In the latest advertising campaign for Chipotle Mexican Grill, they ask their biggest burrito fans to get creative and tell the world how they like their burrito. It encourages fans to submit original pictures and videos about their favorite burrito concoction, including all the ingredients. Web site visitors can vote on their favorite submission on the web site www.mychipotle.com. Prizes range from one free burrito a week for a month to $10,000 in cash! The “Find Your Inner Burrito” video (below) is one of many videos featured on the Chipotle site.

Chipotle is not the first fast-food chain to ask its customers to get imaginative. In February, Hardees asked its customers to participate in the Little Thickburger advertising campaign. In the campaign, participants had the freedom to create an advertisement for the Little Thickburger, and 16 of the videos were used in Hardee’s television spots.

User-submitted content isn’t just a thing fast-food chains are doing, either. CNN asks people to report the news and submit it to iReport.com, and it selects user-submitted videos to air on CNN. On the Patrice and Associates microsite, didyougetthatmemo.com, we ask for a little user-generated content ourselves, offering the chance to win a cruise.  Even if all of our participants can’t win a cruise, we hope they at least enjoy opportunity to blow off some steam and have a little fun!

Since our Web site went live, it’s been a pleasure reading the Patrice and Associates Venting Wall on our new microsite, didyougetthatmemo.com.

I also get to take a look at the contest submissions as they come in.  They are pretty entertaining, it will definitely be fun to see what else comes in.

Here is a contest entry we received:

“This bar is in a historic building which has become an excuse for not fixing anything or making any investment in ambiance.  The carpeting has begun to revert back to some kind of organic material so when you vacuum it is unclear where the dirt stops and the carpet begins.  If pieces of tile come up, that spot is covered with duct tape and a trash bag.  Trash pickup was suspended because of non-payment, so every night the trash is foisted off on a different employee to take home.”

Here is an entry with a photo we received today:

“I love my job, but some days it really sucks!  I work 12 hour shifts as an RN. We see people at their best, and at their worst.  We see people become healthy, and people who will never go home again.  We know what it means to be humane, and we realize the fragility of being a human.  Humor is our greatest coping mechanism.  Without laughter, we’d fall apart may days.  Our co-workers become family, and with smiles and laughs we help others heal. Here’s a recent picture of a toast we made on the Fourth of July.  Instead of celebrating with loved ones, and a cold beer…..we pretended to toast from a urinal by the linen cart.  Cheers to a job that sucks some days!“

Not all of our entries are as funny as the ones listed above. We also get entries from sad and frustrated people, who I hope take advantage of the job-finding functionality of the Web site and get in contact with one of my recruiters.

The contest runs through Nov. 1, so there is still lots of time left to enter the contest. If you think you have a story that’s worthy of winning a cruise, make sure you are sharing it!

With the new Patrice and Associates  microsite, www.didyougetthatmemo.com, we are making work days a little more fun. This site is a place for people to have fun at work, and vent about past or current jobs. Visitors can spend time on the site watching funny videos, sharing stories, sending anonymous e-mails and searching for new jobs. They can even enter a “My Job Sucks” Contest for a chance to win a cruise!

You’ll also see photos streaming from the Patrice and Associates’ flickr page, where I have my top recruiters’ picture with testimonials from former candidates.

We created this site because we know how bad it can be if you are at a job that you hate, and we are there to help, whether by making your day go by faster at didyougetthatmemo.com or by finding a new job for you!