• by Karl Greenberg , March 3, 2011

Chevrolet will have a roster of events and programs at the South by Southwest festival in Austin, Tex. next week. This is the second year for Chevrolet as a "Super Sponsor" of the high-tech film, music, digital and arts event. The automaker will show off its panoply of in-vehicle gadgetry and serve as shuttle service for attendees.

Chevrolet will use its presence at the 10-day event in part to promote its new telematics program, MyLink, which was unveiled on the tech-geeky "Engadget Show" last month, and will have some 30 Chevy Cruze sedans with the MyLink installed as part of a grassroots program in Austin during the event called "Catch A Chevy." In addition to being the complementary shuttle service vehicle, the Cruzes will have MS Tags affixed to them that can be scanned via mobile phone. The tags launch a mobile site touting the vehicle's highlights.

Chevy says it will also conduct test drives at the Austin Convention Center, where events will be held, with a fleet comprising the Volt, Cruze, Camaro, Corvette, Equinox and Traverse vehicles.

And the automaker will use a location-based program on site via Gowalla, Foursquare, and Qrank: when attendees check in, they can see branded tips on upcoming SXSW events at that venue or get from there to the closest "Catch A Chevy" stop from there; a Chevrolet-branded program on Qrank lets attendees compete in a trivia game with a SXSW and Chevrolet theme, dangling tickets to music, concerts or films. Volt Recharge Lounge will festoon the event for people to recharge digital devices. A "Chevy Showcase" program on March 16 and 19 has the company sponsoring a roster of indie bands.

To tout its OnStar telematics platform, Chevy is sending 10 road-trip teams to Austin from different markets in the U.S. and Canada. The team will show off the latest iteration of OnStar, which can now link to Facebook and Twitter and has a voice communication app for Android phones. The teams will get instructions for the trip, and post updates through social media channels, according to Chevy.

The company is also part of a panel on connected vehicles, wherein Nick Pudar, VP of business development and planning for OnStar, will be part of a panel with executives from Verizon, Pandora and Qualcomm.

Chevrolet is one of 14 of the SXSW Super Sponsors and the only auto brand. Others include Microsoft, AT&T, Samsung, IFC, AOL, and Miller Lite.