Advisory Gaming/Hospitality

Bryant Santini

CIO
Casino Arizona/Talking Stick Resort

Mr. Santini’s tribal experience has been with the Salt River Pima Maricopa Indian Community in Scottsdale Arizona as their Chief Information Officer since 2009. His team oversees infrastructure, data security, data Center Operations, portfolio management, application, project management, providing desktop support and audio visual for all aspects of the gaming and non-gaming enterprise. Mr. Santini has extensive experience directing all aspects of IT and focuses on managing a cultural of change to create a professional environment based on mutual respect and open and consistent communications. Prior to Indian Gaming, Mr. Santini served 42 years in MIS, extensively with the “Big 5” major oil companies.

Prior to accepting a position at Casino Arizona centered in Information Technology, Financial Services, Strategic Planning, IT Project Office, Facilities Management and Procurement. Mr. Santini has held managing positions at Standard Oil of Ohio now BP, senior positions at Tosco, Phillips 66, ConocoPhillips and Alimentation Couche Tard (Circle K). The latter positions consisted of involvement in implementing retail automation solutions for approximately 5,000 convenience stores, truck stops, car care centers and assisting in acquisitions and divestitures as well as overseeing the disposition of the acquired/divested assets.

Mr. Santini holds a B.S. degree in Business Management, Information Services and a minor in Operations Research from Clarion University of Pennsylvania, formally known as Clarion State College, Clarion Pennsylvania.

Amy Gates

Director of IT
Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe of Michigan

Amy Gates, Director of Information Technology for the Saginaw Chippewa Indian Tribe. Amy began her career in Tribal IT over 24 years ago and for the last 17 years has been the Director of IT. Amy is responsible for the overall vision and direction of technology for the Tribe as well as Soaring Eagle Casino & Resort, Saganing Eagles Landing Casino and Hotel, Soaring Eagle Waterpark and Hotel and Migizi Economic Development.

Amy has been an Advisory Board member of TribalNet for over 15 years and serves as an Advisory Board member for Gaming and Leisure Magazine. Amy holds a B.S. in Computer Science from Central Michigan University and a Master of Science in Cybersecurity Technologies from the University of Maryland Global Campus.

Herb Kraft

MIS Manager
Prairie Knights Casino & Resort

Herb is the MIS Manager at Prairie Knights Casino & Resort in Fort Yates, ND. He has been in the tribal gaming industry since 2001, starting at Seven Feathers Casino Resort in Oregon, where he moved up the ladder to IS Director before moving back home to the sunny plains of North Dakota. He also enjoys moonlit walks on the beach.

John Filippe

Executive Director of Technology
Quinault Beach Resort and Casino

John Filippe is an accomplished Resort Executive with over 25 years of Casino/Resort IT experience. He has worked nationally and internationally for several Resort properties, and across many types of resorts from commercial, tribal, and riverboat entertainment facilities. He was a vendor with Bally Gaming and Systems in the late 90’s, and worked with the large expansion of tribal gaming during that time. His unique style of IT management was featured in the book “The Tech Buzzkill: How Top IT Leaders Fend Off the Tech “Buzz” to Focus on the Business” by Gerry Robinson and Manish Sharma. He is currently the Executive Director of MIS for Quinault Beach Resort and Casino in Washington state.

Reese Weber, MBA, CISSP

Chief Information Security and Privacy Officer
Indian Health Service, California Area Office

California Area Office in Sacramento, CA. In this role, she works with Federal, Tribal and Urban healthcare facilities throughout California to improve their cybersecurity posture, technical infrastructure, privacy and security policies, and HIPAA compliance. In her 10 years at IHS, she served as both the System Administrator and Information System Security Officer (ISSO) before becoming the California Area Office CISO. Prior to joining Indian Health Service, she served as an ISSO for the Department of Defense, and before that, as a Technical Sergeant in the United States Air Force. Ms. Weber holds an MBA from Brandman University, a graduate certificate in Public and Non-Profit Leadership, a BBA in Information Systems, and the highest information security credential, Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP). Her combined 20 years of civil service has given her a wide breadth of IT, security and leadership experience that lend to her passion and enthusiasm for all things cybersecurity. Ms. Weber has a mild (read: major) Disney obsession; and she loves traveling with her family.

