Mark:
I would definitely recommend a People Picker over any other control.
The way I would do things (based on the little I know about your goals) is to leave the form alone server side and simply hide the table row which contains the People Picker. You can use SPfindPeoplePicker to set it, and the user will not be any wiser.
Of course, that same value will be available in the author (Created By) column, so you may be doing redundant work anyway.
M.
I would definitely recommend a People Picker over any other control.
The way I would do things (based on the little I know about your goals) is to leave the form alone server side and simply hide the table row which contains the People Picker. You can use SPfindPeoplePicker to set it, and the user will not be any wiser.
Of course, that same value will be available in the author (Created By) column, so you may be doing redundant work anyway.
M.