Connectivity Expo 2023 | Connect (X): Powered by WIA | 8 May 2023 | New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, 900 Convention Center Blvd, New Orleans, LA 70130, USA

With 50+ sessions, 7 industry-specific tracks, an interactive exhibit hall and numerous networking opportunities, attendees at Connect (X) will explore next-generation technologies, connect with new partners and learn about the future of connectivity.

2023 Speakers

FEATURED SPEAKERS:

Alex Gellman
Chief Executive Officer and Co-Founder, Vertical Bridge

Bob Mudge
Chief Executive Officer, BrightSpeed

Christopher Sambar
Executive Vice President, AT&T

Donald “Don” R. Cravins, Jr.
Under Secretary of Commerce, Minority Business Development

Gary Koerper
Senior Vice President, Emerging Technology, Charter Communications

Jay Brown
President and Chief Executive Officer, Crown Castle

Jeff Stoops
Director, President and Chief Executive Officer, SBA

Lynn Whitcher
President, WWLF

Marc Ganzi
Chief Executive Officer, Digital Bridge

Mike Irizarry
Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, US Cellular

Nicki Palmer
Chief Technology Ambassador, Verizon

Patrick Halley
President & Chief Executive Officer, WIA

Steve Vondran
Executive Vice President and President, U.S. Tower Division, American Tower

Thomas Kane
Chief Executive Officer & Managing Member, NB+C Totally Committed

SESSION SPEAKERS:

Abhimanyu Gosain
Senior Director, Institute for Wireless Internet of Things College of Engineering, Northeastern University

Abhishek Rampuria
Partner, M|C Partners

Adam Livesay
Co-Founder & Chief Commercial Officer, Elevāt

Adam Lyons
Chief Executive Officer & Founder, REALLY

Alan Petry
Chief Executive Officer, Austin1

Alby Bocanegra
President, The Urban Futurist

Alda Licis
Vice President, Tilson Infrastructure

Alex Besen
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, The Besen Group LLC

Alphonso Jenkins
Former Broadband Director, City of New York

Amanda Cahill
Senior Director, Business Development, Network Connex

Amelia De Jesus
Vice President, Workforce Solutions, Wireless Infrastructure Association

Amir Sheikh
Senior Manager Product Management, Cox Communications

Andrew Weakland
Senior Vice President, W.P. Carey Inc

Anthony Lehv
Former General Counsel, Extenet Systems

April Jackson
Director, Vendor Management, Tessco

Apurba Tribedi
Senior Director of Tower Products, Bentley Systems

Aspasia Paroutsas
Vice President, Federal Regulatory Affairs, Qualcomm

Austin Summerford
Vice President, Business Development and Partnerships, UScellular

Awaiz Khan
Principal Solutions Architect-Mobile Private Networks and Network Edge, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

Barbara Baffer
Vice President, Government & Policy Advocacy, Ericsson

Barbara Burba-Filoreto
Owner and Chief Executive Officer, Amerisite Wireless Development

Barlow Keener
Senior Division Counsel -- Communications, Tech & Media Practice, Womble Bond Dickinson

Beth Hoffman
Managing Director, Berkshire Partners

Blair Crawford
Senior Vice President, National Accounts and Marketing, Vertical Bridge

Bob Paige
Executive Vice President of Mergers and Acquisition and Corporate Development, Vertical Bridge

Brian Duncan
Chief Executive Officer, Craighead Electric

Brian Hough
Director of Plant Operations, PTCI

Brian Vaughn
Senior Director - Global Innovation and Digital Advisory, Cushman & Wakefield

Bryan Tramont
Managing Partner, Wilkinson Barker Knauer, LLP

Caleb Henry
Director of Research, Quilty Analytics

Cameron Syme
Senior Director, Digital Solutions, American Tower Corporation

Carissa Christensen
Chief Executive Officer and Founder, BryceTech

Carla Shaffer
Vice President of Sales, Wesco

Caroline Chan
Vice President and General Manager of the 5G Infrastructure Division, Network Platform Group, Intel

Carolyn Hardwick
President, Stratis

Carri Bennet
General Counsel, Rural Wireless Association

Carrie Charles
Chief Executive Officer, Broadstaff

Cathy Piche
Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Tower, Crown Castle

