via Wikimedia

It's official. No one at NASDAQ has been reading The Game. Today NASDAQ, which already boasts a Look at me! I'm one of you! Tumblr, made its designs on the local startup scene obvious by partnering with the mothership: New York Tech Meetup. The press release says that the partnership will be "focused on engaging, educating and promoting New York City's technology community in unique and relevant ways," but leaves out the implied plea to future Mark Zuckerbergs of the East: Don't forget us when its time to IPO!

"The partnership will include the collaborative production of a series of videos featuring New York-based tech companies and their founders; an event series focused on women in technology, held at the NASDAQ MarketSite in the heart of Times Square; and a public service announcement highlighting New York as the ideal place to build and nurture a technology company."

As we've written before, competition between NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange for tech IPO dollars is as fierce as Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sach's battle for the "lead-left" slot in the S-1 filing. Recently, Zynga and Groupon opted for NASDAQ, while LinkedIn and Pandora bought into NYSE's efforts to court a techier crowd.

Frank DeMaria, NASDAQ's senior VP of corporate communications offered the following statement about the partnership:

"NASDAQ OMX has been supporting and celebrating grassroots innovation since we invented electronic trading in 1971, and many of the most influential, forward-thinking technology and internet companies in the world call us home. We believe we have a unique understanding of the needs of companies at all stages, as well as a deep-rooted appreciation for innovation in all of its forms. We are excited to partner with NY Tech Meetup to offer the tech community relevant resources, networking opportunities and visibility platforms as they progress."

Bragging about inventing electronic trading is all well and good. But are these stock exchanges blind to the art of the hunt? Play to New York City's forever-second-best inferiority complex and they'll be eating out of "visibility platform" in no time.