Unforgettable Summer Internship

I recently wrapped up my fourth co-op term at Axon. As I’m typing up this blog post, I’m on my 19th and final flight of the summer.

What I did

I was a product manager intern working on the new Records Management System team, which is Axon’s next big product investment. I worked on delivering a solution to support workflows for agencies to customize data fields and reports, as well as the initial design of new report types. I also gathered market and user research for the main incident report that police officers enter data into.

I worked closely with other PMs, designers, engineers, and directors to move the product components forward. There was also a great process to gather feedback from several law enforcement agencies. I had the opportunity to attend 10+ onsite meetings, as well as 10+ WebEx calls with real clients! Overall, I was treated like a full-time product manager. In fact, many team members didn’t realize I was an intern!

I was unofficially a part of the Axon President’s party planning committee. I founded and organized the first ever ‘Software Skip Day’, where Seattle techies skip work and enjoy a beautiful summer afternoon at Gas Works Park. The event was a huge success, as hundreds of people showed up! Thanks to Luke and Axon for sponsoring the event! In addition, along with the other Axon interns, I helped spearhead the ‘Axon Challenge’. Over 100+ interns at other Seattle companies attended and had a great time.

Fun events

Axon organized many events for the interns and company in general. Some notable ones included:

• Grand Canyon Trip.
• Din Tai Fung dinners. So gooood!
• GameWorks (think Dave & Busters)
• CityPass for Seattle tourist attractions
• Corporate suite for Seattle Sounders soccer games
• Team sailing events
• Fine dining experience at AQUA by El Guacho
• Bubble soccer
• Lots of ping pong

Notable Accomplishments and Learnings

• I watched the entire first season of One Tree Hill in a weekend.
• Similar to airlines, hotels also overbook rooms. I checked in late for a hotel in SF, and got relocated to another hotel, all expenses paid. There was even a treadmill in my room!
• Don’t forget to treat yourself from time to time.
• An 11 inch frying pan is not big enough.
• Goldfish (the snack) is a great social lubricant at parties. Bring a bag of Goldfish and people will form circles around you.
• Bias towards over communication.
• T-Mobile provides 1 hour of free Wifi on US flights.
• Exit row seats on flights are quite spacious.
• Don’t play blackjack in Cambodia (learned from another co-worker’s experience)
• B & H Photo Video is an awesome electronics store. (Need to check it out in person next time I’m in New York)
• After long trips, I prefer taking a taxi home over an Uber. I enjoy sitting in the back, and not have to converse with the driver.
• Product designers all seem to be awesome people.
• Since Seattle is very walking friendly city, I’ve been on the airplane more times than on a bus.

Recap

This internship surpassed my expectations in pretty much every category. The work was impactful and interesting, the people were awesome, and the culture was wonderful. There were always events to attend, or people to hang out with. I also fulfilled my goal of travelling a lot and exploring, highlighted by the amazing barbeque in Austin, Texas. Lastly, the summer weather in Seattle was perfect - not too hot and rarely rains.

What’s next for me? I’m going to take the next week off to decompress and just chill. Then, I’m headed back to Waterloo for school during the Fall term. And after that? I’ll figure it out eventually. 😛