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Microsoft plans seminars to sell software in Medford The world's biggest software company will come to Medford with its "Big Day '99" to push for bigger sales here. Microsoft Corp. plans a series of free all-day seminars, each dubbed the "big day," at 140 small- and medium-sized cities across the country. The seminars focus on ways Microsoft's software can increase efficiency at businesses -- especially those with 50 employees or less. The effort hits Medford May 6 from 7:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the DoubleTree Hotel on Riverside Avenue. To register, call (877) 435-7638 or visit the Web site: www.msbigday.com Pat Hayes, a Microsoft marketing director, says the program was started after data revealed lots of cities with plenty of computers that Microsoft's marketing efforts hadn't reached. Medford, for example, has a PC for every six people while Portland has one for every four, Microsoft says, But Portland users purchase four times as much software per PC. Hayes makes no effort to hide Microsoft's motives -- "It's a sales pitch, no question about it" -- but says the seminars are extremely useful to business people. The seminar takes a fictional small business through selecting an operating system (Windows '98 or Windows NT), learning to make the most of Microsoft Office, establishing and managing integrated networks and creating Web sites. The company plans to make Medford a regular stop for the seminars, returning every six months. Today's Business Index Mail Tribune Copyright � The Mail Tribune 1999, Medford, Oregon USA