Chad Archer
Assistant Vice President of RAN Technology, AT&T

Charlie Kennamer
Vice President, Telecom, Sitetracker

Chiaren Cushing
Vice President/Head of Business Development, Crown Castle

Chris Kennedy
Director of Business Development, PerfectVision

Chris Pleibel
Vice President, PerfectVision

Chris Townson
Chief Executive Officer, DTC Communications

Christopher Boyd
Vice President, Product Management, Kratos

Christopher Fisher
Partner, Cuddy & Feder LLP

Chung Hsieh
Senior Infrastructure Engineer, John Deere

Claude Aiken
Chief Strategy Officer and Chief Legal Officer, Nextlink Internet

Clayton Funk
Managing Director, Houlihan Lokey

Cody Louviere
Chief Executive Officer, King Crow Studios

Colby Synesael
Executive Vice President of Communications, IHS Towers

Cole Crawford
Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Vapor IO

Colleen King
Vice President, Regulatory Affairs, Charter Communications

Cory Davis
Vice President, Verizon Frontline

Craig Schwechel
Principal Consultant, Ericsson

Dagan Kasavana
Chief Executive Officer, Phoenix Tower International

Dan D’Costa
Principal, Zayo

Dan Hays
Principal, PwC

Dan Parfitt
Managing Director, Investment Banking, Stephens, Inc.

Dan Zygmunt
Executive Vice President and Head of Services, Nokia

Daniel Person
Senior Vice President, Commercial Solutions, Oceus

Darlene Pope
President, North America, Planon

Darren Ludington
Vice President of Sales for the Americas, ST Engineering iDirect

David E. Bronston
Special Counsel, Phillips Lytle LLP

David Meltzer
Secretary General, GVF

David Tokunaga
Vice President, Product and Business Development, Boingo Wireless

David Yacoub
President & Chief Executive Officer, Site Link Wireless & Site Link Construction

Dean Bubley
Mobile Technology & Futures Analyst, Disruptive Analysis

Deborah Kish
Vice President, Research and Workforce Development, Fiber Broadband Association

Diego Paldao
Director, Market Development, SES

Doug Dimitroff
Partner, Phillips Lytle LLP

Doug Wittrock
Executive Vice President - South Region, Network Connex

Dr. Adebisi Oladipupo
Vice President, Technology & Chief Information Officer, Morgan State University

Dr. Dawit Haile
Dean School of Engineering and Technology, Virginia State University

Dr. Laveda Pullens
Program Director, Georgia Fintech Academy

Dr. Morakinyo Kuti
Dean, College of Engineering Science, Central State University

Dr. Patrick Carriere
Dean, School of Engineering and Technology, Southern University, LA

Dr. Ronald Johnson
Senior Advisor-DEIA, Wireless Infrastructure Association

Dr. Shirish Nagaraj
Chief Technologist and Director of Research & Development, Corning

Drew Clark
Editor and Publisher, Broadband Breakfast

Drew Colbow
Director of Operational Strategy, Crown Castle

Drew Depriest
Senior Director, Digital Facilities Management, CBRE

Ed Farscht
Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Diamond Communications

Ed Knapp
Chief Technology Officer, American Tower

Edyn Rolls
Director of Broadband Strategy, Oklahoma Broadband Office

Elizabeth Hill
Vice President, State & Local Affairs, American Tower

Eric Hudson
Vice President of RF Architecture & Engineering, Mountain Wireless

Eric Toenjes
Manager, Wireless Market, Graybar

Eric Watko
Vice President, Innovation, American Tower

Erik Andersen
Vice President, Business Development, Lower Colorado River Authority

Ernest Worthman
Senior Member, IEEE, Executive Editor and Vice President of Content and Operations, AGL Information and Technology

Ethan Lucarelli
Legal Advisor, Wireless & International, Federal Communications Commission

Eugina Jordan
Chief Marketing Officer, Telecom Infra Project (TIP)

Fayyaz Patwa
Vice President Sales Engineering, Nokia

Frank Louthan
Managing Director, Raymond James

Gina Otts
Director Product Engineering IOT & Private Networks, Verizon

Ginelle Brown
Executive Director - Product Engineering & Development, Verizon

Greg Spraetz
Chief Revenue Officer, Network Connex

Gregory Najjar
Director of DAS and Small Cells, SBA Communications

Gregory Williams
Senior Equity Research Analyst - Cable, Satellite & Telecom Services; Communications Infrastructure, Cowen and Company

Hank Hultquist
Vice President, Federal Regulatory, AT&T

Harish Nalinakshan
Partner, PwC

Howard Mandel
Co-President, Peppertree Capital Management, Inc.

