For years, I imagined how killer it would be to run into an EGM editor at a convenient store or fashion boutique--somewhere they wouldn't think to be recognized. And according to ex-EGMer Andrew Fitch, it rarely ever happens. I met him first before meeting a few other heroes of mine at the Buckshot Bar and Gameroom for the first Bitmob community meet-up.

Fitch and I got to talking about Shane Bettenhausen, and I brought up the fateful quote that broke my heart:

"When you listen to any one show or read someone's work, you're getting a facet of their personality...anybody who thinks they really understand or know any of us as people, they really don't."

Bettenhausen said this on a swan song episode of the 1up Yours podcast last January. It took me by surprise because I always thought Shane came off well and would be happy with his portrayal. Though controversial, he came off as likeable, natural and quick-witted. He commonly peppered in anecdotes of his Kentucky fried youth, as well. What more is there to a person?

When Fitch confirmed that the person depicted on 1up Yours was pretty much Bettenhausen, I knew I had the night's mission on my hands. Fitch (who came off as even more humble than he appears in writing and on shows) gave me hope that maybe I do indeed have an idea of who my industry heroes are as people.

When I met Dan "Shoe" Hsu, he was followed by an entourage of two gorgeous women and Aaron Thomas. In front of a TRON arcade cabinet, we spoke about EGM, and I asked him to sign one of my favorite issues. He could not have been more open to chat and even regaled me with a story relevant to issue No. 213. It would have been perfect if I didn't interrupt to say I had heard him tell the story before on EGM Live. Sometimes I just don't think. Thankfully, Shoe told me anyway, and he was just as I imagined.

Humor is what I remember most about afternoons flipping through an entire EGM. And reading Crispin Boyer's reviews and features, I had an idea where a lot of it came from. When I saw Boyer on the 1up Show presenting items he had punched in his office, or on EGM Live with tales of ocean voyages, I knew he was the comedy pirate I imagined. In front of the bar, Boyer confirmed this while handing his wife a pint of amber chock-full of limes. We laughed about scurvy and cried over Assassin's Creed. This was the highlight of my evening.

Listening to many podcasts, I can't help but feel I know Greg Ford. He talks in my ear at least twice a week. Ford is a reserved speaker but draws excitement out at intervals. Early at Buckshot, I caught glimpses of him slouched over the bar in conversation, but as the night wore on...well, have you seen the picture? We spoke in front of a giant, blaring speaker, and his signature voice still came in loud and clear. When he signed my EGM, he, too, went into the story (from a different perspective) that Shoe had previously told me. This time I did not interrupt.

After Bettenhausen made that quote on 1up Yours, Andrew Pfister added that listeners are treated to just "a small window." But to me, it's a small window on a weekly, and sometimes daily, basis. So, it's more of a billboard-size window.