Do mastering engineers hang out?

This is sort of related to my Barry Diament thread and this is probably more of a Steve question than anything else. Do mastering eniginners hang out and talk shop? Most of them are in LA or NYC area so they must run into each other from time to time at studioS and stuff. Are any of them good friends? Or is there real competition amongst all of you guys? Steve- Are you good friends with any of them?

 

See I find that strange in a way. Record industry folks hang out all the time even if they work for different labels. When I was interning at Geffen I saw it all the time. Is it because mastering engineers are for the most part self-employed so it would be harder to hang out with their competition?

 

I think engineers are like artists...

 

That is not what I understood from what I have read from many years ago. For example, Bill Inglot also used to freelance, and he seemed to be involved in some informal way with almost everybody's project, from what people say. Of course, I do notice a general reluctance to comment on other engineer's work, or to single them out by name. But I have also seen the catfighting in interviews.

Steve, it must be hard for you to bite your tounge on some of what you hear out of professional courtesy.