Iain Gillott
President and Founder, iGR Research

Itai Karelic
Chief Revenue Officer, vHive

Jake Lopes
Senior Attorney, U.S. Tower, Government Affairs, American Tower

Jamaal Smith
Vice President, Kajeet

James Brehm
Founder & Tech Evangelist, James Brehm & Associates

Jason Caliento
Chief Commercial Officer, Mobilitie

Jason Inskeep
AVP 5G and Private 5G Center of Excellence, AT&T

Jeffrey Hill
Executive Editor, Via Satellite

Jennifer Fritzsche
Managing Director and Co-Head of North American Telecom & Digital Infrastructure, Greenhill & Co., LLC

Jerry Sullivan
Chief Executive Officer / Senior Managing Partner, Endeiro Capital Partners, LLC

Jessica Koch
BroadBand Program Manager, Calix

John Celentano
Business Editor, Inside Towers

John Gilbert
Executive Chair, Prescriptive Data

John Gilbert
Executive Chair, Prescriptive Data

John Hayes
Head of Solutions Engineering, iconnectiv

John Hunter
Senior Director, Government Affairs, Engineering & Technology Policy, T-Mobile

John Koos
Senior Vice President, Butler America Telecom

John Minnis
Chief Executive Officer, Kompass Funding

John Morgan
Chief Executive Officer, 5G LLC

John Stevenson
Chief Operating Officer, Tillman Networks

Jon Wilkins
Co-founder and Partner, Quadra Partners, LLC

Jonathan Adelstein
Managing Director & Head of Global Policy and Public Investment, DigitalBridge

Josh Arensberg
Global Head of Business Development, Media & Entertainment, Verizon

Josh Reynolds
Vice President of Program Management, Mobilitie

Joshua Broder
Chief Executive Officer, Tilson

Justin Markle
Head of Wireless Partnerships & Development, Comcast Corporation

Justin Marron
Chief Executive Officer, Strategic Venue Partners

Kari Hicks
Associate Bureau Chief, Wireless Telecommunications Bureau, Federal Communications Commission

Katherine Huber
Chief Human Resources Officer, Everest Infrastructure Partners

Kelly Lazuka
Chief Executive Officer, Fullerton

Ken Sandfeld
Senior Vice President of Indoor/Outdoor Solutions, JMA Wireless

Kim Walker LaGrue
Chief Information Officer, New Orleans

Kyung Mun
Principal Analyst, Mobile Experts

Lee Davenport
Director, Community Development, US Ignite

Lee Sargent
Director, Wireless Implementation, Cox Communications

Leroy Lerner
Senior Director, Operations & Fulfillment Services, PerfectVision

Leslie Williams
President, SI Wireless

Leticia Latino
Chief Executive Officer, Neptuno USA

Linda Hardesty
Editor In Chief, Fierce Wireless

Lynnette Luna
Senior Analyst, S&P Market Research

Mahmoud Ibrahim, PhD
Business Development Manager, Panduit Ventures

Mahmoud Khafagy
Director of Product Management, Lynk

Marissa Mitrovich
Vice President of Public Policy, Fiber Broadband Association

Mark Bond
Director of Workforce Initiatives, LED FastStart

Mark Rubin
Director of RF Solutions, Jacobs

Martha DeGrasse
Journalist and Researcher, WIA, OTR, FierceWireless, Inside Towers

Melissa Ashurst
Founder & Chief Executive Officer, Impact Broadband

Melissa Newman
Vice President, Government Affairs, Telecommunications Industry Association

Michael Pelletier
Vice President, Sales and Business Development, Arcosa Telecom Structures

Michael Rollins
Managing Director, Citi Research

Mike Alt
Senior Vice President, Planning & Engineering, Extenet

Mike Dano
Editorial Director, 5G & Mobile Strategies, Light Reading

Mike O’Rielly
President, MPORielly Consulting Inc.

