Editor's note: We asked Latina media dynamo Nely Galan, who was on Celebrity Apprentice last season, to share her take on this year's action.



I am so excited to be blogging for Kodak about The Celebrity Apprentice this season and I can't wait to see this year's Kodak task on the show. I have been the official Apprentice blogger for nbc.com, this season too and I have following all the antics- this time from afar.
 
I have to say being on Season One of The Celebrity Apprentice turned out to be one of the greatest experiences of my life. One of the amazing aspects of the show is that you get to spend quality time with
an accomplished group of people from a wide variety of fields such as sports, entertainment, and business - what a gift! We have all watched television and seen someone win a gold medal at the Olympics, a singer win a Grammy, an actor win an Oscar, and witnessed an entrepreneur making a million; but don't we all wonder "How did they do it? Could I ever do it, too?" We love to examine these people up close and try to "crack the code" of their success, see what drives them, and see what is their Achilles heel - made all the more relevant and fascinating given these crazy economic times we are living through. This year so far, has not disappointed, every week I have learned tremendously and I particularly can't wait for the upcoming Kodak task.



The Celebrity Apprentice (besides being a whole lot of fun) is an incredible microcosm that shows the inner workings of success and the personality traits that can either elevate or ultimately derail someone.  It's my belief that the winning combination is a liberal dose of intelligence + stamina + life experience + great contacts (for fundraising) + strategy and oh yeah, make sure to develop a thick skin for when "The Donalds" of the world yell at you, and trust me, they will yell at you at some point in your career.
 
 In the aftermath of the show I've been kept pretty busy, including a nationwide speaking tour on empowerment and entrepreneurship that reached over 75,000 people; and started a web site for women entrepreneurs called MsMogul.com. In addition to my day job as a television producer, I've gone back to school to get a Doctorate in Psychology (something I always wanted to do). The Celebrity Apprentice experience inspired me to do more, be more, and to examine my flaws and re-address them -- in a word, it inspired me to GROW.

One of the greatest by products of the show was that I was able to turn my task with Kodak, (in which I was almost fired, and Gene Simmons ended up taking a bullet for me) into a great relationship with KODAK and Jeffrey Hayzlett. Kodak produced an incredible spot about my family's journey from Cuba and how I was able to go back and bring back all my family photographs. This campaign was for Kodak Gallery (my favorite hobby!).We also ran a contest in Latina magazine for readers to submit favorite photos and the winners were flown to Los Angeles where we hosted a special lunch and where they received Kodak cameras, printers, and their own Kodak Gallery photo books.



I have had the pleasure of being Kodak's guest at the Academy Award party for SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE, where we had a blast and took a lot of photos! Most importantly, I am working on a new project along with Jeff's team Erin Foster, Mary Reed and Eduardo Correia, that will have a Latino focus and be very special - stay tuned! In the meantime I have made 60 Kodak Gallery books, mugs, ties, purses, mouse pads etc..... It's been a perfect Kodak photo year!



Now, let me tell you how it all began.......
 
It has been a little over a year since my Kodak task on the Celebrity Apprentice.

I remember being so happy when Donald Trump announced that our task would be designing an Airstream trailer that would become a Kodak printing lab that would tour the country.

I felt that this was a task I had "in the bag". I was a secret Kodak expert. I loved all of Kodak's products for my whole life and was an obsessive Kodak Gallery customer.

When Gene Simmons became our project manager I was very happy. He is an entrepreneur I respect and the thought of working with him truly made me happy.

Gene, who doesn't do anything half way decided the task was not just about creating a traveling experience airstream, But instead it was about re- branding-Kodak itself.

He sent me on a fact finding mission with the client, who turned out to be Jeff Hayzlett. I asked dozens of questions about the products that needed to be sold. It was clear from speaking to Jeff that the task at hand was simply to create a campaign to sell Kodak ink.

I went back to Gene to down load but he was not interested in just ink- he was into the re- brand- and he was so passionate about it, I happily agreed with my charismatic leader.

We spent the rest of that day and late into the night working on our IT'S A KODAK WORLD, project. We happily worked together on something we loved and I got quality time with the very smart Gene getting tips on life, work and human nature. It was a magical moment in time.

The next day, we went to our finished Airstream- and started selling printers and ink. Gene went to the streets to get us clients. When Jeff Hayzlett showed up to our bus- I was convinced he was blown away and that we had won.

The entire task was the wonderful experience of working with someone you admire and are thrilled to be spending time with, a product that you truly love and are happy selling, and a slogan and campaign that you believe does an excellent job for your client.........

All together... Kismet

Or, so we thought......

Little did I suspect that in so many ways this task would change so much of my life.
End of Part 1, stay tuned for Part II on Friday, May 8th!

Last December Kodak and the PGA TOUR launched a six year partnership that included corporate hospitality and Kodak branding on digital scoreboards. This was pretty exciting.

There was another element of the partnership that wasn't mentioned. Today was the day we revealed it.

The big announcement was scheduled for the Buick Open at Warkwick Hills. As soon as I arrived I knew it was a special tournament. Check out the snazzy Buick golf carts!

The moment I stepped foot on the course I saw the Kodak brand on the leaderboards. We all took turns posing in front of it.

Fast forward to the afternoon press conference that was kicked off by wise cracking CBS Sports golf analyst, David Feherty. He introduced our own...

... Jeff Hayzlett who announced *drum roll please* The Kodak Challenge. The Kodak Challenge is a first of it's kind competition for PGA TOUR players with a $1 million dollar prize. There will be Kodak Challenge holes on select PGA TOUR tournament courses that celebrate the beauty and memorable moments of golf. The competition begins in January 2009 and players have to play at least 18 of the holes.

Tom Wade, the CMO of the PGA TOUR made a few comments about how Kodak and the PGA TOUR is a perfect fit for creating an exciting competition for the players and the fans.

PGA TOUR player J.J. Henry shared his thoughts on the Kodak Challenge. The players are excited because it's a unique opportunity... anyone could win it. Everyone is going to make sure they know where the Kodak Challenge holes are and will try a little harder when they are playing them. Golf lends itself to memorable moments and one shot on one hole can make all the difference.

David Feherty is a member of the Kodak Challenge Advisory Board that will help select the Kodak Challenge golf holes. David kept the crew in stitches with his stories and seems to be Jeff's kindred spirit.

They both wore cowboy boots to the golf course.

There is a great team working on making the Kodak Challenge successful. There's never a dull moment. Jeff especially gets really excited and sometimes has to be reminded there are people teeing off a few feet away.

There are a lot of golf enthusiasts in our office. Here is Donna from Kodak Graphic Communications playing in the Buick Open Pro Am.

The Kodak Challenge will as exciting for us as it will be for the players and fans.

Many of you 1,000 Words readers also hop over and read the 1,000 Nerds posts, but today there is a transition going on over there.

Lately we have noticed a need for more product information on our blogs. Because we have heard the feedback and want to change to meet the demand, we are transforming 1,000 Nerds into the Plugged In blog.

1,000 Nerds isn't going away. The 1,000 Nerds posts will be available in the archives of Plugged In and the Nerds bloggers will continue to post to Plugged In. In fact, take a look at this latest post about an exciting announcement for Linux users! Those Nerds posts will be joined by posts about our newest products and their features, tradeshows and events we participate in, product reviews, support tips, announcements and more.

As always we love to hear from you. Check out Plugged In over the coming weeks and let us know what you think!