Out of the blue, I got an invite from Dell‘s social media team to participate in their Customer Advisory Panel event this week. Apparently they’re dividing 30 bloggers, social media gurus and influencers into two groups: one that has had problems with Dell and one that are evangelists. I fall into the second category, but just barely.

I wrote a month or so ago about my mom’s bad experience with their customer support line and how my tweet to @RichardatDell saved the day (I get to meet him; very excited). I was pleased with the results, but in reflecting, people who know to tweet a customer service issue are very much in the minority. Had my mom not had a social savvy daughter, she’d still be without a monitor.

Dell wants us to visit, learn more about them, and give them our feedback. As you know, I’m happy to give my unadulterated opinion. I plan to congratulate them on their social media customer service, but let them know that that doesn’t solve the bigger problem: the thousands of people who call into their call center, get transferred 5 times, and leave frustrated, with no solution.

I should do a separate post on this. I’m getting distracted.

So anyway, I’m not sure exactly what to expect, except that Dell is footing the bill for my trip to Round Rock, Texas. I’m attending a tweetup with several Dell employees and the other 14 CAP attendees. I hope to get an inside peek into one of the top brands in the country tech-wise, and I hope to be able to contribute something to the panel. (I also secretly hope they’ll offer to replace my long-suffering Inspiron 1300, but we’ll see).

I’ll be back later in the week with updates! Wish me luck.