by Sean McManus
Staff Writer
In 1999, the last time Randy Goodwin threw a party, 2,500 people showed up.
“So we took a couple years off,” said Goodwin, the president of PRI Productions, the high-tech event and design firm on Kings Avenue that many people know as Presentation Resource. “But we’ve got a new name and people wanted to do it, so I thought maybe it’s time for another one.”
Goodwin recently converged his three companies, Presentation Resource, Image Showmakers and Premier Events, under one umbrella — PRI. And it is for that reason, combined with Goodwin’s sense of civic duty and general love of a good party, that is fueling what would be, if not for donations from other corporate sponsors, a roughly $200,000 shindig next month called Party 2002.
The party, free to the public, will be held August 2 at the Osborn Center. Goodwin has already signed on SMG, the facilities manager at the convention center, along with Aramark, the food service provider, the Chamber of Commerce and Specialties USA for the party favors. Goodwin said other sponsors are close to coming aboard.
“The first 1,000 people get the premium gifts,” said Goodwin. “When you walk into the main reception area, expect stilt walkers handing out beads, lanyards, t-shirts and other party stuff.”
PRI is sending out about 15,000 invitations to what is supposed to include the general downtown business community. It’s a chance for PRI, which handles major events all over the country, to showcase what they do. Some of the talent is driving up from Orlando; costumes are coming from Miami.
Big PRI parties started in 1994 as a way to celebrate the company’s anniversary. As PRI began to land bigger clients in the community — like the Jaguars, the Florida-Georgia game, the convention center, Alltel Stadium, the T-U Center and the Coliseum — they decided to expand and this is the result.
There are going to be seven rooms at Party 2002.
• The first room will be called the “Eye of Ra” which will have an Egyptian theme with a huge sphinx in the middle of the room and a casino featuring roulette and craps. Pyramids and belly dancers (Goodwin hopes to get the Jaguar cheerleaders) will also be there as well as what he called “big guys with fans.” The bartenders will be dressed like pharaohs and there will be a sarcophagus. Expect Egyptian music as you nibble at hummus and pita bread.
• Room two will be called “Cirque Nouveau” and will have, you guessed it, a French theme. Expect lots of berets and a strolling violin and flautist following you around. There will be French pastries and gourmet coffee. The decor will be cafe-style. Goodwin is assembling character artists, face painters and “artsy” fortune tellers, just like Moulin Rouge.
• The “Carnival of Venice” is the third room. There will be pasta stations and perhaps a guy in a black and white striped shirt singing to you from a makeshift gondola. There’s a bridge with a gazebo, just like in Venice, where a three-piece band will set up delivering renditions that will sound suspiciously like they are from the movie “Lady and the Tramp”
• The next room is called “Knight of the Realm” and will sort of remind you of both the Renaissance and the Medieval times that preceded it. Imagine guys dressed up in full armor carrying big trays of beef. There will be lots of stained glass. Goodwin is having a make-believe King Arthur walking around among some dry ice and, he assures, there will be both maidens and wenches. The centerpiece, though, is a life-size Merlin holding a crystal ball.
• “Under the Sea” was the theme of the prom party in the movie “Back to the Future.” There will be large plastic fish hanging from the ceiling and the menu will include, yes, seafood, such as crabs, shrimp and sushi. Again, Goodwin is hoping to sign up the girls of the Jaguars’ Roar to be mermaids and King Neptune will also be there. Expect a life-sized lobster and Jimmy Buffett music. The idea for Under the Sea is to have the layout sort of jetting out in eight directions — much like an octopus.
• A room named “Quazar” will be diamond-shaped with an elevated dance floor. A 20-foot wide projection screen will be playing music videos of the songs being played on PRI’s audio components. “There will be lots of spandex and black lights,” said Goodwin. “And glow-in-the-dark ice cubes.” Goodwin has signed up professional dancers to instruct.
• The last room will be called the “Red Hot Pepper Club” and will feature prominent local politicians answering questions about the future of Jacksonville or various “hot” subjects in the community. The person in the “hot” seat will have 30 minutes or so of duty, then another will take over. “It will be like a talk show,” Goodwin said, mentioning the white wood and galvanized custom stations, evocative of a television set. You can expect Mexican appetizers in the Red Hot Pepper Club.
“We want every mayoral candidate, all of City Council, the Super Bowl Host Committee and the people handling the sports complexes with renderings of the potential plans for the ballpark and the new arena to be there.” Goodwin said. “I know the beginning of August is a popular vacation time, so hopefully we’ll get a lot of people.”
Goodwin is hoping to attract representatives of the Downtown Development Authority, Downtown Vision Inc., Berkman Plaza, the Shipyards, 11 E. Forsyth and other downtown projects to introduce themselves to the community. Goodwin is thinking that a backdrop of major entertainment will generate some quality dialogue about the concept of an entertainment district as well.
“But this is a time to loosen your tie and hang out,” said Goodwin. “The challenge will be to sustain a quality party that is expected to run until well after midnight.”