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Category: Rodeo Management

What to do When you Don’t Have WiFi

Posted on by galen

Whether your rodeo management software is app-based or browser-based, a Wi-Fi connection to the Internet is almost an essential item to run the software. Pulling data from the software, posting data to the software, providing updates to the members and spectators will require the ability to download and upload data.  When your location does not have Wi-Fi available, your connection to the software database is gone, and you are on an island. This leaves you with scrambling for a signal. We have 3 suggestions.

Phone Hotspot

The first option, often the best option, is often the simplest option. The simplest from a technical requirement and the least expensive. If you have a cell signal, then you have a data connection to the Internet. Dedicate a phone and turn it into Wi-Fi Hotspot mode. You will want to at least set up a minimum level of security with a password only you know and then connect your device running your rodeo management software to the phone. The huge upside to this solution is that you do not need to transport any additional hardware. The potential downsides are you may have some areas where a cell signal is weak and your connection may then be spotty as well as possible data charges depending on the phone owners phone plan.

Satellite

The second option is both more technically complex but also more robust and can offer a great range of benefits for your rodeo admin and for your rodeo members and rodeo spectators. There are several satellite options available, including satellite Internet and satellite TV options, that can be deployed. Many satellite TV systems also have a low speed data option that is suitable for the small bursts of data needed for rodeo management software. The biggest drawback to these is usually the equipment is fairly bulk and setup may be time consuming. An advantage could be that the equipment owner likely has the equipment and service on a subscription plan so any usage is likely at no cost.  A dedicated mobile satellite Internet service offers the most robust solution and usually include the broadcast of a Wi-Fi signal which can be used by rodeo Admin and also made available to members and spectators. These mobile Internet services will come at a cost, an investment in the hardware and a data plan, but most plans can be turned on when needed paused when not needed. 

Go Manual

The last option is taking a few steps back with technology and is likely an option of last resort, but we also think it should be a back up option you prepare for when using any of the options above.   A good rodeo management software system will have encountered organizations with the obstacles of no Wi-Fi signals and the inability to take advantage of the above options. The solution they are left with is to go manual, to use a paper-based posting of the draw and recording results on paper, followed by updating the rodeo management software after the rodeo and calculating results / standings when online access is available. To do this, the rodeo Admins must have the ability to generate all the necessary rodeo tools prior to the rodeo and print them for use at the rodeo. The draws, announcer sheets, judges sheets, scoring sheets, day sheets, etc. must all be available in a print-ready format.

Conclusion

Rodeo grounds are often in remote locations. The availability of Wi-Fi is not a key consideration when the arena was built or even the arena is old enough it wasn't even an option at the time. Regardless, a rodeo organization still needs to communicate to the members and spectators and to have access to the information in the rodeo management software to operate their rodeo. The options suggested above offer varying levels of sophistication, but still provide a good rodeo experience for members and spectators.

Rodeo Software Best Practices

Posted on by galen

We get contacted quite often because of our past experience in developing rodeo management software. We are more than happy to offer our thoughts and opinions on rodeo management software best practices. Best practices are those which are carried out by the software provider and are seen in the form of customer friendly benefits and policies. In the end, the leading question for a rodeo software evaluation is "does it make managing your rodeos easier?"

Operational Efficiency

In comparison to cobbling together a set of online forms, spreadsheets and manual calculator, are you spending less time feeding the system and are you confident in the data and calculations? The term "end-to-end" is often used to describe a system that does not require any other systems to be used to supplement the processing of information. In evaluating rodeo software, keep in mind you will still other software (email, accounting, etc.) to manage your business, but a good rodeo management system won't need you to supplement with spreadsheets for draws or credit card processing for payments, these will be part of the system. Rodeo software should take you from the beginning of your season's rodeo schedule, member management, entries, draws, results calculations, and standings.

Admin Efficiency

In contrast to Operational Efficiency which minimizes the number of systems needed to handle a function, Admin Efficiency minimizes the amount of effort required by your people to manage the information. A good rodeo software program will never require the entry of the same data/information more than once. This is product of the system design, the ability to reference the data in one place throughout the entire system. Data entered by a member in their member profile should be available in report displays. Data entered by a rodeo admin in the rodeo schedule should be publicly available to the fans and members.

Ability to Scale

If there are limits, then the system eventually become unusable. Rodeo organizations are often expanding their membership, increasing the number of rodeos, and including more events. Your software needs to support the growth and expansion, in all directions, with no restrictions. An organization with 100 members and 5 rodeos should have the same quality experience as an organization with 1000 members and 30 rodeos.

Access to Historical Information

Year over year, various changes occur in a rodeo organization. Fee structures change. Event offerings change. The ability to go back and review accurate historical information is important. Most importantly, rodeo results and season standings are critical to keep track of. It should be a painless experience to access archived information past rodeo seasons. Your members may have sentimental reason to look back. Your executive will have a requirement to have these available.

