You may think the last night of SxSW would be spent packing all of the clothes (and more) back into the few small bags you brought, or trying to remember which faces go with the hundreds of business cards you have in your pocket.  Normally this may have been a last night, but not at SxSW. On the last night of my SxSW journey (end of day 9 to be exact) I found myself sitting in the directors lounge of the Paramount theater with Lemmy Kilmister and Phil Campbell of Motorhead on the right of me and Triple H (WWE wrestler) on the left of me.  Mixed somewhere in the room were the two directors/producers, Greg Olliver and Wes Orshoski, of Lemmy the Movie. By the time I realized it was actually me in the room, it was time to move downstairs to watch the premier, and film a great Q&A session with Olliver, Orshoski and Lemmy himself (Q&A posted on YouTube link).  This was my last night at SxSW, and although it may sound strange, it made perfect sense to cap off the week this way.

South by Southwest was better than ever expected this year.  Being my second year, I had only hoped this one would be better than the last, but what I found when I got there was a sense of belonging.  It’s like the entire conference knew I was back and after only a year, made me feel like a seasoned veteran.  Every goal I set out to accomplish, just fell into my lap at some point during the week (music licensing, film production, and improvement on editing skills).  PepsiCo had a strong presence in several areas at SxSW this year, and being part of the group representing PepsiCo meant something even more.  Pete Cashmore of Mashable (one the leaders in the social media world) even stood a little taller when talking about ” the great things PepsiCo is doing”.  I got to see first hand how much of an impact the Pepsi Refresh Project is making not only on people but also across several industries, film, music and the social interaction, represented at SxSW.  People were happy to talk about it on all levels, and were saying great things about what PepsiCo (and its products) is accomplishing.  I left SxSW with a feeling of achievement on many levels.  The first was personal, I came back with a lot more skills and a lot more knowledge than I ever imagined.  More important than this though, I came back knowing that it’s important for PepsiCo to be there.  I know why we are dedicating so much to innovative thinking in places like SxSW, and this year I actually saw the impact that PepsiCo is making as a result.  PepsiCo needs to be there and I am so honored to be a part of the reason we were.  I can’t wait till next year. See you in 2011, SxSW…

Randy Boggs and Wes Orshoski (Lemmy co-director)