DOCUMENT FILED FOR THE ROOM 2026
THE CHARTER
How the room operates. What members commit to. The code that holds.
§ 1 FORMAT
The shape of the year.
01
SPRING GATHERING
Two days. In person. Southeast Gulf Coast.
The working week of the year. P&L Defenses, Hot Seats, peer-led briefings on what is changing in operations, capital, and the digital layer.
02
SUMMER CHECK-IN
Ninety minutes. Video. Off the record.
Members carry one open question into the room. The room responds. No agenda beyond that.
03
FALL GATHERING
Two days. In person. Same place.
Working sessions plus the year's Site Visit. One member's operation, reviewed by peers on the ground.
04
WINTER CHECK-IN
Ninety minutes. Video.
Year-end. Members commit to a single move for the year ahead and report against last year's commitment.
§ 2 QUESTIONS
Direct answers to the questions worth asking.
- How is this different from Vistage, YPO, or Hampton?
- Vistage and YPO are generalist CEO peer groups serving a wide industry mix. Hampton is built around software and consumer founders. Driftwood Club is built for one segment only: owners and principals in the Built World. The room is curated tightly enough that members can talk shop without translation. Smaller room. Same industry's gravity. Different conversation.
- How much time does this actually take?
- Four days in person across the year, plus two ninety-minute check-ins. Roughly thirty-five hours of formal time. Members will spend more if they choose. The room exists between meetings, by phone and text and visit. The formal commitment is bounded.
- What if I have to miss a gathering?
- Members may miss no more than one in-person gathering and one check-in per year. Members who miss more than that without cause are asked to step out. This is not punitive. It is what keeps the room real. If a member is absent across the cycle, the room is not a peer network anymore. It is a directory.
- What if a competitor of mine is in the room?
- Forums are composed to avoid direct competitive overlap. Two firms that compete for the same contracts in the same geography do not sit in the same forum. The membership chair surfaces any conflicts before nomination. If one cannot be resolved, the candidate is offered a seat in a separate forum or declined.
- Can my COO, CFO, or successor attend with me?
- No. Membership is individual, not corporate. The seat belongs to one principal. The person making the decisions. Bringing a second person dilutes the room and breaks the confidentiality model. A succession path can be opened separately if and when the time comes.
- Is the network online too? Is there a Slack?
- No. There is no community Slack and no shared digital channel. Members reach each other directly. Phone, text, in person. The whole point is that the network lives in rooms, not feeds. A small members-only directory exists for contact details. That is the only digital surface.
- What if someone breaks confidentiality?
- Membership ends. Without negotiation. The Code is unambiguous on this point because the entire value of the room depends on it. See § 3.
- Is membership tax-deductible?
- For most members, dues qualify as a deductible business expense under U.S. tax code. Consult your tax advisor. We are not in a position to give that advice and would not try.
- What happens if I want to leave?
- Members leave with a note to the convener and a brief handoff at the next gathering. There is no exit interview, no penalty. The initiation fee is not refunded. Annual dues are prorated only by full quarter remaining.
§ 3 CODE
The code that holds the room together.
Eight rules. They are short on purpose.
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I.
WHAT IS SAID IN THE ROOM STAYS IN THE ROOM.
Chatham House Rule applies in full. Content may travel; identities and specifics do not. No press, no recordings, no notes shared outside the room, no posts. Members may discuss what they themselves said. They may not attribute anything to another member without that member's explicit consent.
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II.
SHOW UP.
Members attend at least one of two in-person gatherings and one of two check-ins each year. Members who miss more than that, repeatedly, without cause, are asked to step out. Attendance is the contract.
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III.
NO SELLING TO THE ROOM.
The room is not a sales channel. Members do not introduce vendors, brokers, advisors, or service providers into the room. Members do not pitch each other on services they sell outside the room. Trusted introductions between members happen quietly and without invoices.
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IV.
BE REACHABLE.
Members respond to other members within forty-eight hours. The whole point of the room is that you can pick up the phone. Members who cannot or will not be reachable to peers are not members.
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V.
EXPERIENCE, NOT ADVICE.
In the room, members share what they have actually done and what it cost them. They do not give advice. Peers ask, peers answer with experience, peers leave the decision with the operator who has to make it.
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VI.
VOUCH WITH WEIGHT.
Nominations are not casual. Members nominate at most one candidate per year and stake their own standing on the recommendation. Nominations made carelessly, or for personal benefit, cost the nominating member their good standing.
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VII.
LEAVE EGO AT THE DOOR.
The room is not a credentials check. Titles, deal sizes, and revenue do not buy posture once you are inside. Members speak as operators among operators.
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VIII.
BREACH ENDS MEMBERSHIP.
Breach of confidentiality (§ I) or selling into the room (§ III) ends membership without negotiation. Repeated breach of attendance, reachability, or experience-over-advice norms is grounds for a peer review by the membership chair. The room does not enforce what it will not enforce.
If this is the room you would join, send a note.
SEND A NOTE