The TASER X3 — An Exciting Week
Posted by Hilary Gibeaut
I can’t believe all the tremendous amounts of new material covered by the Master Instructor trainings, the number of media stories and the increased awareness of the TASER Foundation since the unveiling of the TASER® X3™ on July 27, 2009. So much has occurred that it’s even hard for me to keep up, but I’ll try to fill you in.
Tom and Rick Smith demonstrate the TASER X3 at last week's TASER Conference
On Monday, July 27, Rick and Tom Smith, the co-founders of TASER International, unveiled the multi-shot X3, our first new handheld TASER ECD since 2003, during their keynote address at the beginning of the 2009 annual TASER Conference. It was one of the many TASER solutions for law enforcement, corrections and military customers that were highlighted that day.
The keynote address and the launch of the X3 was covered by numerous Arizona print and television media outlets. Incredibly, the story filed by the local Associated Press reporter was picked up by more than one thousand papers around the world. In addition, writers from a couple of trade magazines attended the keynote as well, so we are looking forward to those articles in the upcoming editions. Since the launch, I’m thankful to say that the media request and TV interviews haven’t slow down. The TASER X3 has been featured and demonstrated on FOX Business Network’s “Money for Breakfast” with Alexis Glick, has been written about on WIRED Magazine’s Danger Room, and was shown in a video post on the Engadget website. Then today, Tom Smith gave a live demonstration of the X3 to Bill Hemmer on FOX News America’s Newsroom, wrapping up an exciting week of interest and coverage.
The 2009 Annual TASER Conference was more than just a keynote address and product launch. It also included a four-day Master Instructors School providing advanced training for more than 300 Master Instructors from the United States and 29 countries around the world. Some of the countries that were represented were: the United Kingdom, Germany, New Zealand, Australia, and Canada. These Master Instructors went through rigorous TASER training, Master Instructor certification and standalone product certifications. They had to take tests daily in order to pass the Master Instructor course, but this year they had a huge incentive beyond their certification; everyone who passed the program received a TASER X3. Can you believe it — all the participating instructors passed! Master Instructors School is more than just training. Many of the instructors will tell you that they enjoyed the networking opportunities that were held throughout the week’s training where they had a chance to share training ideas, learn new concepts and become more than just colleagues. Despite having to do homework and study comprehensive lesson plans, the lessons learned from sharing information among some of the world’s top trainers was invaluable.
Finally, as an added bonus — and just as important — thanks to a benefit performance by county music star Mark Wills and the generosity of the instructors, we were able to raise during the week more than $4100 in donations to the TASER Foundation for Fallen Officers. All in all, it was a wonderful week. The Training Department, Master Instructor Board and Senior Master Instructors at TASER International once again provided a best-in-class week of training and everyone at TASER International went above and beyond to launch another product that will protect lives.