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Speakers and Panels

Walt Zartman

Walt Zartman

Senior Vice President

Hillwood Urban

Jeff Hipchen

Jeff Hipchen

EVP

RF Connect

Sam Gilson

Sam Gilson

VP

Anixter

Kim Schell
EMCEE

Kim Schell

Houston Market Manager

Bisnow Media

Nicholas Stello
Moderator

Nicholas Stello

SVP of Information Technology

Vornado Realty Trust

Walt Zartman

Senior Vice President

Hillwood Urban

Walt Zartman is Senior Vice President of Hillwood Urban, where he pursues

and overseas the implementation of landmark development

opportunities throughout the North Texas region.

Mr. Zartman is currently overseeing the development of Victory Commoms,

a 352,000 square foot, Class AA office tower in Victory Park. Other recent

projects include the Turtle Creek Office project, a consolidation of the Perot

Companies into a campus headquarters located in Uptown Dallas as well

as the iconic Perot Museum of Nature and Science, a 170,000 square foot,

$190 million project. The project opened ahead of schedule and under

budget, and has become one of North Texas’ most important entertainment

and educational attractions. Current developments in design are Class AA

office projects in Victory Park and Turtle Creek as well as a new

landmark skyscraper adjacent to Woodall Rodgers Freeway in Downtown

Dallas.

Prior to joining Hillwood Development, Mr. Zartman served as Vice

President, Investments & Development for Crescent Real Estate

Equities in both Houston and Dallas. At Crescent, Mr. Zartman was the

development officer responsible for 5 Houston Center, a 580,000 square foot

Class A office tower and the re-development and “re-branding” of The

Park Shops, a 290,000 square foot retail center in downtown Houston,

Texas. In addition, Mr. Zartman was the development officer in charge of a

250,000 square foot Class A office building in Las Vegas, Nevada as well as

the 590,000 square foot Ritz Carlton Hotel and Residences in Dallas, Texas.

Prior to joining Crescent, Mr. Zartman served as Vice President of

Development for Hines in Dallas, Texas. During his 14-year tenure with

Hines, Mr. Zartman was responsible for the development of more than

900,000 square feet of Class A office space (including Galleria North in

North Dallas and Computer Associates Plaza in Plano) and for the

acquisition of projects in the southwest region of the United States.

Mr. Zartman was also responsible for the day-to-day asset management

of a 2.3 million square foot office portfolio in Dallas, Texas and of

approximately 594,000 square feet of properties located in San Antonio and

Austin, Texas, as well as Albuquerque, New Mexico.

During his more than 32 year career, Mr. Zartman has been directly

responsible for the development and construction of more than 3.7 million

square feet, representing in excess of $1.1 billion in value.

E D U C AT ION

Southern Methodist University – Bachelor of Business Administration

Jeff Hipchen

EVP

RF Connect

Jeff Hipchen is Executive Vice President of RF Connect, a company focused on the design, deployment and support of high performance wireless networks and applications, where he oversees marketing, sales and services. Prior to RF Connect, Jeff founded Digital Data Solutions, Inc., a Midwest Voice and Data Network solutions provider. Jeff has previously been an advisor to several start-up companies, assisting them with the development of their business plans, funding and sales execution. Throughout his career, Jeff has served on industry advisory boards and leadership councils. Jeff has a Bachelor of Science degree in Engineering from Oakland University.

Sam Gilson

VP

Anixter

Sam Gilson has been in telecom his entire career and most recently has served in various sales leadership pos= itions with Anixter for the past 11 years. Currently in his role as VP of Wireless and Service Providers, he is responsible for strategy and growt= h relating to venue and enterprise wireless funding alternatives and expedit= ed paths to carrier signal sources. He is responsible for all the activity w= ith 3rd Party Operators (3POs) on a national basis. In= these roles he works closely with 3POs, financial institutions and signal s= ource accelerators to help venues and enterprises meet their wireless requir= ements in the most timely manner based on various funding and financial goal= s. He holds a BA from James Madison University in Management Informati= on Systems.

Kim Schell

EMCEE

Bisnow Media

Kim was born in Flushing, New York and come from many generations of New Yorkers. It was a culture shock when she first moved to Houston, Texas in the late 70's but can now say Y'all with the best of them. Kim graduated from the University of Houston with a BBA in Marketing and has worked in media her entire life. Kim played and coached soccer for many years and even spent a summer in England playing in tournaments. The oldest of three girls, she now has two sons (the first born Texans in her family), a husband and three male rescue dogs.

Nicholas Stello

Moderator

Vornado Realty Trust

Mr. Stello is currently the SVP of Information Technology for Vornado Realty Trust, one of the nation’s

largest commercial real estate investment trusts. He has been principally responsible for successfully

forecasting, promoting and executing all phases of Vornado's strategic technology plan in supporting the

company’s significant growth. He is a seasoned and well‐rounded Real Estate Information Technology

executive who possesses leadership and vision amassed from working in a broad spectrum of corporate

IT functions.

Mr. Stello’s most recent focus has been on evaluating and implementing new technologies and strategic

partnerships in order to enhance the value of Vornado’s assets. His objectives are to increase a

property’s operational efficiency and related amenities in order to heighten tenant retention and

attraction. He has pioneered unique MSAs with leading national cellular carriers which resulted in

providing in‐door cellular coverage to over 25M square feet of tenant space. Additionally, he oversees a

growing Smart Building IoT / OT network which also covers both Cyber and Physical Security. Mr. Stello

serves as an advisor on the boards of several technology firms and has been a Society of Information

Management Mentor in their Mentorship Program.

Summary

  1. Whose responsibility is it to provide and fund wireless? How have funding models evolved to address owner and operator business outlooks?

  2. What is the big deal about 5G? When will it impact tenants and properties?

  3. What smart building technologies are best suited for wireless? Which will continue to be wired?

  4. How will building connectivity needs change in response to the post-coronavirus world?

  5. How has network planning changed? How has that impacted skillsets, hiring, partnering and budgeting?

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