“It’s intangible,” says Richard Good about the product of his job. “We’re creating memories.” Richard is the General Manager of Classic Party Rentals, which offers event management for any occasion large or small. He believes that “for people, celebrations are essential things in life.”
I’ve known this ever cheerful man for 15 years because he has been instrumental in making the Santa Barbara International Film Festival such a success by providing not only equipment but guidance. On this particular evening, as we sip cocktails overlooking the Santa Barbara skyline, he points out that in all these years, he and I have never slowed down enough to have a social conversation. “I’m not good at pausing,” he shares with me. “There’s a push in me that keeps me creating and doing things.” He describes himself as “a better staff member than a guest.”
Richard never imagined that he would be an event planner. When he got drafted to be on the fundraising committee of the Santa Barbara Waldorf School, where his daughter was a 2nd grader back in 1996, he helped put together their “Medieval Mayfair.” This experience led to him working for the Oscars Governor’s Ball — and eventually to doing some special events for one of the founders of Microsoft. The latter kept him busy for a few years, continuously commuting from Santa Barbara to Los Angeles to produce lavish parties there. Richard had found his calling. “It brought out all the passions in me,” he tells me about this early experience with event planning.