I'd say hi if I ran into him, but I wouldn't go out of my way to seek him out just to say hi. In general, at least in my office, people only come in during their time off to get work done, not to socialize. If I know someone else is there and I'm dashing out to buy something for lunch or dinner, I will see if the other person wants anything too.
I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.