Tim Rayburn
Tim Rayburn
Lead with grace and be wholly you.

Visual Studio 2008 InstallFest

Chris Koenig, our Local Developer Evangelist has a big event coming up, here are some details:

Visual Studio 2008 Pro Logo

To celebrate the RTM of Visual Studio 2008, Microsoft is teaming up with some of the local area User Groups to throw a set of Holiday Party InstallFests.  We've got 3 of them scheduled for South Central District:

These holiday parties will feature food, drink, fun - including several Xbox 360s in HD with some of the latest games, fellowship and a chance to install the RTM bits of Visual Studio 2008 along with your friends! In fact, EVERYONE THAT REGISTERS FOR AND ATTENDS THE EVENT IN PERSON WILL RECEIVE A FREE COPY OF VISUAL STUDIO 2008 PROFESSIONAL IN THE MAIL ONCE IT'S AVAILABLE!  As an added bonus - if you install Visual Studio 2008 on your computer during the event, we'll give you a free Visual Studio T-Shirt! So - no sneaky register-for-the-event-and-then-not-show-up action - you must be present to win :-)

Since we're giving away free product, we've had to put a cap on registrations - so register now and make sure you attend to get your free copy of Visual Studio 2008 Professional.  If registrations are full, the waitlist should be enabled, so get on it.  If you don't make it on the registration or waitlist list, don't fret - walk-ins are totally welcome, and we'd love to have you join us at the party!  If there is any product left over after all the registered and wait-listed folks get theirs, you'll be next in line to get one :-)

Q&A:

Q:  What version of Visual Studio will I get, and how will the free version upgrade work?
A:  You will be installing a copy of Visual Studio 2008 Professional Trial Edition at the event.  This is a specially created 90-day evaluation of VS08Pro - it is NOT the same thing that is available today from Microsoft Downloads.   Once you receive your free copy of Visual Studio 2008 in the mail, you will be able to enter the product key from the packaging into VS08 and "unlock" it.  The unlocking process will only work for the PRO trial edition that you get at the InstallFest - the version from Microsoft Downloads or MSDN will NOT be unlockable and will require an uninstall/re-install to get the proper version installed.

Q:  Isn't Visual Studio 2008 RTM already publicly available?  Why do I need to come to this party?
A:  Several reasons - first, the opportunity to have some fun over the holidays with your local user groups!  Second, we are giving away FREE copies of Visual Studio 2008 Professional to registered attendees in the mail following the product launch. 

Q:  Do I have to bring my laptop to the event?
A: No, you don't. But - if you install the bits at the party, we'll give you a free T-shirt

Q:  What if I don't have a laptop - can I bring my Desktop?  Will there be room/power?
A:  Yes!  Please do - we're looking for volunteers to bring their monitors + keyboards + mice to the event so that not everyone else needs to.  If you're interested in helping us this way, please let me know.

Q: Can I bring a friend?
A:  Absolutely!  Bring 2!  Just remember that you have to be registered, or on the wait list, for a chance to win free product.

Q:  Does this InstallFest party cost anything to attend?
A: Nope - it's absolutely FREE to all attendees!

Q:  Does this replace the normal .NET User Group meeting in my city?
A:  Yes - there aren't any plans to have additional meetings, but there will be plenty of .NET conversations going on around the party, I'm sure :-)

Q: I can't go to this event - can I still get a free copy of Visual Studio 2008 somewhere else?
A: There are several other events coming up that will give you additional chances at getting free product including the next round of DevCares events, the "official" product launch events starting at the end of February, and some post-release Community Launch events starting in March (more on that in a future post).