Big Changes in Store for NamesCon Global 2025 - The Show is Moving to Miami With a New U.S. Management Team

NamesCon Global is on the move and in more ways than one. After launching in 2014 with a six-year run in Las Vegas, the big show for domain industry investors, developers and service providers moved to Austin, Texas in 2020. After putting on four events in the Lone Star state's capital city, NamesCon producers announced today that they are moving to Miami, Florida for the 2025 conference. 

While the Austin events ran in late spring, NamesCon 2025 is shifting to November dates, November 5-6 to be specific. The venue will be a departure too. Instead of the usual set up in a major hotel, the conference

Image from Bigstock

will be held at the Ice Palace, a popular event center in downtown Miami (the name comes from the building's previous life as an ice plant). The Ice Palace is located in the heart of Miami's Art and Entertainment District, and is just a block north of the MacArthur Causeway that leads straight over to Miami Beach. Using an event center will require booking rooms at nearby hotels but NamesCon hasn't announced a hotel tie-in yet.

In another major development, NamesCon Global announced a new U.S. based management team that includes CEO Rebecca Sausner, VP of Sales & Partnerships Anthony Pombal and Marketing Manager Ollie McCullough.

NamesCon regulars will be happy to hear that one very familiar face from the NamesCon team will be in Miami too - Soeren von Varchmin (with a new title, Content Advisor) who will continue to play a key role in determining conference content and ensuring that the topics, speakers and support are of the same high quality we've seen in the past under his direction. 

NamesCon's arrival in Miami brings the the industry's conference history full circle. As detailed in our current Cover Story, the very first major domain conference, T.R.A.F.F.I.C. in October 2004, was held in the Miami metropolitan area at Delray Beach. Florida's Gold Coast, that stretches from Miami up to Palm Beach, has always been a hotbed for domain investors and many of the world's most successful ones remain based there. The area is also a thriving center for Web3 and AI enterprises that will no doubt get a lot of attention at the 2025 event. 

NamesCon Global's new dates will create an extraordinarily busy stretch of international meetings in 2025 that will present a scheduling conundrum for companies and individuals that aim to have a presence at every important industry event. ICANN's 2025 Annual Meeting will be held in Muscat, Oman October 25-30, 2025 and Domain Days Dubai (who just completed a very successful second show) has announced they plan to return in late October or early November next year. In that case NamesCon Global may cap a non-stop three-week run that will be a challenge for some to navigate. On the plus side, those who run the entire gauntlet are going to have a lot reward points in their airline accounts!

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Domain Industry Artists Included in New .ART Odyssey Book That Measures Success by Creativity, Resilience and Innovation

The .ART Registry has released of the second annual issue of its  .ART Odyssey publication: themed SUCCESS. This collectible edition dives deep into the concept of success, reimagined through the lens of creativity, resilience, and innovation in today’s art world. 

Going beyond the traditional definitions, SUCCESS explores how creativity serves as a catalyst for personal and collective growth. It features a diverse array of voices and stories that span the globe, delving into themes such as the healing powers of art, personal branding for artists, the role of AI in creative processes, and the future of innovation in the art industry. This edition also includes artists from the domain world (more on that in a moment).

Some of the highlights from the issue include:

- An insightful conversation with Refik Anadol (www.dataland.art), a pioneer in AI-driven art, exploring the integration of AI into creative practices.

- Rising art star Alex Righetto (www.alexrighetto.art) sharing his journey and how personal branding has become a key to his success.

- Medina Kasimova’s (www.medina.art) touching story about how art has played a crucial role in her personal healing journey.

- A deep dive into Mondoir's (www.mondoir.art) contributions to digital art and innovation, offering new pathways for artists and collectors alike.

- AfriKin Art Fair (www.afrikin.art), a case study in how art can foster community and transcultural dialogues.

- An op-ed exploring the legacy artists leave behind and how they can shape their long-term impact.

The book is divided into 13 chapters with one devoted to Art & Artists Inside the Domain Industry. It features Nikko Subramanian (Senior Product Manager, Go Daddy India), Vinita Srivastava (Director, Strategic Partnerships at .ORG), Jeff Sass (CMO of .ART Domains, commenting on Art, DNA and Career) and I make an appearance as well. However, my role was to write an introduction to the best artist in our house, my wife Diana Jackson, whose skill as an oil painter is highlighted in this chapter. 

Two of the four artworks by Diana Jackson featured in the .ART Odyssey book.

The new issue also provides rich insights from and for artists, collectors, and cultural pioneers, serving as a comprehensive guide for anyone passionate about the intersection of art, technology, and personal development.

Founder of .ART Registry, Ulvi Kasimov, shares: ”We are deeply thankful to the contributors whose stories showcase the healing power of art and its synergy with technology. This issue reflects .ART's mission to explore these intersections, inspiring new ways to think about success and its impact on the global creative community” 

This impressive publication, available in both trade paperback and Kindle editions at Amazon, is part of .ART's  mission to support and inspire the global creative community. Proceeds from the sale of this issue support The Art Therapy Initiative, reinforcing .ART’s ongoing commitment to promote art as a tool for healing and community well-being.

