalizations and prejudice, sometimes justifiably. Still, if we can strip that back and create guiding principles and ground rules to learn from each other, dialogue about highly uncomfortable issues, we can find a connection point. Change happens over time; great character, empathy, and action can help nudge us toward an agreement that we all deserve to be represented and cared for." Lara McLeod, Axon Director of Justice, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion

 Lara will partner with other leaders like Regina Holloway, Axon VP of Community Impact, and our executive team guiding us on how to engage in meaningful JEDI impact. Our employees' learning and actions will deploy with intention, measurement, and policies that drive material change for our company and the communities we represent. In 2021, it's time to move beyond the basics of hiring pledges, sourcing, training, and awareness. It is time to square up the basics with measurable change within our companies that impacts more than annual reports and instead spills out into our communities.


THE AXON JEDI MINDSET & COMMITMENT PLEDGE

Axon is committed to purposefully seeking out, attracting, and developing diverse talent; recruiting, promoting, and rewarding people equitably to ensure equal access to opportunity and success; valuing and leveraging differences of all kinds in our shared goal to Protect Life.

Our strategic JEDI plan includes goals, new investments, and accountability measurements, which will be originated and shaped by the inputs of our employees, leaders, and the communities we serve. It includes our closely held values: Win Right, Aim Far, Join Forces, and our vision to build racial equity, diversity, and inclusion. 

Part of our mission is to accelerate justice, and we do that by making JEDI part of our regular business decisions, processes, products, and actions. We will continue to assess our progress, test new ideas, and have difficult conversations about complex issues. We will listen, we will learn, we will build, and we will improve together.


ARTICLE: Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in 2021

Justice, Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion in 2021

At Axon, we have always taken pride in supporting our customers in any way we can. In 2020, a year unlike any other, supporting our customers meant something different.

It's been a really tough year all around. And during the pandemic, our customers have remained on the frontline, out in their communities, risking their health. Unlike many of us, they cannot isolate or work from home. So to help support the safety of our officers and our communities, and to try and slow the spread of COVID-19, the Axon team launched “Got You Covered,” an initiative to procure hand sanitizer and face masks for public safety agencies around the world. And I've been inspired to see how many people have come together to support one another during this difficult time. We're beyond grateful to all frontline workers for their dedication to the safety of their communities.

In Episode 5 of “The Ride,” see our Axon teams at work, packing up and shipping PPE to send out to public safety workers around the globe. We also included some season’s greetings from members of our team.

Thanks for all that you do, and stay safe. Happy holidays.

And to catch up on previous episodes:
Episode 1
Episode 2
Episode 3
Episode 4

THE RIDE: Inside Axon, Episode 5

In 2020, a year unlike any other, supporting our customers meant something different. Watch the Episode 5 of The Ride and learn the initiatives the Axon team launched to support the safety of our officers and our communities, and to try and slow the spread of COVID-19.

The Ride Episode 5

ARTICLE: The Ride Episode 5

A fellow team member, someone who usually works on-site, recently explained her current home-bound working status: “I’m not working from home,” she said. “I am at home during a crisis, trying to work.”


Many of us in tech are now working from home (or “from anywhere”), and we are very aware of why it is needed, while also experiencing some of its shortcomings. Even when some of us did work remotely before the pandemic happened, we still had other opportunities to change our setting—sitting in a coffee shop or going to a co-working space. The difference between then and now is pretty stark.

Working from home requires a well-prepared routine and a place to work without disruption. In many cases, the pandemic has thrown many people into a household trying to find their own spaces to work, including those with children who have to attend school virtually and taking care of aging or at-risk family members. The transition is sudden and unexpected.
What has become clear is that working from home successfully takes time. It also requires grace and self-care to manage the added stress created by our new situations and find a new way to focus. We have to realize that in some cases, it is not just a work management crisis—it is an existential one.

The seven Cs of stress
The book The Seven Cs of Stress: A Burkean Approach, Stan A. Lindsay, Ph.D., offers a list of stresses we all experience. The list includes:

Corporal stress, or physical stresses that can range from higher heart rates to nausea

Community stress, or the discomfort of social interaction (or the lack thereof)

Cash stress, where one becomes concerned with losing employment or managing unexpected financial strains

Chrono stress, which involves concern over deadlines and time management

Competence stress, where one questions their ability to complete a job effectively

Confusion stress, which usually manifests as a lack of organization

Conscientious stress, or how one manages moral or ethical obligations

Staying in place during this pandemic, worrying about job security, and being responsible for our health and others’ health can trigger all seven simultaneously. Managing a couple of stressors is difficult enough. Fortunately, many workplaces are stepping in to help employees manage the stress in healthy ways while also managing work and maintaining work relationships.

Although each of us faces a different set of challenges, we all can answer the question, “What works best for me in my situation?” Once we understand this, it is crucial to stay intentional and deliberate.

Being intentional requires creating new boundaries. It is essential to address when and where you will work and prioritize each project based on the team’s needs.

Bridging the gap between self-care and work relationships can further relieve specific stresses and make self-care more manageable.

While we are spending more time at home than usual, many of us may feel isolated and disconnected from our coworkers. This disconnection can strain communication and create confusion. Here are a few ways to nurture team connections and maintain deadlines:

Develop strategies for staying connected using online group platforms, group text, or a quick daily stand up with a conference call (it doesn’t have to be a video call every time) and have a dialed agenda & outcomes.

Make frequent check-ins with project teams and owners to show your work and how you are continuing to help them.

Remind yourself that not all projects are a priority right now.

Intentionally build-in break times to your day, click here

Try to keep meetings on schedule or provide email/Quip/Slack updates if meetings must be canceled.

Encourage participation during remote meetings.

Since you cannot walk down the hall to discuss a project with someone, it’s good to plan ahead.

Check on everyone’s critical needs; they are probably struggling, too.

Openly reference and de-risk the use of workplace mental health platforms and benefits.

Over-communication is vital when working remotely. With on-site meetings, we can read faces and respond to visual cues. Emails, chat rooms, and conference calls don’t always offer the same opportunities. It’s important to provide the details needed to create more clarity.

With some mindful preparation between work routines, home life, self-care, a dash of humor, and more communication, the chaos that starts out as trying to work can transition to working successfully from home within a few weeks. You may find the skills you develop at home will benefit you just as much in the office when you finally return.

A fellow team member, someone who usually works on-site, recently explained her current home-bound working status: “I’m not working from home,” she said. “I am at home during a crisis, trying to work.”

Staying Mentally Healthy in our Crazy World

ARTICLE: Staying Mentally Healthy in our Crazy World

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