I finally got back in from upstate NY, but now I am very sick. However, I can't help but be jealous of the ooo conference going on in Atlanta, mostly because Atlanta is home to me (I grew up in GA, and went to undergrad in atl). And while I am sure that Ian Bogost knows of more contemperory fun things to do in a-town (like, is the Atlanta Book Exchange still the best used book store in town?), I had meant to do a post of things you should do while in Atlanta. I'll go ahead and do it anyway.
Despite its being a very southern city, Atlanta has any number of vegetarian and vegan restaurants that are all remarkably good. Veggieland in Buckhead is still the most unique find. The food is all truly yummy, while being absurdly cheap at the same time. I basically lived there when I was in Atlanta, and the phone number is still in my cellphone because I can't bring myself to erase it. Soul V is a vegan soulfood restaurant in Altanta. That's right, vegan soulfood. How could you pass that up in your visit to the capital of the dirty south? There are two of them, they are both amazing. The one in the highlands probably has better service, but still. It is hard to go wrong. Lastly, if you want to go to a vegetarian restaurant, but you want you want it to be more up-scale, check out Cafe Sunflower. It is probably more famous than the other places, and certainly yummy and worth checking out. There are plenty of other, veg-friendly restaurants. Mellow Mushroom, now a rather large chain, originated on spring street near GA Tech. It is one of the best pizza places on earth.
If you like beer, you need to check out Sweetwater. The brewery itself is located in midtown, and taking a tour and drinking the samples is a lot of fun (and I remember fairly cheap). Sweetwater Blue is one of my favorite beers of all time.
As for other things to do, there are plenty. Most of them well known. I am going to plug one of my favorites and less know, is the Center for Puppetry Arts. The best is if you can catch a show, though the museum is pretty fun by itself.
Okay, back to sleeping for me. I hope the conference is amazing for the people there.