Dell's offer to Australian small businesses: $50,000 in gear, plus Michael Dell

Ok, Dell isn't providing Michael Dell to keep, but a personal meeting with Dell's head honcho and up to $50,000 in Dell kit is on offer to the overall winner of the 2009 Dell Small Business Excellence Award.

Perhaps Dell could provide deeper insight on the release timeframe of Windows 7, his thought's on Vladimir Putin, or whether Dell's smartphone plans are just someone's idea of a very bad joke.

Either way, the 2009 Dell Small Business Excellence Award is looking mighty enticing. As well as the aforementioned chinwag with Dell himself, there's a swag of gear up for grabs to the Australian business who best shows "innovative use of technology".

The overall winner, announced September 2009, gets:

• US$25,000 in Dell products and services
• a day of best-practice "sharing" with Dell executives (that's the meeting with Michael Dell)
• training vouchers with EXCOM
• 2 tickets to the SEAANZ conference in New Zealand (Small Enterprise Association of Australia and New Zealand)

Ten Australian finalists will each get a Dell business-class notebook up to US$1500 and training vouchers from EXCOM Education valued at AU$2370. 

To enter you need to submit by April 3, 2009.