Mike Youngs
Vice President – Information Technology Services, DFW International Airport

Molly Ritner
Deputy States Director, The White House

Monica Alleven
Executive Editor, FierceWireless

Monica Paolini
Principal, Senza Fili

Munish Rishi
Senior Vice President and Chief Growth Officer – NS Americas, Tech Mahindra

Narothum Saxena
Vice President, Technology Strategy and Architecture, UScellular

Neil Shah
Chief Product Officer, Wavelo

Norman Fekrat
Managing Partner, Imagine Wireless

Omar Jaffrey
Managing Partner & Founder, Palistar Capital

Patrick Fear
Managing Director, AB - Private Credit Investors

Patrick Reams
Vice President, Technology & Communications, Irby Utilities

Paul Challoner
Vice President, Network Product Solutions, Ericsson

Paul Fettuccia
President and Chief Executive Officer, ANS Advanced Network Services

Paul Pishal
Business Development Director – Connectivity, Commercial & Industrial, Black & Veatch

Paul Trubridge
Senior Vice President of Global Solutions, DenseAir

Pete Chase
Chief Executive Officer, EasyStreet Systems

Peter Carson
Senior Director Solutions Marketing, Marvell

Peter Murray
Executive Director, Dense Networks

Phil Boness
Director Intelligent Infrastructure, Jacobs

Polly Gifford
Co-founder and President, Education Partners Solution, Inc

Praveen Ashok Kumar
Technical Program Manager, US Ignite

Rachel Jewett
Senior Managing Editor, Via Satellite

Rebecca Hussey
Associate General Counsel, Government Relations, Crown Castle

Rebecca Murphy Thompson
Vice President, Government Affairs, UScellular

Reginald Keitt
Senior Spectrum Manager, Aperio Global, LLC

Rich Berliner
Chief Executive Officer, Digital Locations, Inc.

Richard Bernhardt
Senior Director, Spectrum and Industry, WISPA

Richard DeVaul
Chief Executive Officer, XNET

Richard Leitao
Vice President National Development - Wireless Operations, Dish

Richard Swardh
Senior Vice President, Premium Enterprise & Mobile Operators, Comtech

Rick Heilbrunn
Chief Executive Officer & Founder, StartOps LLC

Rikin Thakker, Ph.D.
Chief Technology Officer, WIA

Rob Alderfer
Vice President, Technology Policy, Charter

Robert Rehg
Senior Vice President for Corporate and Business Development, EchoStar Corporation

Rodrigo Gomez
Vice President, Future Systems, OneWeb Technologies

Roger Entner
Analyst and Founder, Recon Analytics LLC

Roger Sherman
Quadra Partners

Ronen Barel
Chief Executive Officer & Co-Founder, Galooli

Ross Bawcum
Vice President- Core Network Infrastructure Operations, AT&T

Roxanne Gould
Chief Executive Officer & President, Gould Government Relations

Samer Bishay
CEO and Co-Founder, Karrier One

Sandy Hachat
Senior Director, MRI Software

Scott Cohen
Executive Director, Comcast business Product Management, Comcast

Scott D. Woods, Esq.
President, Public Private Partnerships, Ready.net

Scott Harris
Senior Spectrum Advisor/Director National Spectrum Strategy, National Telecommunications and Information Administration

Scott Lewis
Vice President, Phoenix Tower International

Scott Lively
Broadband Program Specialist, NTIA

Scott Stekr, P.E.
Director of Structural Engineering, PerfectVision

Scott Thompson
Member / Chair, Communications Infrastructure Litigation Practice, Mintz

Scott Thorpe
Director, IGS/SevenT, Joint Venture

Sean Hew
Senior Vice President, Houlihan Lokey

Sean Kennedy
Director - AB Private Credit Investors, Alliance Bernstein

Sean Kinney
Editor-in-Chief, RCR Wireless News

Sean Lee
President, Data Stream Broadband

Shane McClelland
Vice President, Head of Emerging RAN Solutions, Ericsson

Sharpe Smith
Technology Editor, Inside Towers

SherAfgan Mehboob
Chief Financial Officer and Head of Corporate Development, Tillman Digital Cities

Shon Sparks
Director, National Real Estate, DISH Network

Shylesh Moras
Senior Vice President, Operations, Development & IT, Phoenix Tower International

Slavko Djukic
Vice President of Technology and Product Management, SOLiD

Spencer Crawford-White
Partner, Visual Intelligence

Stephen Keegan
Senior Counsel, Government and Legal Affairs, Wireless Infrastructure Association

