GM’s been all over SXSW.  Branded power strips juiced up iPhones and laptops while select visitors at the Chevy lounge scored test drives of the 2011 Volt electric car.

When one of Chevy’s fleet of SXSW sedans cruised to the curb at Frog Design’s swank party at Austin’s Mexican American Cultural Center last night, my New York City cab-hailing instincts kicked in.

I opened the passenger door and asked the drive if he was heading toward the convention center.  Before he could answer, I sensed someone else was vying for the same cab, er Chevy courtesy shuttle.  Was it another slightly toasted SXSW reveler?

Nope, it was Christopher Barger, global director of social media at General Motors.

Needless to say, it wasn’t a good time to start talking about the cool Facebook apps my colleagues at Context Optional, had created for Kia, Audi, Hyundai and Toyota.  I managed to mumble a goodnight and told Chris that, while sober in Austin, I too was driving a Chevrolet: a base-model Cobalt, courtesy of Enterprise Rent-a-Car.

Chris drove off in his chauffeurred Chevy.  I shoe-horned myself into an aging Austin taxicab (Dodge) with five newfound SXSW friends and headed for the HappyCog party.

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/coloradosteve/