Decreasing Bug Reports

All software has bugs. Some have more bugs. The trend should be towards a decreasing number of bug reports. That is a sign that your software provider has a dedicated development team and that issues are dealt with and eliminated. If the same bug appears week after week, rodeo after rodeo, it is a drain on your resources. Software developers need to be both proactive via extensive testing to catch bugs pre-release, and reactive, to fix bugs that have slipped through.

Painless Software Updates

Not just bug fixes. Software providers should be able to upgrade, update, and release new features to their users in a way that does not impact the users. Data loss due to an update or loss of features is a critical error. Updates should increase the value and functionality of the software.

What Makes a Good Rodeo Management System?

Posted on by galen


Aside from the standard features, what are the qualities that make a good rodeo management system? What questions should you ask your rodeo management software provider? As the lead programmer of a rodeo management software system that was used by hundreds of organization, we hope to help you answer these questions with our suggestions below. Please note that we are not subscribing our recommendations to any particular brand of a rodeo management system. Rather, we are basing our recommendations on an overview of a number of systems available and the most valuable aspects across the sampling.

Ubiquitous


In a simple measure of useability, is this software available to use across a wide variety of locations. 

Works Across Member Devices


A good system will be easy for members to use, working efficiently across a variety of devices. Members do not want to invest in software and also do not want to struggle with software which is confusing beyond their comprehension. The time from initial use to being able to interact with the rodeo organization should be less than 2 minutes. This assumes that the software is intuitive and that it can be used without requiring an extensive dive into a user manual. 

Flexibility & Customization


While ease of use and short learning curve are essential for members, for Admin users, of higher priority is the system flexibility and customization to their needs.  All rodeo associations have a rule book published by their executive and it's hard to find the same rules in any two rodeo associations. For good reasons, there are some subtle and some major differences between how associations operate their rodeos and seasons. It is the ability of the software, or software provider, to accommodate the many combinations of rules and exceptions.

Trial and Testing


When the hooves hit the dirt, the software must work. The best way to prevent surprises and system failures at a rodeo is by trialing and testing the software before it goes live to members. This means the software provider should offer a risk-free trial period and work alongside the association to test the system.

Payment or No Payment Solution


Online payment has tremendous benefits. Much of today's consumer commerce is conducted online nowadays, whether that is ordering products online or purchasing entertainment tickets. A Rodeo Management Should offer this as a standard feature. But, also prevalent in the rodeo industry is a subset of people who do not want to, or who are not able to, process payments online. Whether the reasons are preferences, or capability, an effective solution should provide online payment but also streamline the process for an association to record payments by other methods.

Data Integrity


The single biggest risk to any organization's data is to have one single device or one single storage location. If both the software and data are resident on one users device, the opportunities for failure run the full spectrum from accidental damage, equipment failure, user error, theft, any many other situations which would leave an organization system-less. The integrity of the data requires that it, and the device, need to be separate, and that the data is stored where it can be access by another device with approved access.

End to End


This almost a extension of the features discussion, but it's really a summation of the features. The best Rodeo Management System will provide the broadest and most integrated set of features that allow the rodeo admins to operate the system without requiring processing of data/information by any other software.

Data Export


In contrast to the paragraph above, there are certain situations where the ability to export data from the rodeo management software to use in a different setting is a tremendous asset. for example, rodeo software is not accounting software. But it has valuable data that is required as inputs to accounting software. The ability to export reduces data entry errors to the external system.

Support Costs


Lastly, before you hang your hat on any software solution, you need to understand the support costs involved. How much does customization cost? How much are you charge to resolve a support item? What are the training costs. These need to be added to cost of the software to arrive at a true cost of ownership of the software.

Rodeo Management Software Top 10 Features

Posted on by galen

Intro - End to End

We are going to give you a quick rundown of what we believe to be the Top 10 features a rodeo management software system should have.  A bit of a preamble here. When we first began building the Rodeo Management System in 2014, we knew about 5% of what we needed to know. we learned as we grew and when we sold it in 2022, we were pretty close. So here's our Top 10 features, some of these are things we have learned early on and some are much more recent.

We have worked with rodeo associations who were looking to transition from a cobbled together mish mash of spreadsheets, database software, and hosted forms. We have talked to associations who were using software that had not been updated in 20 years. We have heard the frustrated voices of rodeo admins that worked with providers that offer no support.

As we said in another article (What Makes a Good Rodeo Management System?), a good rodeo management system should support you from end-to-end of your rodeo season. Beginning with member management, through rodeo entries, draws, results calculations, and compiling your standings. As soon as you have to introduce external system, the whole system breaks down.

