Poll: Who's Gonna Win - Tana or Kendra?

[Anderton]

This is for those of you who've followed the Apprentice. Admit it, some of you do...so who do you think is going to win?

[Franky]

Tana is from my hometown of Des Moines, Iowa. So of course I'm hoping that Tana wins. But I voted for Kendra because on that last task Krendra's team pulled off their task very well while Tana's team had a lot of problems.

 

I think the people on Tana's team really clashed a lot, so maybe it isn't Tana's fault. I think that Kendra was lucky to have such a good team. I think that during most of the season, Tana really did better than Kendra exept for the last task.

 

Watching the Apprentice makes me think of something a Philosopy professor I had in college said. He said that a few decades ago the main complaint Americans had about work was how much they were paid. But today the main complaint Americans have about work is dificulties in working with other people. I think that's true. It seems like after a day's work so many people have things they have to get off their chest about how hard someone has been to deal with. The Dilbert comic strip is another example of this.

 

Maybe peoples' social skills have gone down because of the internet and other technology that has reduced face to face people skills. I don't know. That's just my theory.

 

Don't get me wrong. I think technology, especialy the internet is great, but we also need face to face people skills.

[Dak Lander]

I may be the only person who has never seen the program.

[theblue1]

Originally posted by 4-Dak Recorder:

I may be the only person who has never seen the program.

Fear not. You are not alone.

[fantasticsound]

I've watched most of this season and I sincerely hope (and I believe) Kendra will win.

 

Tana is a driven, bright and intelligent woman, but she lacks tact and is often blinded by her own self image. She doesn't recognize her own failures and often misses both her own and her team's mistakes.

 

Kendra has two faults. First, she allowed herself to be bullied for too long by other team members. She looked very weak in the first few episodes, but as they progressed (and she was never in danger of being fired in those weak moments) she proved herself to be one of the most capable people in this season.

 

Second, she has a bad habit of saying "the right thing" rather than speaking specifically about her strengths and successes in individual tasks. I'd like her to write down everything that went right and everything that went wrong and refer to each list when advocating herself.

 

She seemed to be a shoe-in after the final tasks were complete, but after their time in the boardroom, she managed to lose quite a bit of ground, IMO, by not sticking up for herself with specific examples.

 

So while I believe she's the right choice and I believe she's still the likely Apprentice, I wouldn't say it's even close to a lock.

 

So what do you think, Craig?

[Franky]

Thanks fantasticsound! It's good to know I'm not the only one who has been following this real closely.

[Philip OKeefe]

I have not been watching it this season, and I have only seen it a few times, but I don't think I'd have a snowball's chance in Hell of winning that show.

 

I'm not sure if I should feel bad about that or relieved.

[Alndln]

Originally posted by theblue1:

Originally posted by 4-Dak Recorder:

I may be the only person who has never seen the program.

Fear not. You are not alone.

It's more crowded than you think.

[steadyb]

Originally posted by Philip O'Keefe:

I don't think I'd have a snowball's chance in Hell of winning that show.

Have you been added to the final episode???

 

I change my vote to "Phil" !!!

[Philip OKeefe]

[Anderton]

Well, my daughter's into the show, and it hits a little after dinner time, so...

 

I actually find the show quite interesting -- how the different team members interact, the finger pointing and politics, etc. I also must say that the comments from Carolyn and George, Trump's assistants, are usually quite perceptive.

 

That said, I wasn't very impressed with this year's crop of contestants. But I think Kendra should win because of the brochure she designed for the car campaign. First of all, it was a great brochure. She really knew her stuff. Second, she stayed up all night to get it done while Tana and Craig bagged out and went to sleep. Basically, she did it all herself, won the task, and did such a good job the company ended up using her design.

 

Kendra has zero charisma but gets the job done and can generally work well with others. She's young and not sure of herself, but I'd rather have someone like that working for me than Tana, who while sometimes very impressive, seems like not that much of a team player. Kendra has more depth, and would grow into a job over time.

 

Just my 2 cents on something that probably doesn't deserve all this attention

[ihategarybettman]

quote:

 

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Originally posted by Alndln:

 

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Originally posted by theblue1:

 

quote:

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Originally posted by 4-Dak Recorder:

I may be the only person who has never seen the program.

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Fear not. You are not alone.

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It's more crowded than you think.

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I hate that reality TV crap, I can't watch that arrogant, classless pig Trump, and I loathe the soul and dignity crushing downward spiral that makes up much of modern American capitalism so, no, you are definitely not alone.

[the stranger]

Who?

[Mark Zeger]

"The Apprentice" is on that 4th place network, NBC, isn't it?