Stephen Stewart
Chief Executive Officer, Smart Broadband

Steve Crout
Founder and Principal, CityTech Strategy Group

Steve Sharkey
Vice President, Government Affairs, Engineering and Technology Policy, T-Mobile

Sue Marek
Freelance Journalist, Sue Marek Writing Services

Suruchi Ahuja
Chief Executive Officer, Tillman Infrastructure

T.J. Forner
Director, Market Development for Private Networks, CommScope

Tarun Gupta
Founder and Chief Product Officer, Skylo Technologies

Telisa Schelin
Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary, Extenet

Thomas Marciano
Chief Growth Officer, inRange Solutions

Thomas Tyler
Deputy Director, Louisiana Broadband Office

Tim Bodner
Partner, Global Head of Real Estate Deals, PwC

Tim Last
Vice President & General Manager, Americas, Iridium Communications Inc.

Tim Piccirilli
Commercial Director, Edge Infrastructure, Crown Castle

Todd Landry
Corporate Vice President, Product and Market, JMA Wireless

Tom Leddo
Chief Strategy Officer, MD7

Tom Stroup
President, Satellite Industry Association (SIA)

Tony Eigen
Vice President Global Marketing, Baicells

Tracy Snyder
Vice President Talent Acquisitions, Mastec Network Solutions

Veneeth Iyengar
Executive Director, ConnectLA

Victoria Weidenthaler
Corporate Counsel - Land Use and Legislative Affairs, SBA Communications

Vinay Patel
Senior Director, International Division, Hughes Network Systems, LLC

Will Townsend
Vice President, Principal Analyst, Moor Insights & Strategy

William Arbuckle
Policy Adviser, National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA)

William Davidson
Director, Strategic Initiatives, NextEra Infrastructure Solutions

William Richmond
Cox Private Networks (CPN)

2023 Sponsors

CORNERSTONE SPONSORS:
• American Tower
• Crown Castle
• Phoenix Tower International
• SBA
• Vertical Bridge

PLATINUM SPONSORS:
• Jacobs
• T-Mobile

GOLD SPONSORS:
• Boldyn Networks
• JMA
• Nokia
• Ontivity
• Palistar
• Site Tracker
• Tessco

SILVER SPONSORS:
• Arcosa Telecom Structures
• BayOne Telecom
• Open Tower
• Black and Veatch
• Calix
• CommScope
• Corning
• Dense Air
• Druid
• Ericsson
• Harmoni Towers
• Iconnectiv
• MasTec
• Network Connex
• Next Era Infrastructure Solutions
• Pinpoint Advisors in Capital
• Planon
• Solid
• Strategic Venue Partners
• Tower Co
• UScellular Towers
• vHive
• Visual Intelligence
• Wavelo
• Wilson Pro
• Zayo

BRONZE SPONSORS:
• Nexsys-One
• Tectonic

OTHER SPONSORS:
• Alliance Bernstein
• APC Towers
• Berkshire Partners
• Boingo
• BroadStaff
• City Switch
• Dish
• Everest
• Extenet
• Galooli
• GDIT
• Houlihan Lokey
• IHS
• Inorsa
• IRBY
• KGP Services
• Kompass Funding
• McGriff
• Mears
• Mintz
• NB+C
• OCEUS
• Peppertree Capital
• Perfect Vision
• Phillips Lytle
• Raymond James
• SAM
• Segra
• Site Link
• Smart Link
• SPX
• Stephens
• Talman Consultants
• Talon
• TEP Group
• Tri Strux
• Wesco
• WBK

GOLF SPONSORS:
• AFL
• AMBOR
• American Products
• Arcosa Telecom Structures
• Black and Veatch
• CellSite
• Galooli
• Jacobs
• M Communications
• Next Edge
• NWS
• Pacific Technical Solutions
• Pathwave
• Premier Construction
• Quad Gen
• Roxtec
• Sabre Industries
• Segra
• Site Tracker
• Smart Link
• Tower Advisors
• TSC
• TUF-TUG Products

SUPPORTING ORGANIZATIONS:
• Broadband Breakfast
• BTR
• Dense Networks
• Fiber Broadband
• GVF
• ISE ICT Solutions and Education
• LightWave
• LWA
• NATE
• PCCA
• RCA Fostering Wireless Innovation
• RWA
• Safer Buildings Coalition
• The Besen Group
• TIRAP
• TXWA
• Via Satellite
• WISPA
• WWLF