Juiced from the first orange drop

Laguna businessman is pleased by success of his New Year’s Eve event at O.C. Fairgrounds.Move over, Big Apple.

New Year’s Eve 2005 was especially nice for Laguna Beach resident Richard Goodwin, who saw a dream he’s held for nine years become a reality.

Through his promotions company, Richard Goodwin Presents LLC, Goodwin, 36, was responsible for what is believed to be the first large Times Square-style gathering to celebrate New Year’s in Orange County. The promoter runs his office out of Laguna Beach and has six full-time employees.

The event -- known as “Orange County New Year’s Eve” -- was held on the Orange County Fairgrounds in Costa Mesa. It was touted as the first annual “orange drop” celebration.

Bands included the Psychedelic Furs, the Violent Femmes, Sugar Ray, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts and Real Big Fish. But the main attraction, Goodwin said, was a 6-foot sphere made of hundreds of lights that was dropped at midnight.

“We’ve all grown up watching the apple fall in Times Square,” Goodwin said. “I saw we had no big gatherings and thought we could do this. I never heard once that this was a bad idea.”

Despite wind and rain early in the evening, the event attracted more than 15,000 people, Goodwin said.

“We started with the worst possible scenario. Sky boxes blew over, a video screen blew away, the bands couldn’t do sound checks -- everything was moving real slow,” he said.

When the clouds parted after 5 p.m., Goodwin made the decision to carry on outside rather than move the event indoors.

“We were overly prepared,” Goodwin said. “Doing an event on New Year’s Eve is unique; you need to double the amount of everything.”

The crowd, he said, ranged in age from 25 to 40 and was seeking something other than expensive hotel parties, bars and restaurants.

“This kind of crowd doesn’t connect with trendy clubs and youth-oriented parties,” Goodwin said. “They want to enjoy big crowds and don’t care as much about what they look like.”

Goodwin estimates that the event required a $1.5 million investment. He does not expect it to be profitable for the first two years.

Having worked in the promotions business for 15 years, Goodwin is no stranger to organizing events for mass audiences.

As the former owner of Vision Entertainment, Goodwin created an event called “Hot Import Night” -- an international car show that attracted crowds of up to 20,000.

Goodwin got his start in the business with Beach Fest in Long Beach, which he reports brought in crowds of 50,000.

The promoter is very optimistic about the future of the Orange Drop event.

“I’m already getting inquiries on sky box purchases and buying a chunk of the event,” Goodwin said.