John Ormond

Chief Information Technology Officer
Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians

John Ormond has spent 18 years within the technology division of Chumash Enterprises. Starting as a support desk tech, John has held several positions in the Technology Services department leading to his current role of Chief Information Technology Officer for the Santa Ynez Band of Chumash Indians.

He is known in the gaming technology community to be a skilled practitioner in the strategic application of gaming technology.

John is a member of several professional organizations and holds certifications in multiple technology disciplines. He attended Morehouse College on a basketball scholarship and is also an accomplished musician.

Patrick Tinklenberg

VP of IT
Sycuan Casino

Patrick Tinklenberg is the Vice President of Information Technology with Sycuan Casino where, for the last 8 years, he has been responsible for technology and strategy for the casino, hotel, and golf resort. Previously to this position, Patrick was the IT Director for the Barona Band of Mission Indians for 7 years where he ran the IT operations at all tribal government service facilities, government-supported enterprises, and the Barona Gaming Commission. A veteran of the IT industry for over 25 years, he has worked with companies in Hospitality, Transportation, Medicine, Real Estate, Government, Manufacturing, and Retail to align business objectives with technology.

Since joining the Tribal IT industry in 2005 he has facilitated projects across all areas of government and casino operations. As a gaming operations executive, he has been instrumental in the implementation of innovative loyalty programs, digital content managements systems, CRM, and a number of strategic infrastructure initiatives. Highlights of government initiatives include: reservation-wide wireless broadband, GIS mapping, electronic document management, implementation of citizen service platforms, and unified communications.

Richard Rader

CTO
Umpqua Indian Development Corporation (Seven Feathers Casino)

My organization provides all IT support to the businesses inside the Cow Creek Band of Umpqua Indians. I have a staff of 20 Technologists over two different geographical locations supporting over 950 team members in the various diverse businesses. We support casino operations, resort operations, commercial colocation data center, working ranches, farm tractor sales, and agricultural operations.

Ram Patrachari

CIO/VP of IT Services
Viejas Enterprises

Ram has more than 25 years of experience in IT and has worked at premier companies like Bell Labs, Compaq, Exodus Communications and AT&T wireless. Ram Patrachari is a forward looking IT entrepreneur with extensive experience in implementing and managing highly scalable information systems across a diverse portfolio. Prior to joining Viejas, Ram managed the enterprise devices segment at AT&T wireless. His responsibilities included rolling out state of the art wireless devices to the enterprise wireless segment.

Over the last three years he has been nominated for the San Diego Top Tech awards every year. In 2015 the IT team from Viejas which he leads won the Tribalnet Game Changers Technology award. In 2012, he was awarded the Top Tech Exec award by San Diego Magazine. In 2010, he was the recipient of the Information Technology Executive of the year award sponsored by the San Diego Business Journal. Also, in 2010 the Viejas Information Technology team won the 3rd Annual Tribal Technology Leadership award sponsored by Tribalnet.

Ram holds an MBA degree from Monmouth University and a Masters Degree in Electrical Engineering from Stevens Institute of Technology. Ram has also obtained credentials from the CIO Institute at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business and University of Chicago’s Kellogg school of business He is a certified PMP, CISSP and a Certified ScrumMaster. He is also a member of the IEEE Computer Society.

Eric Olander

VP of Information Technology
Grand Casinos

Eric has worked in IT for over 30 years, the last 20 years with Grand Casinos Mille Lacs and Hinckley. He and his team of 32 are responsible for keeping all Gaming, Hospitality, Infrastructure, and Back Office / Administrative systems running smoothly for 2 casinos, 5 hotels, 15+ Food & beverage venues and much more. Eric and his team also partner with the casinos operations teams to identify, evaluate, select, and implement new technologies that provide outstanding guest experiences, and streamline operations.

Eric is also the Chairperson for the Midwest Tribal Technology Council, a group of tribal IT leaders that have organized as a group to “Promote the common business interests, growth, and opportunity of information technology resources among tribal communities in the Midwest and to improve the business conditions for information technology resources among such tribal communities.”

