Connected Real Estate honors Two Executives with Lifetime Achievement Awards
The commercial real estate industry tends to lag five to 10 years behind technology, noted Darlene Pope, president, North America, of Planon. Tenants today want great user experiences so commercial real estate executives should plan for that.
Pope and John Gilbert, executive chairman of Prescriptive Data, were honored with Lifetime Achievement awards by Connected Real Estate during a dinner Monday night in New Orleans ahead of Connect (X). The two veteran commercial real estate executives reflected on the past and the future during a panel session moderated by Rich Berliner, founder of connectedremag.com.
“If data is the new oil, it is crude oil,” Gilbert said. “In order to have a smart building, the building must have a brain.” Citing occupancy technology, Gilbert noted data is only good if it is monitoring who is entering and exiting a facility. Gilbert cited an example of people at work watching a solar eclipse – they entered, exited and entered the building again during a short time.
“My advice is to figure out the biggest driver: right now it is the user experience,” Pope said. “Take the technology that is outside of the building and bring it inside.”
The dinner was sponsored by 5G LLC, and their executives and their customers spoke about the need for a comprehensive strategy at the intersection of technology and commercial real estate.
“I can think of no two individuals who have influenced technology, especially wireless technology, in commercial real estate” Berliner noted in giving out the lifetime achievement awards. “They both have been involved in so many industry firsts, like the first CBRS installation, real estate event marketing and so much more. Both of them had a huge impact on how we developed Connected Real Estate and their careers are legendary in the space. It would be hard to find two people who have personified the mentality that one can succeed by helping others succeed over such long and storied careers. Both John and Darlene are extremely well known and well regarded in real estate, proptech, wireless and other business segments.”
This year’s Connect (X) event is expected to be the largest yet.
