In my role as Director of Postgraduate Taught programmes within the School of Politics and International Relations at the University of Nottingham, one responsibility that comes my way is to organise some form of staff-student social event. This year this involved a social occasion based around a table-tennis competition, food and drink, and some other features. Like all good ideas, this evolved through collective discussion and I do recall Bettina Renz mentioning table-tennis as a socially inclusive sport, after our staff away day last September. So, the Realist world view of seeing states as billiard balls clashing in world politics was dropped for ping pong, some social activity, and a bit of fun last Friday.