Like my fellow Microsoft MVPs under the development umbrella, I have been given some MSDN Ultimate licenses to give to influential members of the community. I have found a deserving home for one of them. To find homes for the other two licenses, I decided to have two separate contests.
This hopefully goes without saying (Yes, I am saying it), but these licenses are not for resale. They have unique, traceable keys. Please enter the contests only if you really need the software and plan to give back to the community in some way as a result of winning.
Here are some things not included in these licenses, which would be available with a paid MSDN Ultimate subscription: MSDN Magazine, support calls, Office 2010 licenses.
Update: Office 2010 licenses are included for development and test purposes only.
Contest number one is simple. Send me an email at alashcraft [at] gmail [dot] com and explain (honestly) why you need the subscription and what you plan to do with the tools. Keep in mind that this is all about community. I will choose the winner based on need and community influence. I must receive your entry by Friday, July 9 at 8:00am EDT (UTC – 4) and will announce the winner at 12pm that same day.
For the second contest, I want to make things a little more challenging. Email me a .NET-related technical article to be published on alvinashcraft.com as a guest post. The content must be original, written by the submitter, and not available on any other web sites or blogs. Please include a short bio for yourself as well. All must should be emailed to alashcraft [at] gmail [dot] com, and they must be received no later than Friday, July 16 at 8:00am EDT (UTC – 4). I will select the winner that weekend and announce the winner on Monday, July 19th. If I receive an overwhelming number of great articles, I may dig up some smaller prizes for 2nd and 3rd place (probably books). The winning post will be published the week of the 19th.
I will do my best to scan my spam folder for entries, but please try not to mention Viagra, cheap meds, free Photoshop software or foreign bank accounts in your emails to me.
Any attempts to shamelessly promote my blog or Twitter account will have no effect on the outcome of the contests but are welcome nonetheless. 
If you have any questions, leave a comment, email me, or send me a reply on Twitter.
Grant Palin says:
You mention Ultimate in your first paragraph, and Universal in the third. Were you meaning Ultimate in the second instance?
Alvin Ashcraft says:
Thanks, Grant. I have corrected the mistake in the third paragraph and the title.
Naveen says:
What happened to the second contest? Is it still open? I did not see a guest post on the 19th?
Alvin Ashcraft says:
Hi Naveen,
I received no entries for the second contest. I am working on another way to give away the other license and will post a new article when it is ready. Thanks!
Alvin