It seems that with both teams there is a difficulty in the actual troubleshooting process; once something begins to go wrong it becomes impossible to fix due to team dynamics.[/quote]
With such a tight schedule, that would probably be true even if the teams weren't as disfunctional as they are. It's in the initial preparation that Capital Edge fails.
I thought Kristi should have been fired since the float was her part of the task.[/quote]
The initial concept was Kristi's, but the overall float was more collaborative by the simple virtue that anyone else could have piped up at any time and said, "WTF?" It seems from the clips no one did. That makes the float a team failure.
The botched presentation, however, was all JenM. The red carpet approach was so important that JenM blew off making a dry run of her presentation in favor of riding in the van with the cool kids. She should have had a minor team member run to the store for carpet and practiced. BTW, did anyone see CE actually use a red-carpet approach?
Remember, Donald was not there to see the actual presentation and how bad it really was. Kristi was a shreiking harpy in the boardroom, so Donald decided she must go. If any of my staff had done a half-assed presentation for selling a major piece of work like JenM did, there would be some serious fireworks later.
In the van (when the group was getting the carpet), JenM said (to her group) that she wanted to go over the mental part of the presentation with them so I think she did try to prepare for the presentation.[/quote]
Then she REALLY needs a few Toastmaster's sessions. Because that woman DOES NOT know how to do a presentation. She was giggly, disconcerted, and in way over her head. She had no pre-laid plans to speak about the movie and the tie-in from the float. In addition, if she had done a dry run earlier, a team member would have been able to correct the "Zenthura" pronunciation.
She may have gone over the mental part of it, but she should have gone over the vocal part of it as well.
I think Carolyn was the one with the problem when JenM talked of amputating the children's legs but she it was clear she was gunning for JenM so she emphasized it.[/quote]
It also bothered Bill.
CheekyCricket
Oct 24, 2005 @ 6:45 pm
In the van (when the group was getting the carpet), JenM said (to her group) that she wanted to go over the mental part of the presentation with them so I think she did try to prepare for the presentation.
Then she REALLY needs a few Toastmaster's sessions. Because that woman DOES NOT know how to do a presentation. She was giggly, disconcerted, and in way over her head. She had no pre-laid plans to speak about the movie and the tie-in from the float. In addition, if she had done a dry run earlier, a team member would have been able to correct the "Zenthura" pronunciation.
She may have gone over the mental part of it, but she should have gone over the vocal part of it as well.[/quote][/quote]
If she had done a dry run of the presentation earlier, someone might even have pointed out that the filmmaker had emphasized that a primary goal was to convey the name and meaning of "Zathura" to the viewers, and to make that name memorable.
It also begs the question of what, exactly Jenthura prepared for. If she wanted to prepare for the "mental" part of it (not an auspicious choice of term), then she didn't accomplish much there. It's occured to me that she may have taken Marshawn, Randal and Rebecca with her as a power move, specifically, a way of evening the score with Kristi, and reasserting control over the team. Since she couldn't exert control over Kristi, and knew that she wouldn't have the support of Alla and Felisha, she grabbed the other three team members. Perhaps that's what she meant by "mental" preparation.
ghettofabman
Oct 24, 2005 @ 6:57 pm
I honestly thought that the reason Jenthura took Randal, Marshawn, and Rebecca with her to find the red carpet is to make only herself look good by association. She seems like the type who wants to only surround herself with the "cream of the crop" to make herself feel better.
nenyadr
Oct 24, 2005 @ 7:06 pm
I still can't believe how wrong that float was ... I wish someone had spoken up and said something earlier.
Their objectives were:
1) To emphasize the name - they failed
2) To show this movie is not just for kids - hmm ... 2 kids, board game, failed
3) To show that this movie is a space adventure - was the house on a cliff? Or on a meteor? Can't really tell ... so fail
Though I like Jenthura (hee, still giggle, awesome name), if both she and Kristi had been fired, I would have had no objection.
