Crowd Control

Last year, Fargo, N.D.-based Great Plains Software held eight meetings across the country to introduce its e-commerce products to potential customers. The sessions were all well-attended. The Seattle meeting, however, threatened to explode at the seams. A week or so in advance, 200 people had registered for a morning event that had been planned for half that number. Despite her budget constraints, Janice Harter, U.S. marketing programs manager for Great Plains, saw no way out except finding a