Below I’ve compiled a list of 5 spots within 5 miles of the conference that you won’t want to miss. Some may require transportation, some only a brisk walk from the Gaylord but either way you won’t be disappointed with any of these selections.

1) SmokeShack Ribs & BBQ (4.4 Miles – 9119 Livingston Rd Fort Washington, MD 20744)

Let’s cut to the chase. Just go in, walk up to the counter and ask for that NC BBQ Sandwich. That’s it, don’t mess around. I like to get mine hot\spicey. To be honest I couldn’t tell you what’s better, the BBQ or that bread that’s soaked up all of the juices. But what I do know is that there is no way you’re going to pick it up and eat it like it’s a sandwich so make sure you grab a plastic fork on your way out!

www.smokeshackribs.com

2) Henry’s Soul Food Cafe (3.1 Miles 5431 Indian Head Highway Oxon Hill, MD 20745)

They don’t call Henry’s the Home of the Sweet Potato Pie for nothing. Stop goofing off in those fancy hotels and get on down Indian Head Highway for the real deal! In my single days Henry’s was my spot for a good soul food meal so you’re in good hands. Just whatever you do, don’t forget to get a slice of pie with your order.

www.henryssoulcafe.com

3) CakeLove (Walking distance from the Gaylord – 160 National Plaza Oxon Hill, MD 20745)

You’ve seen Cake Love and founder Warren Brown all over the place. From his show Sugar Rush on the Food Network to Oprah to that nifty American Express commercial and now is your chance to experience it first hand.  During your stay at the conference you might not be able to make it to CakeLove mecca on U Street but you can walk out of the Gaylord to their National Harbor location for the same good eats.

http://www.cakelove.com/locations_natharbor.php

4) Cadillac Ranch (Walking distance from the Gaylord- 186 Fleet Street Oxon Hill, MD 20745)

Even though I’m there every year I do realize that Blogalicious caters to women. And I know that when women get together away from their husbands and kids you like to do silly crazy stuff. Well the Cadillac Ranch will fill your silly quota for this trip with their mechanical bull. The only thing better than you trying to ride the bull is laughing at your friends behind their backs when they fall off LOL.

www.cadillacranchgroup.com/nat_harbor.html

5) American Market (Walking distance from the Gaylord- American Way Between Waterfront & Fleet St)

I know that a bunch of you are foodies and crafters so I included this just for you. Each Saturday through Oct. 29th the National Harbor hosts the American Market. According to their website you can “stroll along the outdoor promenade and choose from a vast offering of fine goods and specialty foods from the area’s premiere sellers including handmade crafts, produce, personal products, and jewelry. ”

www.americanmarketnh.com

There you go! A list of 5 spots that you’ll walk away happy with during your stay here. If you have any questions feel free to consider me your concierge during your stay. Drop me a comment or hit me real-time on Twitter at @lamartyler.

Jennifer, Piera, Ronnie & Lamar

Many of you know that Ronnie and I are brand ambassadors for Pampers and members of their Pampers Baby Board. Throughout the year we’ve had some amazing opportunities to pay it forward in various ways from giving away a $300 AmEx gift card for someone to throw a baby shower to providing the Atlanta Diaper Relief with a one year supply of diapers and wipes Oprah style!

Well last week we pulled off our biggest move yet as part of Pampers Little Miracle Missions program. We were givien $1000 dollars to do any good deed that we wanted involving a local Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. After realizing that there were two other bloggers (Piera www.JollyMom.com & Jennifer www.Mami2Mommy.com) who were also given the same opportunity we deiced to pool our money together to make a larger impact. After several months of coordinating the event we pulled off our Pampers Little Miracle Mission this past Thursday at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta – Egleston. The staff was wonderful and so appreciative of our efforts.

We packed duffel bags full of items that would make the parents stay more comfortable and also provided lunch for the NIC Unit staff. To see how the entire event went down and to find out what was in the bags check out the video below. We also have a photo gallery over on BMWK. This was definitely an experience that we’ll never forget. I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank you for supporting the site. It’s through your support that we’re able to get these larger opportunities to directly impact our communities. Please know that we do appreciate you! We’d also like to thank our wonderful sponsors who came on board to provide products that we could provide in the bags and for providing the lunch for the staff. The event wouldn’t have been the same without the involvement of the brands listed below:

Pampers – Hanes – Nuby – Kellogg’s – AOL Latino – Jason’s Deli Midtown – Jem of the South

Using our platform as brand ambassadors for Pampers we were able to help an amazing woman Kia Morgan Smith and her organization Atlanta Diaper Relief. Atlanta Diaper Relief is the FIRST diaper bank in the metro Atlanta area solely dedicated to diaper distribution only.

On Facebook we’re in a closed group that Kia is also a member of. After previously posting a video that mentioned that we were on the Pampers Baby Board Kia reached out to us via FB to see if we’d be able to connect her with anyone who could assist in her efforts of helping Atlanta’s babies in need. We scheduled an interview with Kia and told her that we’d use it to help get the word out. What Kia didn’t know is that we had recently received one years worth of coupons for Pampers brand diapers and wipes and we were going to give them to her.

The magic of Social Media is this:

Social Media has given us the chance to meet people we normally wouldn’t have met and do things we normally wouldn’t have had the ability or the platform to do. We have some other Social Media for Social Good projects brewing and I can’t wait to share those so make sure you stay tuned. Below is the video of our surprise to Kia Morgan Smith and Atlanta Diaper Relief. Please consider making a donation of diapers, money or even hosting a diaper drive to help this great cause.

Recently we held a social media meetup here in Atlanta. One of the panelists was Stacey Ferguson, co-founder of the Blogalicious Conference. Along with 2 college friends Stacey went from being a social media enthusiast to facilitator and creator of one of the country’s most recognized social media conferences. In this, it’s third year Blogalicious will be held in the DC area after very successful past conferences in Miami and Atlanta the two previous years.

During the panel I asked Stacey how did they come up with the idea for the conference and then how did they go from idea to execution? Her answer was along the lines of, they saw an opportunity then basically just did it! They took action because they didn’t know better. They didn’t know that it’s supposed to be insanely difficult to acquire the top level sponsors that are needed to keep you from going to the poor house. They didn’t know that you’re not supposed to be able to get 250-300 bloggers to come to a city that they don’t live in during a recession. Most importantly they didn’t know not to dream big!

Since they didn’t know these things both of the previous conferences have been jam packed with amazing people, amazing sponsors and amazing opportunities for the attendees to grow their businesses and their blogs. Since they didn’t know these things, their very first confernece seemed like it was in year 10 it ran so well. And most importantly since they didn’t know these things they just did it!

So many of us can’t seize the day and take advantage of the amazing opportunities that exist now via the web because we know too much. Because we are afraid to fail and because fear grips us and stops us from taking the next step.

Social media success stories are all around us. When will you create yours?

Description:

Atlanta Blogalicious Meetup – Video Review “Social Selling TV” In this episode of Social Selling TV we spotlight Atlanta Blogalicious Meetup. I had a great time at this event which was hosted my Lamar and Ronnie Tyler.

I’ll be a guest on WAOK- 1380AM on Tuesday 8/16 around 9AM. I’ll be joining Jai Stone – The Brand Coach and we’ll be talking about making money from blogging with host Lorraine Jacques-White. If you’ve been beaten up by the current economy and are ready to make your own position you’ll definitely want to tune in. You can go here to listen live online.