Effulgent
(Because every open source project needs a horrible name.)
Effulgent is a work-in-progress barcode-scanning ticketing tool for use at conventions (and other ticketed events), for installation on a group of laptops acting as ticket booths.
The intention is for it to be compatible with EventBrite, be more or less turn-key (being available either as stand-alone or bootable USB Key versions), be able to auto-discover other Effulgent installs on the same network, and be able to handle the failure of one or more nodes.
The current iteration is written in PHP using Zend Framework / MySQL.
Download
Effulgent hasn’t been released yet. It’s sitting in a git repository at home in a pre-Alpha state. 
The first release is expected to land on February 10th, 2010.
Effulgent can be downloaded in its current state from:
http://github.com/damncabbage/Effulgent
(It’s nowhere near release quality, but it’s there in case it’s of use to you.)
Screenshots
Everyone loves ‘em.
Background
SMASH! may be switching to an EventBrite-based ticketing setup this year. Maintaining our own in-house ticketing system is something we don’t have the manpower for (considering the other projects the IT team has to take on), so we’re looking at already-developed solutions.
EventBrite’s existing on-the-day ticket scanning tool doesn’t suit us, though – it requires a webcam per scanning booth (rather than the barcode scanners we already have and have been using), getting multiple booths going is annoying, and the interface is a bit fiddly. Considering the speed at which the booth-people have to scan people, the interface is somewhat of a major issue.
As much as I wanted to write this with Django and CouchDB (for a lark, and to help earn my Python chops), I’ve seen first-hand how UTS ProgSoc’s registration system suffered due to the lack of people willing and able to write Python, so I’ve been developing this with future SMASH! volunteer maintainers in mind.
How It Tends To Gets Used
Keeping it short and sort-of simple:
- Buy some barcode scanners on the cheap from Ebay.
- Set up a few laptops, hook them up with network cable, and plug in the barcode scanners.
- Install Effulgent/Ticketbooth on one laptop. Take the registration details and stick it in the database.
- Start up a web browser on each laptop, point all of them at the server.
- Open the front gates, let the ticket-wielding barbarians in.
- As a ticket-holder gets to you:
- Scan the ticket. The barcode scanner works like a keyboard, and will type the barcode into the box for you and hit enter (see the first screenshot).
- Look at the details. Hit Yes if the ticket hasn’t been scanned before (it’ll tell you if there’s a problem).
- And you’re done. The screen will tell you which wristband to give the ticketholder.
Put the wristband on them and wave the next person over.