Preferred Events Long Island Partners with National Event Connection to Elevate Event Planning Services

Preferred Events Long Island has partnered with National Event Connection to enhance their event planning services for this year’s Dan’s Taste Series. This collaboration leverages the strengths of both companies, combining Preferred Events’ local expertise with National Event Connection’s extensive network and resources. Together, they offer a comprehensive range of event planning solutions, from corporate gatherings to private celebrations. This partnership allows clients to benefit from a broader array of services, including advanced technology, innovative design, and seamless execution.

By joining forces, Preferred Events and National Event Connection aim to deliver unforgettable experiences, ensuring each event is tailored to meet the specific needs and desires of their clients. We spoke with Preferred Events President Nick Mattera and National Event Connection CEO Will Bruner about their collaboration, services and being the exclusive partner of the 2024 Dan’s Taste Summer Series.

How it is you got into this line of work?

William Bruner: I started in the restaurant side of the business working in catering and eventually found myself on the other side of the entertainment, and from there it just began to prosper and move forward and grow into what National Event Connection is today.

Nick Mattera: I had started on the entertainment side of things in the DJing world kind of as a side business and eventually left that side to go into the more rental aspect of things, tenting, tables, chairs and whatnot. And that was about 10 years ago and just kind of went from side business to a full-fledged, full-time business with employees and warehouses.

What sets Preferred Events apart from the competition?

NM: Our attention to detail and customer-focused orientation. In the tenting world, a lot of the products are the same. It’s a little different than the DJ side of things where you have an individual talent aspect. So a 20 by 40 tent or whatever size tent you’re getting can be purchased from the same manufacturer, but it’s how it’s installed, who installs it and the process to get from booking to the day of that we really pride ourselves on and set ourselves apart in that way.

Can you describe the range of services that you offer?

WB: We handle everything from lighting, staging, sound, entertainment, tenting, decor, furniture rentals, and custom printing. We’re able to cover a vast majority of anything you could possibly need for any type of event other than the food.

NM: Tent installations, decor, furniture, we also have power equipment, so generators, we can do heating in the winter, air conditioning in the summer, planning the event, kind of mapping it out, really full-fledged event production from start to finish between the two companies is kind of the ultimate goal. And like Will said, we don’t cook the food, we do offer the cooking equipment, so we have catering equipment rentals.

What type of event do you specialize in?

NM: We focus on high-end social events and corporate functions. That would be like our bread and butter, because there’s a variety of different kinds of companies like us out there, ranging from people who just focus on small backyard gatherings to large companies that work on massive events like the Super Bowl. And we focus on local high-end social functions and local corporate functions, but the corporate portion of that does expand beyond New York State. Will can kind of attest to that, but we’ve gone to over a dozen states to do corporate functions throughout the country.

Can you share some of the most memorable events that you guys have been involved in and what made them unique?

WB: We work a lot with charity organizations like St. Jude, Habitat for Humanity, and Red Cross, so we’re able to produce some really amazing events with them. Between the casino tables, live entertainment, and other engaging event services, we’re able to help raise money for so many different great causes. We work very closely with the Ovarian Cancer Coalition and we’re able to help them put on a really good fundraiser. I love the fundraisers. I really think that they make a difference and they’re just great to bring the community together.

NM: On the social side of things, I think my favorite events to go to would just be weddings in general. They tend to be some of the happiest days of people’s lives and seeing them walk into the tent or venue with everything set up and the look on their faces only happens once, and usually it’s a great big smile, everyone’s happy and it doesn’t come across very often something so happy like that. So, it’s good to always see that, too.

What are some of the latest trends in the event planning industry that you guys are seeing that might be exciting?

NM: A lot of people want custom fabrication, where they have an idea and they just want it built. So it’s not more of a rental item, it’s more of like, “Hey, I saw this really cool sushi place, I want my backyard to look like that restaurant,” and we would build a sushi bar in their backyard custom from scratch. So it’s a lot of custom-builds going on.

Any memorable moments from working the Dan’s Taste events so far this summer?

NM: We could talk about GrillHampton this past weekend. It was memorable in the sense that it was absolutely pouring rain out, but everybody was still outside dancing and having fun. Some of the equipment got wet, but at the end of the day, the guests had a good time no matter what the weather was, which I think is a true testament to how great of an event the team put on. It was such a good event and the DJ was playing some great music and the band was having a lot of fun, it didn’t matter that there was three inches of rain coming down on top of them, they were still dancing until 1 in the morning.

For more information about Preferred Events, visit preferredeventsli.com And for more information about National Event Connection, visit nationaleventconnection.com.