Monday Evening at Sundance: One of One

Since 2013, I've made Monday evening at the Brigadoon gathering in Utah a tradition: screening a thought-provoking documentary in Sundance Mountain Resort's historic screening room—the original home of the Sundance Film Festival.

Past films have included Caucus, A Faster Horse, and James Beard: America's First Foodie. Each sparked hours of conversation that extended well beyond the screening itself.

I seek out documentaries that focus on commitment, excellence, and uniqueness in an increasingly homogenized world.

This year's documentary screening will be One of One.

One of One offers unprecedented access to Naito Auto Engineering, one of Japan's best-kept automotive secrets.

Founded in post-WWII Tokyo, this three-generation family business has earned global renown for restoring high-value classic cars with artistry and precision. Masao Naito transformed his father's local mechanic shop into a first-class operation coveted by top collectors worldwide. But after 40 years of iron-fisted leadership, his retirement looms, revealing cracks in the family foundation. Do the younger Naitos have what it takes to keep the family together and carry the business forward?

Filmmaker Ben Bertucci captures fly-on-the-wall footage of this notoriously secretive business, including never-before-seen artisanal restoration techniques passed down from founder Shinichi Naito, a self-taught "genius" who worked on Japanese bomber planes during WWII.

Watch the trailer here.

See you in Utah.

-Marc

Announcing the speakers for Brigadoon @ Sundance Mountain Resort 2026

I am excited to share the five formal speakers joining us at Sundance Mountain Resort this February. 

True to Brigadoon's spirit, these aren't your typical conference speakers—they're practitioners who've built things, broken things, regulated things, and reimagined how we approach everything from cybersecurity to civic leadership.

The speakers

Rick Doten brings 27 years of navigating the intersection of cybersecurity, risk, and human behavior. As VP of Information Security at Centene Corporation and CISO of Carolina Complete Health, Rick doesn't just manage cyber threats—he's pioneered how organizations think about the human side of security. He was the lead author on CIS Critical Security Controls v8. He spent time at Verizon, Gartner, and Lockheed Martin before landing in healthcare, where the stakes of getting security wrong are measured in lives, not just dollars.

Dr. Leigh George is a marketing strategist who believes most advertising either annoys or bores people to death. As CEO of Freedom and a sought-after speaker, Leigh challenges companies to "Don't raise your voice. Improve your argument." She's spoken at Digital Summit conferences nationwide and at South by Southwest, and she works with organizations ready to move beyond transactional marketing into genuine human connection.

Christian Hunt founded Human Risk after realizing that most compliance programs treat humans like robots. With experience as Managing Director and Head of Behavioral Science at UBS and as former COO of the UK's Prudential Regulation Authority, Christian brings a rare perspective from both sides of the regulatory fence. His book "Humanizing Rules" and his Human Risk podcast explore what he calls "getting people to do what you want without pissing them off."

Matt Pinnell serves as Oklahoma's 17th Lieutenant Governor, where he's focused on workforce development, economic growth, and making people reconsider Oklahoma as a flyover state. Before politics, Matt served as Director of State Parties for the Republican National Committee and ran his own small business. As Chairman of the Oklahoma Tourism Commission, he's led a statewide rebrand that's challenged both internal bureaucracy and external perceptions.

Rachel Shank leads Georgetown Main Street in Washington, DC, supporting the small businesses that form the backbone of one of America's most iconic neighborhoods. She's navigated pandemic recovery, government shutdowns, and the challenge of maintaining local business vitality amid chain domination. With a Master of Public Administration from George Washington University, Rachel works at the ground level of economic development—where policy meets the sidewalk.

Why these voices matter

At Brigadoon, I deliberately mix people who wouldn't usually share a stage—or a chairlift. A cybersecurity executive and a behavioral scientist. A state lieutenant governor and a marketing strategist who challenges conventional wisdom. A local economic development leader championing small businesses and hospitality

This is by design. The most valuable conversations happen when you step outside your expertise zone and engage with people solving entirely different problems. The cardiologist learns from the tech founder. The urban planner challenges the VC's assumptions. The civic leader hears from the automation entrepreneur.

Brigadoon gatherings are not designed to give you the answers. Brigadoon gatherings are here to provide you with better questions on the topics and issues shaping commerce and culture.

-Marc

"Who's coming to Brigadoon?" (And why that's the wrong question)

It's the question I get most often: "Who's attending?"

I've borrowed a page from the Telluride Film Festival playbook here. I never publicly announce the participant list, and attendees don't find out who else is coming until a week before we gather. But I can give you a sense of the mix.

This year's Sundance gathering includes a cardiologist, robotics and automation entrepreneurs, technology founders working in AI and cybersecurity, a state-wide elected official, a C-Suite executive from a leading MLS franchise, a small-business marketing advocate, and a global public affairs CEO. One of our featured speakers leads a branding and marketing strategy consultancy and holds a Ph.D. in branding—one of the few people in America with that distinction.

But here's what matters more than any title on that list.

The magic of Brigadoon has never been about collecting business cards from people who do what you do. It's not another industry conference where you swap war stories with your peers and leave with the same perspectives you arrived with.

