The Apprentice Blog

Episode 11: Rules of the Game

Rules for Episode 11 - Circus, Circus

A couple of notes of interest

the challenge is phrased a little differently here than in the show where they talked about a promotion. "Develop and implement an original game to attract new customers to the Taj Mahal..." and then in the detailed rules "design and construct a game of chance or skill to be installed around the perimeter fo the Taj Mahal casino floor".

Each team had $2000 seed money. What did VersaCorp use their money for? Renting the models? Because they got the $300 car rental for free.

The requirement to install the game at the Taj Mahal blows my ideas of promoting to NEW customers at the airport.

So, what would you have done differently?

You spin me right round baby...

Challenge: Create a promotion that will register gamblers. The winning team will be determined by most money spent at the casino by the teams registered gamblers.

Project Mgrs: Protégé - Kwame,, Versacorp - Amy,

Summary:

Corporate reshuffle time – Troy announces that Protégé will be poaching Bill to join them.

Protégé seemed one step ahead of Versacorp at all times.

Troy negotiated with Fitz Daniel Tabas Tepper, the 10 year old producer of the Fercos Brother’s Untamed Illusions to have show girls and a tiger help their cause.

Bill secured exclusive rights to the VIP checkin area, setup a show girl to walk the VIP’s to their registration, and spent his time focused on the VIPs.

Troy talked to the Taj Mahal’s staff and found a giant wheel perfect for spinning for prizes.

It looked like Versacorp was offering a range of prices, but the biggest was $1000 cash. Spinning the wheel would get you a ticket in the draw for $1000 cash.

Versacorp seemed less focused, starting with them sleeping on the bus while Protégé was setting up meetings.

Versacorp’s main draw to get registered gamblers was a draw for a car rental worth $300.

Katrina initiated the negotiation for the car rental with a dealership.

Versacorp hired a team of models to help draw gamblers to their registration booth.

Both Amy & Katrina sent the models to poach people from Protégé’s registration line and the VIP area. Both attempts were deflected.

Both teams were on microphones, calling out their promotion, and it looked like carnival hawkers in the middle of the Taj Mahal lobby… the "dueling banjos" musical accompaniment didn’t help.

Winners: Protégé with almost 776 less registered gamblers, but $123,159 spent. Versacorp had over 1337 registered gamblers, but they only spent $105,352.
Reward: A penthouse suite and $3,000 to gamble at the casino.

2 in Boardroom:
Amy & Katrina
Fired: Katrina

Boardroom antics:

None of the Trump team thought this was a good promotion and said so in no uncertain terms. Repeatedly saying that no one on the team did well in this challenge.

Trump asked point blank whose bad idea this was, and no one stepped up to answer him. I can see why Nick didn’t… but I think Katrina might think she came up with it… why else wouldn’t she point the finger? She’s never held back before.

Katrina was on the attack pretty early on, pointing out what she suggested and why it would have worked better; then moving on to point out the relationship between Nick & Amy.

Amy handled the boardroom very well. Her decisions were well defended and she handled Trump’s schoolyard “your boyfriend” comment without getting flustered.

but she doesn’t seem to be able to count. She said “I’ve lead my teams to 4 wins”… but she’s only lead twice, and this time to a lose. So, what gives?

In the end it seemed to come down to past performance.

Protégé gossip:

If Kwame was the project manager, why did Troy announce they wanted Bill to join them?

Bill was a good choice – but it would have been nice to hear what Troy thought of picking Bill, since I believe it was Troy who made the “he’s a snake” comment in an earlier episode.

Versacorp gossip:

Well, there is no question that Amy can handle the boardroom. No waffling when she said “Bill’s my strongest competition.” After that comment, there is no question in my mind as to why the relationship starts to “wilt”

It should be interesting to see Nick & Amy’s working relationship now Amy has essentially told him he’s not a threat to her in the game.

The official detailed summary of this episode at NBC's Official Site

So the question is Will Troy & Kwame’s relationship work against them? Or more precisely, how soon until it works against them?

Preview: Episode 13 - Down To The Wire

DOWN TO THE WIRE -- The final four candidates are introduced to several of Trump's most trusted advisors. The pressure mounts as the candidates are subjected to a grueling round robin of one-on-one interviews. The final two are given their last tasks -- the most intensive assignments they have ever faced.

Airs 04-08-2004 9pm

Does this mean that 2 candidates are eliminated BEFORE the task? With 2 more episodes to go, how can that be?

Performance Review - Amy Henry

Amy Henry

Project Manager – 1; Wins – 1 Loses – 0

Team: Wins – 10; Loses – 0

Boardroom Visits – 0
Amy has been on the winning team for every challenge. She’s also been selected twice to swap teams, bringing a winning streak with her. She’s shown herself to be a great team player and very flexible. But Amy has only led once, in episode 2, and hasn’t stepped up to lead again for a long long time! It should be interesting to see how well see leads a smaller more intense team in episode 11 the Casino challenge.

