One of the great things about FinCon is the ability to network while having fun. This year, we are hosting a Happy Hour after the Plutus Awards and before the FinCon Closing Party. This should be a fun way to relax, and to network with fellow bloggers, journalists, and financial services providers.

Putting on a Happy Hour is a big job (as planner Athena Lent can tell you), so we’re glad that Experian is generously sponsoring the event. We’ve long been impressed with Experian’s participation in the personal finance blogosphere. Not only does Experian support bloggers, but the company also actively engages us, with the great#CreditChat held each week on Twitter, and through great video interviews with financial bloggers.

There are few financial bloggers that haven’t had a great experience with Experian’s great team. Experian is great about outreach, and is always willing to share blogger stories on social media, often using the @Experian_USTwitter handle, or sharing via Google Plus. It’s great to have Experian on board with this year’s Plutus Awards, and all the FinCon attendees should be grateful to Experian for sponsoring the Plutus Awards Happy Hour.

Here is a little more information about Experian:

Experian is the leading global information services company, providing data and analytical tools to clients around the world. The Group helps businesses to manage credit risk, prevent fraud, target marketing offers and automate decision making.

The Experian Consumer Services division provides credit monitoring and other information services, such as identity protection, to millions of consumers via the Internet. The organization enables consumers to monitor the accuracy of their credit reports online, check their credit scores and protect against identity theft. Its products include Experian’s ProtectMyID and Experian.com.

Experian Consumer Services has established integrated, co-branded partnerships with leading online financial destinations that provide consumers with a broad range of comprehensive online financial products and information essential to managing one’s financial life.

Without our great sponsors, the Plutus Awards wouldn’t be possible. This year, we redesigned our web site, and Fidelity made it happen with a generous sponsorship.

Not only is this the third year that Fidelity has been involved with FinCon, but it is also the second year that Fidelity has helped sponsor the Plutus Awards.

“Fidelity is committed to supporting the financial blogger community,” says John Sweeney, Executive Vice President of Retirement and Investing Strategies at Fidelity. “When people better understand how to manage their finances and save for the future, it can empower them to live the lives they want.”

In 2008, Fidelity introduced Viewpoints, which provides easy-to-understand insights from Fidelity. Viewpoints focuses on timely, relevant analysis on the economy and markets, as well as information on personal finance. The resource was introduced in response to consumer interest, and it’s provided helpful guidance since then. Bloggers can also find interesting topics to blog about by visiting the page and seeing the latest.

Not only that, but Fidelity also commissions surveys and studies to reveal insights on the behaviors and attitudes of individuals. Some of the recent studies include a Couples Retirement Study, a Grandparents and College Savingsstudy, and an Intra-Family Generational Finance study. Fidelity offers other resources that provide insight into financial behaviors.

Understanding these trends, and being made aware of how they affect your own life, can help you make better decisions about your money.

Fidelity’s goal is to make financial expertise broadly accessible and effective to all people. Fidelity’s efforts span a wide customer base, including 23 million people investing their own life savings and 20,000 businesses that get help managing their employee benefits programs. Additionally, 10,000 advisors make use of Fidelity’s tools as they effectively manage their clients’ money.

One of the great things about Fidelity is that, with all that they do on their own, the company also acknowledges the role that blogs play in educating consumers about their money and their financial choices.

“Our customers tell us they read blogs to see how others address finance in their daily lives — whether they are budgeting, saving for retirement, actively investing, or saving for college — so we’re encouraged that such a dedicated group of bloggers have formed a community to share their stories,” Sweeney says.

Fidelity is a great partner for the Plutus Awards, and we are pleased that the company has been such a great friend to the financial blogging community. You can find out more about Fidelity by visiting www.fidelity.com, and by following Fidelity on Twitter.