Member Management (by Admin & Members)

You must be able to add/edit and delete all of your member records. Without a comprehensive member database, your association will be constantly resorting to other systems, and jumping back and forth, to manage what needs to be managed. That's just half the equation. Your members want to have access to their information, to view their historical performance, and to update their contact information as needed.

Built-in Entry Forms

Don't rely on external entry forms (hosted form providers). The needs of rodeo associations are quite unique.  Work with a system that has the entry forms integrated. Otherwise you will always have export/import issues to deal with and you will only have an up-to-date view of your rodeo entries after imports. This is inefficient.

Rodeo Formats

Rodeo management software should understand how rodeo operates. There are many rodeo draw formats from multiple-performance to multiple go rounds, sometimes including slack performances, sometimes go-round formats have averages. These should be settings available at the click of a button. You should never have to build the logic yourself. 

Online Payment & Offline Payment

Your members complete your rodeo entry form and then pays their entry fees online. Done. A rodeo admin doesn't need to touch this. Convenience for the member. Efficiency for the organization. Win - win.  Fully integrated online payment is the commerce model of almost all organizations in this day and age. But, we also need to recognize that this may only be a 90 to 95% solution and you need a way to record payments not processed online.

Ability to Edit / Add / Delete Entries

In the best rodeo weeks, everything goes 100% according to plan. In the worst weeks, it seems like 8 days of rain while the hay pile burns. Most weeks are something in-between, most likely something like the first one. But you need to be able to make changes, big and small, for too many reason to list. So you need to access to every aspect of the entries, without restrictions. If you can't fix it, it will likely stay broken and a problem for the whole rodeo. Check out the editing and manual over-ride features of the software you are investigating.

Draw Generation (placement and stock)

In goes the entrants, out comes the draw. Oh, if only it was so easy! I've built the logic for several rodeo draw systems. Behind the scenes, this is the most logically and mathematically complex part of a rodeo management system. Entry groups, draw priorities, draw preferences, performances, gos, and other confounding variables lead to many weeks of development and testing and at least a few glasses of celebration as it was completed. Regardless of our own efforts and finally successes, a rodeo draw feature that produces highly confident random draws following all your rules is a massive benefit of a rodeo management system that is worth celebration. This feature is  on the "absolutely necessary to test" list for prior to stepping into your live rodeo. Test and re-test and then can you make edit to the draw (similar to the above requirement on entries). Let's face it, we know changes are going to be requested, we just don't yet know who and why, this time.

Stock Management

Some organizations will handle stock manually, drawing out of a hat by the entrants at the chute. Some events will be which ever steer wandered into the gate. Most organization will slightly more rigid stock draw rules, with a random draw generated and posted prior to the rodeo. Whichever means of drawing stock, you still need to have a method of managing your stock database and assigning (computer generated random assignment or manual) the stock to the entrants for their run. This feature is also on the "absolutely necessary to test" list for prior to stepping into your live rodeo.

Public Display of Schedules, Draws, Results, Standings

Your rodeo fans want to be able to follow along. Your members want to see up-to-date information on your website. Your members need to be able to quickly and easily access your rodeo schedule and all the important information on the upcoming rodeos. Each piece of rodeo  information is important at different points in time in the rodeo season. Viewing the draw prior to loading the trailer means your members can plan their weekend rodeo schedule. Presenting the rodeo information in an accessible, complete, organized and easily understood manner means fewer phone calls to the rodeo admin and more time to take care of everything else.

Calculations of Payouts and Points

If your current software requires that the calculation of Payouts and Points for each event happens outside the software, likely in a spreadsheet, or, please say no, manually by calculator, then it's time to switch. Payout formulas are complicated. Points award systems are complicated. The best system, from the experienced software builders, will get this right for you.

Standings

Turning back to calendar to 2014, as we developed our first rodeo software program, the office manager of the rodeo association we were working with told us that, "on Fridays, I do the standings". I think our response was something similar to amazement. We were walking through the software they were currently using as we built the software to replace it. She was taking each rodeo, each event, each result, and entering into a spreadsheet, to update the season standings, which were then posted as a PDF on their website. So we gave her Fridays off! We built a replacement system that simply used the rodeo results data already in the database to automatically calculate season standings. A click of a switch in the dashboard and the season standings were posted to the organization's website. Literally from all of Friday to the 5 seconds to click a button. 

Literally from all of Friday to the 5 seconds to click a button. Your rodeo software program should automatically calculate your season standings, your rookie standings, your all around standings, with little more effort from you that a click of a button. 

Conclusion

You can likely list off a dozen other features that are in your Top 10. Would that make is a Top 22 list? We kept this to a list of the 10 most important. At any one time, you may find other features to be critically important. We get it. We can help you find that system.