Software for running a convention

Hey there, multi-talented Niners of eclectic and extensive experience:

I'm looking for good software, preferably open-source for running a convention: event tracking, ticketing, hopefully exposing the data as a live web page as well, for the people attending and buying tickets. 

This is for a science fiction con, with the standard run of panels, lectures and presentations, over a couple of days. I'm sure that there are dozens of projects for that out there, and I would really prefer to NOT reinvent the wheel here.

Have any of you used something like this before, and can recommend it? I'm scouting around on SourceForge and so forth, and found a few possibilities, but a personal recommendation would help greatly.

Thanks.

I would just make an even / page + even on Facebook. Then I will share my Photos/Videos and Powerpoint from SkyDrive, pretty much it. I am much lazier

magicalclick said:

I would just make an even / page + even on Facebook. Then I will share my Photos/Videos and Powerpoint from SkyDrive, pretty much it. I am much lazier

Also not really practical for a 3-day event with hundreds of attendees and dozens of events, unfortunately. Gotta keep track of tickets sold and events shifting about. I don't need to have people just mark themselves as Attending - I gotta see who paid for tickets and who didn't. It can be done with a big pile of Excel sheets, and usually is, but I'm looking for something a bit more convenient.

Yggdrasil said:

magicalclick said:

*snip*

Also not really practical for a 3-day event with hundreds of attendees and dozens of events, unfortunately. Gotta keep track of tickets sold and events shifting about. I don't need to have people just mark themselves as Attending - I gotta see who paid for tickets and who didn't. It can be done with a big pile of Excel sheets, and usually is, but I'm looking for something a bit more convenient.

Found this from a Bing search: http://registertoattend.com

Free for free events, $3.50 per transaction + 3% of total revenue for paid events.

spivonious said:

Yggdrasil said:

*snip*

Found this from a Bing search: http://registertoattend.com

 

Free for free events, $3.50 per transaction + 3% of total revenue for paid events.

That's... so damn expensive I can't even begin to explain. This is for big, professional events, not the non-profit con we're trying to raise. A ticket for an event - lecture, panel, whatever  goes for about $8-$10, so this comes out to nearly 50% of the revenue. 

Thanks, though.

Yggdrasil said:

spivonious said:

*snip*

That's... so damn expensive I can't even begin to explain. This is for big, professional events, not the non-profit con we're trying to raise. A ticket for an event - lecture, panel, whatever  goes for about $8-$10, so this comes out to nearly 50% of the revenue. 

Thanks, though.

big, professional events warrant big, professional websites.

itsnotabug said:

Yggdrasil said:

*snip*

big, professional events warrant big, professional websites.

I agree, but it's just not what we need. This is for TechEd-style events, where attendants pay hundreds of dollars for the entire event. We're working differently, with tickets to specific lectures, so it's not really appropriate. 

Yggdrasil said:

itsnotabug said:

*snip*

I agree, but it's just not what we need. This is for TechEd-style events, where attendants pay hundreds of dollars for the entire event. We're working differently, with tickets to specific lectures, so it's not really appropriate. 

Do you want to sell the tickets online or just track them online? Selling anything online will cost a reasonable merchant fee (usually around 3-4% plus 30 cents per transaction) if you are accepting credit cards. There is pretty much no way around this. Paypal and Google Checkout will manage this for you.

Bass said:

Yggdrasil said:

*snip*

Do you want to sell the tickets online or just track them online? Selling anything online will cost a reasonable merchant fee (usually around 3-4% plus 30 cents per transaction) if you are accepting credit cards. There is pretty much no way around this. Paypal and Google Checkout will manage this for you.

I can live with only using the software to track orders and print tickets. Most of the tickets are sold in cash, anyway, and we have a credit-card solution already.

Mike Swanson does a good job with MIX/PDC. Just kidnap him, and tie him to a chair for a few months, he'll get it done for you.