 

Originally posted by Anderton:

But I think Kendra should win because of the brochure she designed for the car campaign. First of all, it was a great brochure. She really knew her stuff. Second, she stayed up all night to get it done while Tana and Craig bagged out and went to sleep. Basically, she did it all herself, won the task, and did such a good job the company ended up using her design.

I wonder if anyone at the agency that handles Pontiac's print creative was a little embarrassed that the best design for the Solstice brochure was the result of a game show. Maybe Kendra should take over the marketing for the Pontiac G6. After the huge "Oprah" giveaway, the buzz for that car fizzled out.

[Bbach1]

Originally posted by 4-Dak Recorder:

I may be the only person who has never seen the program.

I've never watched so much as a few seconds of it.

[Anifa]

The crowd thickens.... I've never watched the program either.

[Joe Cole]

I watched it.

 

I think that Kendra, as forgetable as she is, she is hands down a better choice. She is not a leader in any sense, but she was the reason why any marketing driven tasks were successful. Good team player, but head of one the Trump companies.... maybe not a good fit.

 

As for Tana, she seems like a good face to face salesperson. She is calm, smiley and a "salt of the eath" type. In no way could she sucessfully run a corporate style company. She does not have the tools. Not even close. Plus, all her fawning over herself, calling herself a MILF and a "hot mamma", started to get on my nerves. You are not the only woman ith a gym membership.

 

The one element that the street smarts soundly fell flat on their faces was communication. It was if they could not convey their ideas clearly, ever. Craig is the best example. Wha?

 

That said, I think the crop was not to great, and Trump's self love are were things that made the show less compelling.

[Felix_dup1]

It's one thing to be able to call yourself a shark and tout what a contender you are, but another to be able to back it up with results. Tana fell apart last week, and her attempts at being cool (maybe someone should have told her what MILF meant?) and assuming that everyone thinks she's as cool as she thinks she is miss the mark.

 

Oh, and one word - bedazzler Buh-bye.

 

Kendra gets my vote. She does what it takes to deliver the results. She's still a bit immature in some ways, but she's clearly the winner of the two.

[Dr.Fuzz]

The Apprentice is the only reality show we watch in my house - it's about the only one I feel has even the slightest 'reality'. This season has been even more product-placement oriented than before, and I don't think the candidates were chosen for competence, but more for tv ratings.

 

That said, Kendra has impressed me far more than Tana. She has creativity and just needs time and experience to bring that out. Tana seems far too full of herself, and seems to be better at pulling teams apart than bringing them together.

[RABid]

Originally posted by Mark Zeger:

"The Apprentice" is on that 4th place network, NBC, isn't it?

 

Originally posted by Anderton:

But I think Kendra should win because of the brochure she designed for the car campaign. First of all, it was a great brochure. She really knew her stuff. Second, she stayed up all night to get it done while Tana and Craig bagged out and went to sleep. Basically, she did it all herself, won the task, and did such a good job the company ended up using her design.

I wonder if anyone at the agency that handles Pontiac's print creative was a little embarrassed that the best design for the Solstice brochure was the result of a game show. Maybe Kendra should take over the marketing for the Pontiac G6. After the huge "Oprah" giveaway, the buzz for that car fizzled out.

Pontiac was showing it at the men's SEC Basketball Tournament. You could get a free t-shirt by filling out an information card. I got an extra large though I normally wear just a large. First time I washed it the shirt shrunk down to a small. Hope the quality of the car is better.

 

Robert

[Phait]

I'm gonna say Corey Clark.

[RABid]

Originally posted by theblue1:

Originally posted by 4-Dak Recorder:

I may be the only person who has never seen the program.

Fear not. You are not alone.

Same here. I watch AI and with the abuse I get for whatching it I am afraid to add a second show of that type.

 

Robert

[RABid]

So when are we going to have a Desperate Housewives thread? I would love to live on a street with those women.

 

Robert

[Mike Martin]

I was leaning towards Tana until the car brochure contest. Kendra has shown some incredible effort and work ethic, Tana has shown nothing since but an over inflated ego.

[fantasticsound]

Lots of great comments that mimic my own feelings about these two.

 

And I definitely agree, Craig, this is definitely the worst crop of candidates, based on their actions and reactions in the competition. People I thought were intelligent did very dumb things and no one articulated their arguements in the boardroom well. How many times do we have to sit at home and say, "He/she has it made in this boardroom if only he/she keeps his/her mouth shut." There were times some fired candidates needed to speak up for themselves, but it was a no-win situation since they couldn't speak without major foot-in-mouth disease.

