| |
| |
The Apprentice: Donald Trump, Week 11: Microsoft Live Meeting
Original Air Date: 1/5/12
By Heidi Putallaz
It’s all smiles as Felisha Mason walks back into the suite and Adam Israelov goes home in a cab. Felisha and the three other remaining candidates—Randal Pinkett, Rebecca Jarvis, and Alla Wartenberg—go out for a fancy dinner at Grand Central Station. The candidates keep the mood light, acting like troops at war on Christmas, all putting on a show of good cheer but all knowing the quiet truth that in a few hours another battle is to begin.
The next day, the teams gather at NASDAQ to meet with Donald Trump, Carolyn Kepcher, Bill Rancic (Did I miss George Ross’s obituary?), and two Microsoft execs. Trump is quick to point out that not only is Microsoft number one on the exchange, its software also powers it. This week the task is to create a one-minute promotional video for Microsoft’s new conferencing program, Live Meeting.
The remaining Capital Edge players, Felisha and Alla, fight to be Project Manager, although I’m not sure why they want it. I’d personally cruise low, off the radar into the final three. In the end, Felisha wins out, but Alla hardly walks away with her tail between her legs, signaling the beginning of their troubles.
Over at Excel, Randal tells Rebecca that she deserves the win and should be PM for the task. Hmmm. Is Randal just setting her up to fail?
Meanwhile, Felisha and Alla continue their scuffling match in front of their production crew. They have the idea of centering their spot around how much easier it is to use Live Meeting than it is to hassle with traveling businessman much easier. Problems arise though when Felisha decides that she will be the actor and Alla will be the director—yet Felisha still wants to have ultimate creative control. Needless to say, this does not sit well with Alla.
| advertisement |
 |
|
| |
| |
Excel takes the same approach of showing businessmen trying to conduct a meeting and then demonstrating how much smoother it would go with Live Meeting. Rebecca has so much trouble in getting their hired actor to take direction and play his role convincingly that Randal steps in to do the part.
As Alla and Felisha bicker about how the first shot should be set up, their crew just sits back with dollar signs in their eyes as the premium hours roll by.
When Randal presents the Excel video to the execs, their reaction is woefully unclear. There’s no doubt though about how they feel about the Capital Edge video. To condense 2 ½ minutes of footage into just sixty seconds, Alla had to use so much text that the execs are just dumbfounded as it all flies by before anyone can even read it. “Interesting” is all they can muster in response.
The executives tell Trump how convoluted Capital Edge’s video is, whereas Excel’s “storyline” approach is exactly what they were looking for. Excel wins again, and Randal practically knocks a still wobbly Rebecca over when they share a celebratory embrace.
|
|
