Amtrak announces new contest via Facebook

On Wednesday, Amtrak announced on its Facebook page the launch of "Create Our Contest Contest," a summer-long campaign that invites the general public to develop what will become its first user-generated contest.

The goal of the campaign is to actively engage Amtrak's customers through social networking. To enter the contest users should log onto www.Facebook.com/Amtrak and submit their ideas in essay or video form by August 2, 2010.

All approved entries will be uploaded to Amtrak's Facebook fan page where users can vote for their favorite contest idea. Entries that receive the top 25 percent of all votes will be reviewed by a panel of judges to determine the winner. The grand prize — which will be awarded in September — is a roundtrip for four anywhere Amtrak travels.

"Amtrak's customers are enthusiastic, highly-creative people who showcase their love for train travel in many different ways," said David Lim, Amtrak's chief marketing officer. "We want to harness this creativity and engage our fans by asking them to develop their dream contest."