 

The Pontiac ad was definitely the focal point of her bid to win. And Mark Zeger, I don't think the ad execs at Pontiac need be embarrassed by Kendras success. Pontiac bought into the show with no strings attached. It had nothing to do with their ad agency or internal marketing folks. It had everything to do with the fact they were presented with a fantastic brochure that could easily become part of their overall marketing strategy for the car.

[Mark Zeger]

Originally posted by fantasticsound:

And Mark Zeger

Neil-

 

I think we've been around here long enough to drop the formality.

 

Mark

 

 

Pontiac bought into the show with no strings attached. It had nothing to do with their ad agency or internal marketing folks. It had everything to do with the fact they were presented with a fantastic brochure that could easily become part of their overall marketing strategy for the car.

Unlike Dove/Unilever, whose content advertising/product placement effort on "The Apprentice" was a complete disaster:

 

"Because each of the teams on The Apprentice created such horrible commercials during last weeks challenge, Dove is extending its 15 minutes of fame by offering a Marketing Boot Camp to all Apprentice candidates, beginning with Kristen, who led the failing team. The Boot Camp will include training at Dove headquarters with sessions on advertising and brand marketing, as well as a critique on why the ads were so bad."

[Billster]

Originally posted by Philip O'Keefe:

I have not been watching it this season, and I have only seen it a few times, but I don't think I'd have a snowball's chance in Hell of winning that show.

 

I'm not sure if I should feel bad about that or relieved.

I would say relieved.

 

From the bits and pieces I've seen:

 

Do you think Trump talks to legitimate business associates the way he talks to the "contestants"? I think not.

 

I kind of liked the southern lawyer guy with the bow-tie, especially as he's riding the cab out of town and admits he's not right for the jet set, and he has no regrets because he learned what is really important to him - like his family back home.

 

Glitz and envy. Two of the most evil things in the world. Our winning team tonight gets to go to this fabulous restaurant where the cost of one dinner exceeds the annual income of many humans! Followed by the clip of some contestant talking about how he "earned it" God help us.

[fantasticsound]

Hey Mark. Wasn't trying to be formal. I just like to be clear to whom I'm speaking. Sorry!

 

That's funny, regarding the Dove spots, as I thought the ad agency ad they ended up using was pitiful. I understood what they intended to say about the women using their product, but it just didn't say much to me. I hope it said more to their target audience.

 

I love good commercials. It's amazing how much you can engage and inform people with a 30 second spot. When they're done well, I, for one, am very impressed.

 

Bill, I'm not entirely sure you're corrct. I think Trump does talk to his people that way. But with a bit more respect. Remember, he trusts their judgement from years of working together. A job applicant with a few weeks relationship will not be spoken to with the same respect as a long time member of his inner sanctum.

 

I agree with you on the lawyer's attitude, but I was rather appalled at how crass he was at times. Just when I thought he'd be the older, voice of reason and restraint, he'd say something or suggest something completely inappropriate for an executive. (Sometimes even for a guy on the line whose job doesn't involve putting a face on the corporation everyday. )

 

I also didn't see what you saw from the winners of each task, by and large. Most of them were amazed at the great rewards bestowed upon them. In fact, in several seasons, including this one, the most coveted rewards (in retrospect, of course.. they don't know what the reward is until someone wins and someone loses) were the introductions to famous people who could be great mentors to an up and coming business executive. Steve Forbes. Ed Koch. Deutsch.

 

I didn't see the egos you suggest except when oblivious contestants concluded they must have won, even though we saw huge failures from their team on its' way to failure.

[Billster]

Originally posted by fantasticsound:

Bill, I'm not entirely sure you're corrct. I think Trump does talk to his people that way. But with a bit more respect.

Well, if he talks to people with more respect, then it is different.

 

I've encountered bosses who treat the plebes differently, and I don't think it's appropriate. I remember one guy who always yakked about how he used to mop the floors, blah, blah, blah... and then go apoplectic if some complex task wasn't done in five minutes, like there was some kind of magic wand.

 

-------

 

Anyway, I only see bits and pieces of Trump's show as I walk in and out of the room doing something more interesting to me, but I've seen some really self-satisfied contestants.

[Anderton]

The basic vibe I get from Trump is that he's a softie who covers it up with bluster because he thinks that otherwise, people will take advantage of him. He also seems fiercely protective of his people, which is a trait I admire in ANY boss. I'm sure that he probably has his a**hole moments, but I think a lot of him is driven by a core insecurity.

 

I regard him as a more sympathetic character than I used to. Strip away the layers, and I think you'll find someone who's afraid that at any moment, it could all go away, so he better keep the wagons circled.

 

But jeez, the product placement thing is out of hand...