SAN DIEGO, Aug. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- With a nod to the increasing influence and importance of the blogosphere and the female bloggers who dominate it, PepsiCo is sponsoring the seventh annual BlogHer Conference.  Now in its third straight year as a sponsor, the company is going deeper than ever to engage with today's digital elite -- with 15 PepsiCo brands participating, the reprise of its popular "Sofa Summit" series on female empowerment, and PepsiCo Chairman and CEO Indra K. Nooyi delivering the conference keynote on Saturday, August 6.

Bringing a perspective as CEO and mother of two, Ms. Nooyi will address the BlogHer community to talk about authentic leadership, the power of inspiration, and the influential role of the blogging community as a driving force in society.  

"Blogs have become a go-to social media source for information, advice and recommendations and today's female bloggers are today's social media pioneers, crafting the new business models of the future," said Julie Hamp, Senior Vice President, Chief Communications Officer, PepsiCo.  "As reviewers, recommenders, and most importantly, purchasers and consumers of our products, they are also a critical audience and a source of inspiration to PepsiCo.   Our long-term success is tied to understanding and engaging these women who not only control purchasing power, but also who are gaining increasing influence and control over communications."

The keynote, a conversation format, will be moderated by Willow Bay, former CNN correspondent and current Huffington Post and Bloomberg Television contributor.

"We salute PepsiCo and its commitment to being partners and supporters of these pioneering women," noted Elisa Camahort Page, BlogHer co-founder and COO.  "This is an exciting year for BlogHer; we are delighted to welcome Indra Nooyi to our stage to share what inspires her and how she defines leadership with our community of digital leaders."

Sampling and Savoring PepsiCo's Portfolio of Products on the Show Floor

More PepsiCo brands will be participating in this year's conference than ever before.  PepsiCo's BlogHer space is designed to showcase many of these brands, including Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade, Frito-Lay, Sierra Mist Natural, Diet Pepsi, Starbucks Mocha Light Frappuccino and 100% Natural Lipton Iced Tea.  Called "The PepsiCo Promenade," the interactive 3D space will feature raw materials like potatoes, oranges and oats that PepsiCo uses in many of its products to underscore the company's sustainability efforts.  

PepsiCo will also introduce PepsiCo Place, a hub for bloggers to share "old school" hand-written messages (via Post-it® notes) and words of inspiration with fellow conference companions.  The hub will be home to special brand pods giving conference-goers a place to fill their senses, find friends and meet some celebrities.  

PepsiCo products generate more than $300 million in retail sales every day, and the company has 19 different product lines that each generates at least $1 billion in annual retail sales. Brands that will be featured at BlogHer include:

• Gatorade will be onsite at BlogHer11 to provide advice on athlete and sports nutrition, sample products from the new G Series FIT line and educate attendees about the importance of sports nutrition in summer months and beyond.
• Quaker will help attendees "nourish what counts" over the course of the day, sampling Quaker Chewy Smash Bars in two varieties -- Pretzel Berry and Graham Pretzel -- that feature ingredients including pretzels, chocolate chunks, graham cereal pieces and fruit all smashed together.   Each bar has 90 calories and 6 grams of sugar.  On Saturday morning, Quaker coach Bob Harper will lead a "Wake Up Workout" for 50 conference attendees, immediately followed by an intimate breakfast and Q&A with bloggers.   
• Tropicana will invite attendees to help children in need through its Fruit & Veg pledge; for every pledge received by Dec. 31, 2011, Tropicana will donate one 8 oz. glass of orange juice (up to 184,375 glasses) to the USDA School Breakfast and Summer Foodservice programs, which help children in low income areas get healthy meals. In addition, TV personality Giuliana Rancic will be on hand Saturday to celebrate new Trop50 lemonades, which have 50% less sugar and calories, at a chic retreat created to help the bloggers feel fabulously refreshed from the inside out.
• Sabra and Stacy's will invite bloggers to stop by and satisfy their snack craving with make-your-own Mediterranean nachos featuring Stacy's Simply Naked Pita Chips and an assortment of Sabra dips.  Dressed in nothing but a sprinkle of sea salt, these baked, all-natural chips are artfully simple and incredibly delicious when paired with Sabra's line of fresh, healthy, authentic dips including Hummus, Salsa, Guacamole, and Greek Yogurt Vegetable Dips.  
• Diet Pepsi will bring a piece of NY Fashion Week to this year's BlogHer with a six foot tall Diet Pepsi stiletto installation, created by fashion commentator Simon Doonan.  Diet Pepsi will also be refreshing bloggers attending the conference with special spa certificates.    

PepsiCo's recently launched Women's Inspiration Network (PepsiCoWIN.com), an on-line channel that spotlights women inspiring women by sharing interviews and posts on a variety of topics will reprise its popular Sofa Summit event at BlogHer. This year's event will feature Sarah Robb O'Hagan, Gatorade President North America and Global CMO, PepsiCo Sports Nutrition in a discussion with Sarah Brokaw, New York Times best-selling author of Fortytude, and will focus on techniques for empowering women. Robb O'Hagan will discuss how she champions connections in her personal and professional life and Brokaw will provide insights from her book, sharing her philosophy on staying connected.

About PepsiCo

PepsiCo offers the world's largest portfolio of billion-dollar food and beverage brands, including 19 different product lines that generate more than $1 billion in annual retail sales each. Our main businesses -- Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade, Frito-Lay, and Pepsi Cola -- also make hundreds of other enjoyable foods and beverages that are respected household names throughout the world. With net revenues of approximately $60 billion, PepsiCo's people are united by our unique commitment to sustainable growth by investing in a healthier future for people and our planet, which we believe also means a more successful future for PepsiCo. We call this commitment Performance with Purpose: PepsiCo's promise to provide a wide range of foods and beverages for local tastes; to find innovative ways to minimize our impact on the environment, including by conserving energy and water usage, and reducing packaging volume; to provide a great workplace for our associates; and to respect, support, and invest in the local communities where we operate. For more information, please visit www.pepsico.com.

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