Renita DiStefano

VP of IT/CIO
Seneca Gaming Corporation

Renita DiStefano is the Vice President of Information Technology/Chief Information Officer for Seneca Gaming Corporation. Renita joined team Seneca in 2006 as the Customer Care Manager and has risen through the ranks to serve as Director of IT Security, Vice President of Information Technology, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) and now Chief Information Officer. In her current role, Renita is responsible for driving the information technology strategy for multi-property gaming and hospitality operations. Renita holds a Bachelor’s in Business Administration & Information Systems as well as a Master of Business Administration (MBA). She holds a number of information technology and information security certifications and credentials including Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), CISM, CISA, CGEIT, CRISC and CSOX.

Chris DeCamp

Director of Technical Services
Win-River Resort & Casino

Christopher DeCamp has worked in the IT industry since 1996, serving in roles ranging from technical, engineering, management, and executive management. Christopher has been a part of the Win-River Resort Casino team since July of 2006. In his current position, Christopher serves as the director of technical services for Win-River Resort Casino, in this role his responsibilities are directing the information technology, facilities, and housekeeping divisions as well as capital project management and construction management.

Virgil Debrosse

IT Sr. Account Manager
Chickasaw Nation

Virgil began his career in Gaming in 1989 with Resorts International. During his 15-year tenure, Resorts International became Sun International then Kerzner International with properties in Atlantic City, South Africa, Dubai, Mauritius, Mexico and the Bahamas. His career there included Accounting, Cage Operations, Marketing, Operations and Information Technology.

From 2004 until 2006, Virgil worked at Barona Resort and Casino in San Diego as the Business Analyst Supervisor. During his time at Barona, they were always were looking at bleeding edge technology which resulted in a very intense development and a mature SDLC. Virgil led the conversion from IGS to Bally’s ACSC at that property in 2004 which included typical IT tasks, such as vendor management, testing, hardware requirements, etc, but also included tasks from a business standpoint (i.e. operational and marketing settings, direct user training, etc.).

In 2006, Virgil started his tenure at the Chickasaw Nation as the “IT Director of Gaming and Hospitality Applications” (and then IT Executive Director of Gaming and Hospitality Applications). His responsibilities included the Gaming Applications team, Hospitality Applications Team, POS Applications Team, Surveillance Applications/Technical Team. As a leader within the Chickasaw Nation Information Technology department, there are Gaming, Non-Gaming, Hospitality, and Surveillance responsibilities as well that include strategic, technical and transformative decisions.

In 2016, Virgil took on a more technical role of IT Sr. Manager – Shared Services. His responsibilities included leading the entire Network, Server, Storage, Power Systems, Database Administration, Communication and Environmental teams that supported the entire Chickasaw Nation.

In November of 2018, Virgil went back to Gaming as the IT. Sr. Account Manager. He is the primary IT person for 18 individual gaming, hotel and retail properties.

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Marlon Ortiz

Director of IT
Avi Resort and Casino

Marlon Ortiz, Information Technology Professional. Creative professional with 20+ years of information technology knowledge in the gaming and hospitality industry. Highly skilled in information security, project management and planning with a strong background in data management, security, analytics and technical strategy. A proven leader who understands that the value of IT lies in delivering solutions to complex business problems within the Gaming and Hospitality Industry. A leadership style that emphasizes the development of people, processes and tools to achieve specific strategic business goals. Focused on connecting IT to other departments within the corporation and delivering effective solutions for business costs and operations. Marlon possess a Master’s in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance from The Pennsylvania State University, he also has the following security Certifications; CISSP, CISM, and Security+. Previously held high level IT Management positions at American Casino and Entertainment Properties, the Morongo Casino Resort & Spa, and Harrah’s Entertainment.

2021 TribalNet Advisory Boards

Virgil Debrosse

Chris DeCamp

Renita DiStefano

John Filippe

Amy Gates

Herb Kraft

Eric Olander

John Ormond

Ram Patrachari

Richard Rader

Bryant Santini

Patrick Tinklenberg

Our Info

Bryant Santini

Amy Gates

Herb Kraft

John Filippe

Reese Weber, MBA, CISSP

John Ormond

Patrick Tinklenberg

Richard Rader

Ram Patrachari

Eric Olander

Renita DiStefano

Chris DeCamp

Virgil Debrosse

Marlon Ortiz