Eventbrite announced Tuesday, March 20 that it was launching the At The Door Card Reader, the first device created specifically for the website’s new At The Door iPad app.

Eventbrite, a ticketing website that focuses on allowing event organizers to “plan, promote, and sell out any event,” launched its At The Door iPad application this past December 2011. Prior to the launch, the app was beta tested at several festivals, including Meatopia, The Orange County BBQ Festival, and the IFPDA Print Faire. The goal of the At The Door app, according to Eventbrite’s Vice President of Marketing Tamara Mendelsohn, is to allow event organizers the ability to gather additional important information from those attendees who purchase tickets at the door rather than online.

“Event organizers who use Eventbrite told us ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we could capture the same info at the door that we can get online?'” Mendelsohn told TicketNews in an interview, “Our goal in creating the app was to tell organizers which people were buying tickets at the door and give organizers the information and ability to get in touch with [those purchasers] after the event. ”

But, according to Mendelsohn, the launch of the At The Door Card Reader is the crucial next step that will allow for At The Door to expand to an ever greater audience. In development for “about six months,” the At The Door Card Reader is Eventbrite’s ” first piece of proprietary hardware, and when used together with Eventbrite’s At The Door app, offers a complete box office solution,” according to the company’s press release.

The Card Reader attaches directly to the iPad 30-pin adapter and interfaces with the At The Door app, making it easy for event promoters to use. The use of the 30-pin adapter also allows for, according to Eventbrite’s press release, the ability to ensure a clean credit card swipe every time. Credit cards scanned with the Card Reader are fully protected, as the Card Reader itself contains encryption.

The Card Reader will eliminate the hassle of having to take down credit card information by hand, meaning the process of box office sales will be greatly increased. Mendelsohn also highlighted that the combination of the Card Reader and the At The Door app will be of great use to festivals that lack a physical box office.

“The type of customers that will greatly benefit from the At The Door Card Reader are outdoor festivals that do not have a box office on site,” said Mendelsohn, “They will be able to sell tickets at the door even in the middle of a field.”

testing out the user friendly nature of the At The Door Card Reader in the near future will be the Governor’s Ball, which will be held in New York City this June 2012, as well as several dates on this summer’s Vans Warped Tour.

While the At The Door app and the Card Reader are currently only available on the iPad, Mendelsohn told TicketNews that if there is enough interest in converting the app and Card Reader to another platform, Eventbrite will certainly adapt the technology.

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“We are constantly looking at and evaluating new technology and looking into other platforms to integrate. If we receive user feedback requesting a particular platform, we then begin to integrate with that platform,” said Mendelsohn, “For example, the entry manger app — which is used to scan tickets for events — initially was only available for the iPhone. We began receiving requests for an Android version of the app, which we then created and is now available.”

As one of the leaders in online ticketing innovation on the internet, Eventbrite’s ability to coordinate cutting edge ticketing devices with ticketing apps will certainly serve the site well as it continues to develop new technologies to meet the demands of event managers around the world.