ETA: You know, I wonder if the purpose of this task wasn't the float ... but more to see how well they evaluated the needs of their customer. The fact that the women's team failed is very telling about their ability to listen (and I think also reflective on Randal). They pretty much spelled out their requirements, yet it seemed that the women did not get a single one right.
But I have to say, the red carpet idea was a good one. When you walked into the area, it looked nicer ... it just added a touch of something. If they had the men's float, a better speaker, AND the carpet, they probably would have won with bonus points to spare. But alas, the red carpet can't make you win, it's, after all, not magical.
Akai
Oct 24, 2005 @ 8:06 pm
Trader Joe wrote: "I dont even know why she said "amputated", they just bent the legs so the kids were kneeling." Actually, on at least one of the kid models they clearly chopped the leg off at the knee so that it had one leg (the whole leg) bent at the knee and the other leg was this shortened stump like it was being sucked into a black hole or something.
Also, I think what they did when they were under the float was make the planets spin around.
Edited because "leg" doesn't have a "t" in it.
henry518
Oct 24, 2005 @ 9:00 pm
The initial concept was Kristi's, but the overall float was more collaborative by the simple virtue than anyone else could have piped up at any time and said, "WTF?" It seems from the clips no one did. That makes the float a team failure.[/quote]
I do not have access to the extended clips but in the BR, Marshawn said that she questioned if it was Kristi’s float or the team’s float. Ok, it’s a team failure. Kristi’s attitude was a detriment to the team since the first task.
The botched presentation, however, was all JenM. The red carpet approach was so important that JenM blew off making a dry run of her presentation in favor of riding in the van with the cool kids. She should have had a minor team member run to the store for carpet and practiced. BTW, did anyone see CE actually use a red-carpet approach?[/quote]
Yes, JenM botched the presentation and it did appear that she did not prepare for it. Botching a presentation doe not necessary mean lack of preparation. If JenM went into a presentation with the attitude of "I don't need to prepare for my presentation" than she would not suggest that they go over what they were going to say in the van. It could be as easy as she just sucks at presenting. If this is the case than JenM has the potential to improve since presentation skills are easier to fix than attitudes.
Remember, Donald was not there to see the actual presentation and how bad it really was. Kristi was a shreiking harpy in the boardroom, so Donald decided she must go.[/quote]
That is a very good point.
It also bothered Bill.[/quote]
I don’t think he lost sleep over it since he readily agreed with Trump after he fired Kristi.
If she had done a dry run of the presentation earlier, someone might even have pointed out that the filmmaker had emphasized that a primary goal was to convey the name and meaning of "Zathura" to the viewers, and to make that name memorable.[/quote]
I think it was Brian who messed up “Zathura” in the beginning and was quickly corrected by the filmmaker. I don’t think JenM’s team was around.
You bring up a good point because if they were really prepared for the presentation than someone would have pointed out “Zenthura” to Jen during the dry run. I honestly don’t know what to make of it. I know that JenM asked the team if they can go over the presentation while they were in the van. I don’t know what was said after that cause they immediately went to Marshawn’s one on one interview where Marshawn said that it was a waste of time to have everyone go get the carpet.
You know, I wonder if the purpose of this task wasn't the float ... but more to see how well they evaluated the needs of their customer.[/quote]
One of the filmmaker said that it was a marketing task. Perhaps the float was a marketing device. The winning team had Zenthura all over the place which pleased one of the filmmaker and the way the float was set up was true to the vision of the other filmmaker, which no doubt pleased him.
Kristi said she wanted to show the house in its entirely and than show it being ripped into the galaxy and that this would be an invitation for you to come see the movie which pleased no one. I thought she should of just showed a preview of jimanji.
