Damn - I was there as well, and I thought I saw you if your picture on the main page is anything like you. But I was helping someone with a Cougar discussion and didn't see you again. Damn. Double damn!
Anyway it was quite a quiet affair this year. Last year we had a couple of FB machines linked with Oleg present, 2 LOMAC machines linked with Matt Wagner present, the BDG group, RealSimulator showing off their hardware, and the year before that we had several members of Frugal's World in Aker Barnes pits networked flying F4. A fantastic show.
Well hopefully you'll be there next year with something to show on a stall. If you do I'll provide some expensive controllers to demo with ;)
Difficult to say about publishers .... I would be tempted to go it alone, it will be more profitable for certain. It depends whether you want to trade profit and control for reduced hassle. After a distributor's taken their 30 to 60% cut, and you've paid 20 to 40% tax on the rest, you may decide it's better to go it alone.
Cheers
James