Show Commander: About the Developer

Development History

January 2013: Panic spreads as the founder accidentally volunteers to take over as one of the Show Secretaries for the largest poultry show in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin International.
February 2013: It becomes obvious that the vintage "type and merge" system is incompatible with his 21st century PC system. Failing in an attempt to convert it, a light bulb goes off in his head.
March 2013: Drawing upon his 20 years of technology experience, a plan was created to build a new web-based registration system from scratch.
July 2013: After months of coding, a preliminary version of what was then known as "Poultry Show Reg" was operational. It was designed to be functional on a local network, so that his daughters could help when crunch-time came.
September 2013: Installed on a shared network, 3 volunteers started processing entries using the beta "Poultry Show Reg" software. Over 2,100 birds were entered, with only one cooping error due to an incorrect classification (corrected in subsequent versions). Exhibitors rave about receiving a receipt for their entry.
October 2013: Recapping the performance of the beta version, it became apparent that enhancements are needed to allow more complete browsing, auditing and reporting, as well as allowing different types of volunteers to have differing privileges on the system.
December 2013: After investigating various Internet-based collaborative frameworks, a technical architecture was chosen and a complete rewrite of the system was started. Implementation deadline for version 2.0 was set for July 2014.
May 2014: Exhaustive testing of the newly renamed "Show Commander" was begun. Dozens of new features were included in the rewrite, enabling Internet-based collaborative processing of show entries, strong auditing of entries, quick follow-ups and extensive reporting.
June 2014: Based on the past success in quickly entering data, the deadline for entries was advanced one full week.
September 2014: Nearly 2,000 entries processed in record time. The combined efforts of effective audit reports and exhibitor review of receipts lead to zero showroom errors.
November 2014: Decision is made to make Show Commander available to other poultry clubs through a subscription plan. Research into unique requirements of other poultry shows leads to a very large enhancement list.
January 2015: Deadline is set for a demonstration environment to be released by April 1, 2015. This is to be a self lead, allowing potential purchasers to use their own real data in vetting the system.
February 2015: Demo environment is released for alpha testing.
March 2015: Demo environment is released.
August 2015: Work on next release is begun.
August 2016: Major enhancements to allow tracking results at the per-bird level is implemented. Headed to beta testing at the Wisconsin International in September.
September 2016: Newly released software performed flawlessly, handling the entry, tracking, placing, and reporting of over 2,000 exhibits.
February 2017: The largest poultry show in Wisconsin selects Tone Software Solution's Show Commander as its show management software for 2017.
April 2017: A second prominent poultry club selects Show Commander to manage their show.
September 2017: The largest poultry show in Wisconsin again selects Show Commander to help manage their show.
November 2017: The largest pigeon show in Wisconsin chooses Show Commander to process entries, create judging sheets, and organize showroom activities.
June 2018: Repeat customers heap praise on how the software made a tough job manageable.
July 2018: The second largest pigeon show in the country chooses Show Commander to help manage their show this winter.
September 2018: Over 13,000 Poultry and Pigeon entries now processed by Show Commander.
July 2019: Completed major enhancements, including sending email directly from Show Commander using customizable templates for entry issues, stored notes for entries, direct-to-card coop cards (no need to use labels!), remote worker entry queue processing, redesigned show summaries, new accounting reports, exhibitor entry lists for distribution at the check-in table, and more.
September 2019: Crossing 19,500 Poultry and Pigeon entries processed by Show Commander.
December 2019: Since its inception in 2013, Show Commander has processed over 23,000 entries. Version 2.8 is released, featuring improved small-screen support (phone and tablet), as well as improved statistics gathering. Production of help videos has begun.
January 2020: An initial group of "How To" videos was added to the website. Many more are scheduled to be released before March.
May 2021: Development begins on an api with an alternative frontend. Scheduled completion Late 2022.
October 2022: Online entry system for exhibitors is ready for alpha testing. Scheduled release Fall 2023.
July 2023: Added support for 4-H poultry shows that utilize APA/ABA classes.
August 2023: Online exhibitor entry beta test completed.

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