So reads my list of interesting contacts made on the first day of Gamescom 2011, the largest trade fair for interactive games and entertainment in Europe.
Suit-wearers were not only outnumbered by those with facial piercings at this Cologne-based trade fair, but I could swear I saw more robots, medieval knights and pirates than I did people wearing ties.
The clientele was certainly livelier than your average trade fair and the stands were among the most impressive I've seen - bumping into Darth Vader in front of a full size Mig fighter is not an average Wednesday afternoon in this line of work.
There were times I thought I was in the wrong film - as the Germans would say.
But behind the blaring noise, the flashy graphics, the queues of eager gamers and the variety of fancy dress fantasy characters lies an important economic truth.
The end products might be all about entertainment but the work that goes on behind them is as serious as it gets.
All across the UK you can find highly-skilled, highly- qualified professionals working for innovative and world-leading firms developing extraordinary products. Exports from the UK were worth £1.4bn last year with 95% of the 400+ firms in this sector sending goods or services abroad.
More than 30,000 are employed in games development, which generates nearly £4bn a year for the UK economy.
As the largest games development market in Europe - and 5th largest in the world - it would be wrong to not take this sector more seriously than some of the fancy dress here at Gamescom would suggest.
And talking of serious, the so-called Serious Games sector is a growing one. Some of the technologies behind entertainment games are being used for everything from city planning and surgery to police, pilot and army training simulators.
Also educational software is playing an increasingly important role, with new products for use in schools, company training and adult education being developed.
The UK's prominent position in the games development world was further boosted this week by being selected as Partner Country for Gamescom. This has provided a further showcase for UK companies to highlight their development capabilities all across the sprawling venue this week.
The robots, cyborgs and giant hedgehogs don't have to travel far to see yet another poster or leaflet promoting the UK's game industry sector.