Top Dell Execs To Hold 'Town Hall' Sessions

The meetings are scheduled to kick off July 10 in New York in a customer gathering that will focus on Dell's small- and midsize business strategy, a company spokeswoman said. Dell executives at that session will include Michael Dell and Frank Muehleman, vice president and general manager of Dell's SMB unit.

The Round Rock, Texas-based PC giant also is gearing up for a dedicated session with VARs that focuses on the company's plan to grow sales through its U.S. commerical solution provider channel. Details about the session, including location and date, are still being hammered out.

Other executives will appear at different forums in cities that are yet to be determined, the spokeswoman said. She said the meetings likely would be held about once a month.

Dell executives are reaching out to customers and partners at a time when company changes are coming at a breakneck speed. Last month, Dell said the company would seek to boost its sales through the channel and launch a major, worldwide retail effort to help reach more customers.

Earlier this week, Dell began selling some PCs at more than 3,000 Wal-Marts in North America, and last Friday the company said it plans to sell notebooks at hundreds of Wal-Mart's Sam's Club wholesale club stores. Dell said more retail deals are likely.

In addition, the company is working on a Dell-authorized partner program and other incentives for new channel partners. While specifics have not yet been spelled out, as executives meet and hash out terms and conditions, the program will likely roll out this year. The PC company has said that as much as $4 billion of its annual revenue comes via solution providers in North America.