Dave Bost

Update#2 (12/10/2007): A couple modifications for the contest rules and prizes for the upcoming InstallFests in Milwaukee, Chicago and Indianapolis.

1. There *MUST* be a minimum of (30) separate individual donations to the Toys for Tots donation challenge for the drawing for an Xbox to take place. Cash donations on-site at http://toysfortots.org counts.
2. Who would’ve thunk that Xbox Elites would’ve been sold out everywhere. In lieu of the chances of not finding an Xbox Elite in time for your drawing, we will have an Xbox 360 Premium (w/gift receipt) + $100 gift card for the winner of the Toys for Tots donation challenge. This way, you can keep the premium and use the gift card to get additional games or exchange the premium and gift card for an elite if you come across one.

Update: Donate a toy for our toy drive contest and have a chance at winning an Xbox 360 Elite + games!

For those of you attending the upcoming Visual Studio 2008 InstallFests in Milwaukee, Chicago and Indianapolis, I thought I’d point you to a few resources to make your party experience an enjoyable one as well as a winning one.

Party Prep

If you pre-registered for your respective event, you will receive a Visual Studio 2008 Professional install disk. This disc is a 90-day trial. However, on the back of the disc sleeve there is a code that you will use to register for your free, fully-licensed copy of Visual Studio 2008 Professional. DO NOT THROW THE DISC SLEEVE AWAY UNTIL YOU REGISTER. The fully-packaged-product (FPP) will be shipped to you in mid-January. You will not need to re-install Visual Studio when you receive your FPP. Apparently, you just pop the new disc in and this will unlock your trial copy.

If you come to the InstallFest with your machine, and install Visual Studio on the spot, you will receive an extra special gift. We will have helpers on hand to work through any issues you may have.

Which leads me to…

If you have any of the CTP’s or Betas of Visual Studio 2008 installed on the machine you plan to install the release bits, please visit MSDN’s article on Uninstalling Previous Versions of Visual Studio 2008 properly prepare your machine and set yourself for an enjoyable install experience. You will also want to make sure you have all the critical Windows Updates installed. Brennan Stehling has provided some tips/tricks to help better prepare you as well.

Contests and Prizes

We will have a number of prizes available throughout the night. Whether it’s a simple raffle or a trivia contest, you can assure that everyone will have an opportunity to walk home with something special. However, I am announcing a couple of extra special opportunities for you to walk home with some outstanding prizes!

Toys for Tots Donation - in the spirit of the holiday, we will be collecting toys for Toys for Tots. Bring a toy and have a chance at winning an outstanding prize (TBD) Xbox 360 Elite + games! Please make sure that all toy donations are new, unwrapped toys. This allows the Toys for Tots program staff to determine that the gift is safe for distribution and to identify the appropriate age and gender for each gift.

Demo Contest - we will be holding “open mic” demo sessions throughout the night. These will be 5-15 minute demo slots for you to show off your favorite feature of Visual Studio 2008 and .NET 3.5. At the end of the night, we will vote on the best demo and award that person a Zune. Whether you come prepared with something or discover something new during the installfest that you’d like to share, I invite you to participate in the demo contest.

Blog/Flickr Contest - for the bloggers in attendance at the installfest, I challenge you to blog about the event. If you blog about the event during the festivities, you will receive an additional ticket for the raffle prizes. Also, for everyone who blogs about the event within (3) days of the event, you will be entered into a drawing for a Zune. (One entry per person)

If your’re not a blogger, what better time to start than now. You can easily set up a blog at places like Windows Live Spaces, GeeksWithBlogs.net, and weblogs.asp.net.

If you don’t want to blog, but have a digital camera that you’re not afraid to use, post your pictures from the event to Flickr for a chance to win. Everyone who posts to Flickr will be included in the blog contest. If you posts your pictures during the evening, you will also receive an additional raffle ticket. You will also have (3) days after the event to get your pictures posted to be included in the drawing for a Zune. The Blog/Flickr contest is one in the same. Everyone will be included in the same pool for their respective events. We’ll have (1) Blog/Flickr winner each from Milwaukee, Chicago and Indianapolis.

I will give you instructions at the installfest on how to enter your posts into the contest.

Favorite Feature Blog Contest - For those of you unfortunate folks not able to attend any of the installfests, you will have a chance to win as well. Write a blog post on your favorite Visual Studio 2008 and/or .NET 3.5 feature and have it posted by 12PM CST on December 17, 2007 to be entered into a special drawing for a Zune. Unfortunately, this contest is only open to those of you in the Midwest (IL, IN, WI) developer communities. Multiple posts equals multiple entries in the drawing. Enter the drawing by leaving a comment on this blog entry here. In the comment, give the title of your post and a link to it. With the comment, others will be able to discover your favorite feature.

This is turning out to be a great way to celebrate the holidays. So many chances for you to win! If you have any questions or comments, add your comment to this blog entry.

Happy Holidays and we’ll see you at the Visual Studio Install Fest!

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