I really like seeing how organizations experiment with social media, especially those who keep on pushing those envelopes and invite us to get involved and see what happens during such experimentation.

Like Dell.

Today at 9am PDT (5pm UK), Dell is holding a press conference to introduce a new generation of mobility products. The event physically takes place in San Francisco, linked with media events in London and New Delhi, and webcast live over the net.

Nothing unusual about that: pretty much run-of-the-mill these days for a global tech firm’s product launch PR event.

What makes it different is the role of Twitter that is an integral – indeed, primary – part of this event:

[…] Dell will answer questions from reporters and customers in real-time online during a global news conference Tuesday (Aug. 12) unveiling the company’s new generation of mobility products.

Users of Twitter, a free social networking and micro-blogging service, will be able to ask questions about Dell’s new products and the company will “tweet” the answers. Tweets are text-based posts up to 140 characters in length.

Reporters and customers on Twitter can direct questions during the news conference to www.twitter.com/Digital_Nomads. Dell will also blog about the Global Mobility Event at Direct2Dell.

Dell is among the first major companies to offer reporters and customers the opportunity to ask questions on Twitter during a live news conference.

Reminds me of another event where Dell was among the first to experiment, pushing that envelope – launching a formal presence in Second Life in November 2006. That was followed by introducing customer support in Second Life in July 2007.

In both of these examples, the people at Dell involved the communities with whom they have built relationships. And they’re doing the same with today’s event and Twitter.

Thinking ahead a bit, too, on what other communication uses Twitter could play in an organized event like this involving other communication channels. Financial communication, perhaps.

So how effective will Dell’s event today be using Twitter the way they’re planning?

I’m going along to find out. Don’t you want to see what happens with that envelope?

[Update Aug 13] Learning from Dell’s experiment with Twitter.