It also begs the question of what, exactly Jenthura prepared for. If she wanted to prepare for the "mental" part of it (not an auspicious choice of term), then she didn't accomplish much there. It's occured to me that she may have taken Marshawn, Randal and Rebecca with her as a power move, specifically, a way of evening the score with Kristi, and reasserting control over the team. Since she couldn't exert control over Kristi, and knew that she wouldn't have the support of Alla and Felisha, she grabbed the other three team members. Perhaps that's what she meant by "mental" preparation.[/quote]
Ha ha, that’s funny. But seriously I think JenM using “mental” would be too blunt if she was that devious.
Rabrab
Oct 24, 2005 @ 9:46 pm
Jen made one other big mistake in the presentation.
If you're presenting using a mock-up, by all that's holy, you don't talk about the problems you had making it! There's only one exception to that, and that's if those problems are going to affect the way that the real thing works, and then you'd better have either a) a very convincing case for why the design shouldn't be changed to avoid them or b) solutions to present. She had neither.
heebiejeebie
Oct 24, 2005 @ 9:51 pm
I thought Kristi should have been fired since the float was her part of the task.[/quote]
The initial concept was Kristi's, but the overall float was more collaborative by the simple virtue than anyone else could have piped up at any time and said, "WTF?" It seems from the clips no one did. That makes the float a team failure.[/quote]
Not only was the original concept Kristi's, but then she tried to subvert her own idea and make the overall theme totally irrelevant by having the same "star" board in from the house as well. Which really would have made the float a piece of rolling crap. Not only would it have blocked the one real bit of signage coming forward, but it also would have eliminated the whole idea of showing the house normal from front and the progression of the story as the float went by. Ironically, Jen might have been on firmer ground had Kristi had her way.
The editing was likely heavyhanded, but I do wonder at how strong a defense Alla and Felisha put up for Kristi. If any. Or by then maybe they considered her an acceptable causalty. They giggled together but they were awfully quiet when Kristi kept bitching about changing the float's design midway.
FuManchu
Oct 25, 2005 @ 3:39 am
The men are quite lucky that Brian mispronounced 'Zathura', really. It reminded them of the importance of the name and spurred them to include it wherever possible - visually and aurally. The women, on the other hand, made their pronunciation error when it was far, far too late to make anything of it.
agentnojo
Oct 25, 2005 @ 3:56 am
I feel the mispronunciation of Zathura actually did Capital Edge in more than their inconsistently-scaled float. A presenter who consistently mispronounces the movie title just telegraphs sloppiness in preparation or, even worse, no preparation (i.e. rehearsal) whatsoever. It's even worse when no team members interject to correct the oversight, further rubbing salt in the wound.
Having said that, neither Kristi nor Jennifer should have been fired.
In fact, Capital Edge should not even have lost this task.
One of the primary goals of the task was to create awareness for this movie and I think they achieved just that, and this board is proof of it. No poster here, or viewer for that matter, is likely to not know how to spell, much less pronounce, the title now. Ironically, this gaffe probably does more to promote the movie than any float ever will.
Princess PJ
Oct 25, 2005 @ 7:46 am
It also bothered Bill.
I don’t think he lost sleep over it since he readily agreed with Trump after he fired Kristi.[/quote]
Actually, I thought it was hilarious when, in the post-firing processing summit, Trump was giving himself his usual pat on the back about how Kristi had to be the one to go, and Bill's eyebrows shot all the way up to his hairline. His mouth said, "Oh, absolutely!", but those eyebrows were all, "Whatever, nutbar." It made me think that Bill's decision to leave Trump is less about wanting to go back to his entrepreneurial roots and more about wanting to get away from the crazy man with the dead animal atop his head.
That said, Kristi and Jenthura (Hee! Not getting tired of that anytime soon) were both terrible, and frankly, I was fine with either of them going. Jennie-pie is basically, I think, a marked woman. Her time will come, so I'm not prepared to be all up in arms over her not being fired this week. And at least her dippy incompetence is not as actively offensive as Kristi's perma-bitchface and grating, constant complainy-voice.
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