The real value is in hearing how a cardiologist thinks about process optimization in high-stakes environments, how an elected official navigates complex stakeholder conflicts when everyone wants something different, how an automation entrepreneur approaches scalability challenges that look nothing like yours—but everything like yours.

It's about sitting across from professionals operating at the top of their fields, in disciplines completely outside your wheelhouse, and discovering that their frameworks solve your problems. Their mental models reshape how you think about your work.

I've watched a venture capitalist completely reframe their investment thesis after a conversation with a surgeon about risk assessment. I've seen a marketing executive transform their approach to brand strategy after hearing a chef discuss how they think about designing a restaurant for human behavior.

The problems worth solving don't respect industry boundaries.

They require perspectives you don't have yet. Frameworks you haven't been exposed to. Ways of thinking that don't exist within your professional echo chamber.

That's what happens when you bring together 50+ high-caliber professionals from radically different domains and give them three days to think together—without PowerPoints, without panels, without the performance theater of traditional conferences. Just fireside conversations, family-style dinners, and the kind of unstructured time that lets genuine dialogue emerge.

Under Chatham House Rule, people share what they actually think, not what they'd say on a panel. They bring their genuine questions, their real challenges, their unfiltered insights.

And yes, spending three days at Robert Redford's resort in the shadow of Mount Timpanogos doesn't hurt either.

Brigadoon | February 22-24, 2026 @ Sundance Mountain Resort

If you're tired of industry conferences that feel like echo chambers, if you're ready for conversations that actually change how you think about your work, the full agenda is here: www.brigadoon.live/brigadoon-sundance-2026-agenda.

Come to Utah, you'll have fun and leave smarter.

-Marc

Marc A. Ross

Founder + Chief Curator @ Brigadoon

In 2013, I banned PowerPoints, panels, and name tags. Here's what happened

Brigadoon exists because I was frustrated spending too much time with the same people, thinking the same way.

So in 2013, I started something different.

I began gathering entrepreneurs and thought leaders from different industries, different geographies, different perspectives—united only by curiosity and a belief in the power of conversation. A venture capitalist sitting next to an architect. A tech founder learning from a doctor. A journalist trading insights with a retail executive.

Thirteen years later, it's become something larger than I imagined.

But the core remains: connect people who are shaping commerce and culture, create space for real dialogue, see what emerges.

Why Brigadoon works?

The magic happens when you remove people from their areas of expertise.

Put a successful founder in a room full of other successful founders, and you get pattern recognition. Everyone's solving similar problems, facing similar challenges, speaking similar languages. It's comfortable. It's validating. And it's limiting.

Put that same founder in conversation with someone who thinks completely differently, a designer, an athlete, a scientist, and something shifts. The questions change. The assumptions get challenged. The insights come from unexpected angles.

I've watched a private equity executive rethink his entire approach to talent after a dinner conversation with a cardiologist. I've seen a robotics founder completely reframe a product strategy based on insights from a restaurateur about how people move through spaces.

These aren't networking moments. They're perspective shifts.

What makes Brigadoon different is that I have broken every conference and curation rule.

No PowerPoints. If you can't have the conversation without slides, you're not ready to have the conversation.

No panels. No one is sitting on stage while everyone else passively watches. Everyone participates equally.

No name tags. Your title or organization doesn't matter here. Your ideas do.

No recordings. Brigadoon operates under the Chatham House Rule. So, you can share what you learned, but you can't attribute it. This simple agreement creates permission for radical honesty. People say what they actually think, not what they'd say if it might end up on LinkedIn.

Deliberately small. This Brigadoon gathering will have a max of 100 people. Not because I can't fill more seats, but because intimacy is the point. At 100 people, you can't hide in the crowd. You can't perform networking theater. You're actually there.

Cross-disciplinary by design. Brigadoon curates for diversity of perspective, not similarity of background. About the only thing everyone has in common is that they're all doing something meaningful in their field.

The format is simple. Three days at Sundance Mountain Resort with constantly burning fires, family-style dinners, mountain and wellness activities, and conversations that start at breakfast and continue through the evening. No agenda beyond creating conditions for connection.

Who attends?

Past attendees include VCs, founders, journalists, doctors, designers, attorneys, architects, lobbyists, diplomats, marketing strategists, and athletes, all united by the belief that engaging with different perspectives enhances your work and thinking.

Why Brigadoon matters?

We live in a moment of increasing specialization and tribal sorting. It's easier than ever to spend all your time with people who validate your existing worldview. To build networks of people who already agree with you.

That's why gatherings like Brigadoon are more critical than ever, offering a space to challenge your worldview and address complex problems beyond industry boundaries.

The problems worth solving—in business, in society, in your own work—don't respect industry boundaries. They require perspectives you don't have, questions you haven't asked, frameworks you haven't considered.

Brigadoon creates space for that.

I invite you to be part of this exclusive gathering at Sundance Mountain Resort on February 22-24, 2026, to connect with diverse thinkers and expand your perspective.

If you're building something meaningful and believe in the power of perspectives different from your own, I'd love to have you join us.

Brigadoon isn't for everyone.

It's intimate by design, cross-disciplinary by intention, and we maintain high standards for who participates, making you feel valued and respected.

More at www.brigadoon.live/utah.

—Marc