Note: If you would like to contact Amy, we recommend you contact her through her personal site ameliahenry.com

Performance Review - Bill Rancic

Bill Rancic

Project Manager – 2; Wins – 2 Loses – 0

Team: Wins – 4; Loses – 6

Boardroom Visits – 2
Bill has been a “star” since the game began, and when he leads, he wins. He’s a good leader, who seems to listen to his team’s ideas and then pick the best one. He’s stepped up repeatedly, even when he’s not the leader, taking on key roles in a bunch of challenges. But when his team loses, he is dragged into the boardroom 33% of the time. Good leader, but an iffy follower? Or is he stepping up too much and thus making himself a target when it doesn’t pan out?

Note: If you would like to contact Bill, we recommend you contact him through his personal site billrancic.com

Performance Review - Katrina Campins

Katrina Campins

Project Manager – 2; Wins – 1 Loses – 1

Team: Wins – 8; Loses – 2

Boardroom Visits – 1
Katrina has been on the winning team most of the time and has only been in the boardroom when she led the loss. However, her leadership is questionable. Her win in the Planet Hollywood challenge didn’t seem based on her leadership – but on the sexuality and charms of the team. Though looking back on her tag line, possibly that was her leadership in action. Then she lost the Renovation Challenge (episode 7), the one challenge she should have been able to win in her sleep. Not to mention losing her temper. Hummm.

Note: If you would like to contact Katrina, we recommend you contact her through her personal site katrinacampins.com

Performance Review - Kwame Jackson

Kwame Jackson

Project Manager – 2; Wins – 0 Loses – 2

Team: Wins – 2 ; Loses – 8

Boardroom Visits – 3
Kwame, Kwame, Kwame. On the losing team 8 times out of 10. Led the team to 2 losses himself, and not a single win. Though he has only been brought into the boardroom once when he wasn’t leading. He’s been pretty good at keeping his head down. Even when he led the loss, he has taken the responsibility quickly and easily and then somehow deflected attention elsewhere. Impressive. But with 3 visits to the boardroom, it’s hard to keep flying under the radar. He’d better win some, and fast.

Note: If you would like to contact Kwame, we recommend you contact him through his personal site kwamejackson.com

Performance Review - Nick Warnock

Nick Warnock

Project Manager – 2; Wins – 2 Loses – 0

Team: Wins – 4; Loses – 6

Boardroom Visits – 3
Nick is showing himself to be a good leader and a crappy follower. He hasn’t had to go to the boardroom, since he has never led a loss, and yet when his team loses, he’s hauled into the boardroom 50% of the time. Though, 3 visits to the boardroom and he’s still around. It’s not because he’s keeping his head down either. He’s been sulky, cocky, and ignored his team’s choices. Sometimes it has worked for him, sometimes it hasn’t, but he certainly hasn’t been flying under the radar. He has even given little Trump-like lecture-lessons… perhaps that’s why he’s still around.

Note: If you would like to contact Nick, we recommend you contact him through his personal site nickwarnock.com

Performance Review - Troy McClain

Troy McClain

Project Manager – 3; Wins – 1 Loses – 2

Team: Wins – 2; Loses – 8

Boardroom Visits – 2
Troy has been a star on some challenges, and a dud on others. It’s obvious when the challenge aligns with his skills and when he can use his country boy charm the same way the women were using their sexuality. But he takes his loses without taking them too personally, which is good because his team has lost 8 of 10 challenges. But here’s the thing… he has never been brought into the boardroom by someone else. His visits have all been of his own making. So is he a good leader, a good follower or an excellent politician?

Note: If you would like to contact Troy, we recommend you contact him through his personal site troymcclain.com

Hiring a CEO

Amy, Ereka, Katrina and Kristi were all approached by Playboy and offered $250,000 to pose nude for the magazine.

They chose, instead, to pose for FHM for free. More Details from New York Post Online

Given that these women all had aspirations for a CEO role in one of Donald Trump's companies, I wonder what the best business decision in this situation is. Does leveraging your sexuality get you ahead in business or does it cheapen your personal brand?

POLL CLOSED
So the question was...
All other things being equal, who would you hire to run your company?
We had some technical difficulties with the poll so the results are approximates based on results prior to the technical issue...

With almost 1000 votes tallied the results were:

Someone who pose nude for Playboy for $250,000 - 20%

Someone who posed scantily clad for FHM for free - 10%

If those were the only options, I'd start the recruiting all over again. - 70%

I like the fact that people would be more likely to hire someone who saw a money making opportunity and took advantage of it, than someone who gets photographed in their underwear for free. "A head for business and a bod. for fun."