The Apprentice 4 Episode 12 – The Final Showdown

Each of the finalists must manage a massive charity event: one a celebrity softball game, the other a star-studded comedy show.

It’s Randal and Rebecca.

I just got home from my own bit of business. Our business had a booth at the Search Engine Strategies show in Chicago.

This is a picture of our booth from my camera phone. It was a good show. If you have an interest in learning more about the search engine business I highly recommend checking out the show. You can find one of the shows around the country and now around the world.

I was afraid I might not get back in time to do the Apprentice final show. But the 6 hour drive went smoothly.

On to The Apprentice 4 Final Showdown.

My mom, also an Apprentice fan, thinks the surprise ending will be that both Rebecca and Randal will win. While Rebecca is strong, I think her character judgment leaves something to be desired. So my vote is on Randal.

I do feel that Alla maybe got sucked down with Felisha. That was a bit of bad luck. However, if Alla was more perceptive, she should have been more in tune with who Felisha was. Alla only has one mode… bulldozer. Alla can only work with strong people. But it’s all water under the bridge now.

The episode starts off with Trump walking into the suite. Rebecca and Randal are shocked and happy to be in the final two. They are both really sincere, genuine people. They are going to dinner with Carolyn and George. That’s a nice opportunity. Randal and Rebecca congratulate each other. Wow. I’m really impressed with them. My mom might be right. Maybe they both will win. Any company would be lucky to have those two. I wonder if they really want to work for someone else. It would be a great experience to work in the Trump enterprise, but would these two want that to be their career?

MEGU is the restaurant that Rebecca and Randal go to. Interestingly, it doesn’t actually do particularly well in Yahoo for its name. It’s not uncommon that companies don’t do well for their own name in the search engines, but it’s never less shocking every time I see it.

George has never had sashimi: raw saltwater fish and other foods sliced paper thin and served decoratively; a native Japanese dish.

They have to pick their teams at dinner.

Randal wants:
Josh James and Mark
Rebecca wants:
Josh, James and Chris

Randal takes:
Josh, Mark, Marshawn

Rebecca takes:
James, Chris, Toral
Rebecca is controlling these negotiations
Rebecca takes Toral. This is insane and goes back to her reading people poorly. Toral is not as great as Rebecca thinks she is.

The task is managing all aspects of two events.

Rebecca manages the Yahoo All Star Event at a nightclub in Manhattan for the The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.

Randal is managing the Outback Steakhouse VIP Softball Challenge for the charity Autism Speaks.

They’ll be judged on their overall managing ability.

They employees come back in.

Rebecca is Capital Edge and Randal is Excel.

Randal is very happy with his team. And Toral says she is going to work hard for Rebecca. They look to be pretty interesting teams. Toral, I predict, is going to be the weak link.

Randal helps Rebecca with her stuff. Randal says he feels sentimental seeing his team again.

Rebecca believes that her team is loyal and underestimated. She says that as a leader you sometimes have to see a diamond in the rough. She believes this will be won by this being a team effort. I agree. But with “diamonds in the rough.”

Randal’s team is so for him. They all want him to win. They are die hard Randal fans. They love him. This is very unlike last season.

Toral says she wants Rebecca to win. James, who is on Rebecca’s team says that he is friends with Randal but will see that Rebecca wins.

Randal has more loyalty than anyone I have ever seen.

Randal is going to have these events: a tailgate, the game and VIP reception. The weather is really good for the event.

Rebecca and James go to meet with the Yahoo executives. Yahoo has never hosted a charity event before. So they are very reliant on Rebecca. They need to tie in Yahoo, comedy and fundraising. That seems challenging. Plus, since Yahoo has never done this before, they’ve got to build something out of nothing.

Rebecca is using Affinity Marketing to develop the program. Chris, an NFL lineman, is a marketing executive that they are working with. He’s an interesting guy.

Randal takes time to understand the autism facts of the event. “Increased awareness increases fundraising.” The autism executive feels that Randal may be too focused on the logistics and less on the message. I think this is just to get us off the path that Randal’s team is so together.

Rebecca’s team meets with Joe Piscopo – comedian, actor, singer and entertainer. He will MC the event for Rebecca.

Again, Rebecca’s team comments on how much they respect Randal but will be working really hard for Rebecca. They like Rebecca, but it’s not to the level that they like Randal. One of her teammates says that even though she is mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted, she is getting everything done. Rebecca is 10 years younger than Randal. She might not have the experience that he does.

This is definitely not the same experience as last season. These teams are working together. There is definitely much more love among the teams. That goes a long way to encourage enthusiasm.

Excel: They are meeting with Jim Kerr, from Q104.3 – New Yorks ONLY Classic Rock Station who is doing their color commentary.

Marshawn is in charge of the reception. She, Randal, Josh and Mark all go to the Party Supply store. There are 4 people in this store. Mark is not able to have his meeting with Jim Kerr because everyone is at the Party Supply store. This is a scheduling mistake and bad management. With this kind of schedule, one mistake like this can make the entire thing unravel.

Capital Edge is in the second day and the pace is picking up. Things are looking smooth with Rebecca’s team.

Josh and Randal go out to the field to discuss the layout. There is a bit of foreshadowing possibly about rain. The catering guy asks if they have rain provisions. Randal doesn’t. This could be a disaster.

Capital Edge: The Yahoo Executives some to the club on the second day of a three day task to review things. Rebecca is concerned that they might make big changes. Rebecca isn’t sure how best to raise money. The Yahoo executives are not interested in asking for donations from their big clients.

Mark at Excel is setting up the field and it’s going slow. Mark is getting everything together. There is no help from the rest of his teammates. The Outback Steakhouse guy says that they have to get the fences, signage all up before tomorrow. “You won’t be smiling tomorrow if you don’t represent my brand,” the Outback guy says.

Capital Edge gets a call from Joe Piscopo that he can’t do it because of union conflicts. So now they don’t have an MC.

Excel: it’s dark outside. Mark and Randal are putting up the chairs in the field. Marshawn is stuffing bags. There it is, the weather report is “cold and rainy.”

Rebecca has no MC and Randal has looming bad weather.

There was a lot of information in this episode.

Here’s The Apprentice: Donald Trump – Apprentice Charities – Official Site on Yahoo!.

It’s hard to make any analysis tonight. I’m looking forward to seeing how this all pans out.