Last week, we threw our annual summer Executive Networking Reception at the Hotel Giraffe in New York. Over 50 executives amongst clients, industry friends and fans gathered on the top floor to enjoy cocktails, warm weather, and good conversation. With a lot to celebrate, including the 2010 SIFMA Expo kick-off, we invited Pimm Fox, host of Bloomberg's Taking Stock, to share a few words about the changing media landscape. Under cover of the penthouse suite, adorned in none other than giraffe décor, Fox opened the session up to questions.

Like the sleep pattern of a giraffe (1-12 minutes at a time) the media hardly ever rests. This is especially true in 2010 and as asked by a party goer and detailed by Fox, now more than ever we are seeing media companies compete to deliver news for the masses. From Bloomberg's collaboration with BusinessWeek and the Wall Street Journal's explicit intention to pilfer The New York Times' audience, it is no secret that the once fragmented news business has the potential to turn into an all-out battle for broad readership.

For our clients, we are continuing to seek the best way to capitalize on these changes without trading in their identities. Should we embrace this transformation, or like a human fingerprint or giraffe's coat, seek to be unique?

We're thankful that so many people took the time to break from the busy halls of SIFMA and even busier days at their desks to join us for the reception.

 - By Caitlin Mitchell, Cognito 

As we cross into the first week of Feburary, its looking like the financial technology space is really heating up for some serious M&A activity this year. Last week the WSJ broke the story on RiskMetrics putting itself up for sale: http://tinyurl.com/ycektoq. Not only did the Journal speculate on potential buyers (Thomson Reuters, Bloomberg, and MSCI amongst them), but they also went so far as to suggest that Interactive Data Corp (IDC) might also be on the block, and potentially an even juicer prospect.

Also last week, General Atlantic, the Greenwich CT PE firm purchased a 7.5% stake in Markit. According to a statement, and an article in Securities Industry News: http://tinyurl.com/yl749ep, General Atlantic will "assist Markit in developing its growth strategy further and executing 'value-creating acquisitions' ".

In addition to the above, we've already seen some significant dealflow this year with the most interesting transactions being in the commodities space (Triple Point Technology and OpenLink have both announced acquisitions in January) and of course Citi's sale of LavaFX to FXAll. Surely we are just getting started....

For those venerable marketing communication folks out there who work for a FinTech company that may do a deal this year, what are the major tenants to keep in mind when communicating both internally and externally? While it doesn't encompass the whole spectrum, you'd get a head start if you keep the following at the top of the list: preparation, strategic press interaction, and good internal communication.

To receive a copy of Cognito's article on FinTech Deal Communications please write to sanfrancisco@cognitomedia.com