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Domain Days Dubai Founder Munir Badr Reflects on Enthusiastic Industry Reaction to 2nd Annual Event 

It has been a very busy month for Domain Days Dubai Founder Munir Badr. It began with hectic final preparations for the 2024 conference that played out to rave reviews when it was staged November 5 & 6 at the Marriott Resort Palm Jumeirah. As soon as the show ended, before he even had time to reflect on how everything had gone, Munir had to head off to Istanbul for the ICANN meeting that ended there Thursday (November 14). Now that things have finally calmed down, Munir shared his thoughts on the groundbreaking event that has given the Middle East and Africa region a well deserved turn in the industry spotlight.

"Honestly, I don’t know where to begin!", Munir said. "I dedicated over five months of my life again to create an even better experience for what  

Domain Days Dubai Founder Munir Badr welcoming
guests to the 2024 edition of DDD November 5th.

was already a highly regarded event last year, and I think I succeeded! This all happened alongside a very productive year at my main business, AEserver.com, plus balancing countless other things. But now, none of that matters because the outcome was simply EPIC and phenomenal!"

"We secured our most valuable sponsorships early in the summer, and ticket sales remained strong. We had 272 registered attendees, with an impressive 92% showing up and collecting their badges—the same turnout rate as last year. I was thrilled to see industry leaders, including some who rarely attend events, make it to Dubai this time. Social media was buzzing during and even after the event," Munir noted. 

"This year, we introduced exhibition booths for the first time, adding tremendous value for our sponsors and expanding our event space. Over 50% of attendees stayed at the venue hotel, and many last-minute participants struggled to find rooms as the hotel was nearly sold out. This underscored the importance of staying updated and heeding our “almost sold out” warnings! Interestingly, even those who were hesitant or decided last minute still made it, showing that FOMO was real," Munir added.

"In my opening speech, I referred to Domain Days Dubai as a "social experience" rather than a traditional "conference" or "event." I think this captures the essence of our vision—a modern, dynamic gathering. Over two action-packed days, we had a purposefully intense agenda, with panels and keynotes from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., plus breakfast, lunch, coffee breaks, a beachside dinner, and the VIP yacht after-party, which hosted 180+ people! Interestingly, most attendees opted for VIP tickets, making me wonder if there’s even a need for standard tickets next time. Plus we had the public attendee list for all ticket holders for ease of networking and our new super tool - a WhatsApp group for the event - let's see other events copy this now," Munir smiled.

View from the bow of the Desert Rose during the VIP Yacht Party at DDD 2024

"In summary, we had 272 registered attendees, 92% attendance, over 40 speakers—including new participants from Dubai’s government and the Dubai Electronic Security Center (DESC), which showcases our strong public-private partnership—and more than 30 sponsors, with every sponsorship slot filled. The feedback has been fantastic. This year, we also saw significant engagement from Africa, reflecting our broader MEA (Middle East & Africa) focus, thanks to all our amazing speakers who made it from Kenya & South Africa. Key players from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, the UAE, and many other countries attended and valued the opportunity to connect with partners they’d only met online. It was a win-win for everyone involved. Also I am proud to say we had 50% of returning sponsors from 2023 which means they really benefited and see the need to be present in this region," Munir said.

In closing he noted, "People are already asking about next year’s event, and we’re looking at the same time frame, late October to early November - so pretty much the same dates. It’s hard to stop when there’s so much demand for more! The event was cash-flow positive just like last year, with a higher & solid margin, so I’m thrilled that my investment of time and resources has been rewarded with a great return." 

From the reaction of attendees it also seems clear they were thrilled with what they received from being at Domain Days Dubai 2024 as well. The 2025 edition will be here before you know it, so it's not to early to start thinking about it now.

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Mystery of  UFO Seen Over Dubai During 2024 Domain Days Conference Solved - Mark This One Up to Sedo!

Mark "Mr. Premium" Ghoriafi (who we profiled in an October 2023 article) made an immediate impression on me the first time we met 10 years ago. He had just entered the domain business with .CLUB and showed a fearless flair for creative marketing (if you have been around the industry for awhile you likely caught him dressed as .CLUB's Superman, cape and all, at major conferences). As we noted in our story last year, Mark's promotional pizazz came to the fore years earlier when he traveled the pro wrestling circuit with sports entertainment giant WWE, also in the role of a superhero. 

I was starting to believe Mark could actually fly and after his latest stunt, this time in his current role as a Premium Broker with Sedo, I'm sure of it! If you follow our sales charts, you know Mark's transactions frequently soar to the top (his $500,000 sale of Bagels.com earlier this year being a prime example). The thing that confirmed my suspicion that he could defy gravity, happened at the recently concluded 2024 Domain Days Dubai conference. Mark was there to represent Sedo as a featured speaker but, as usual, he had an even bigger 

Mark Ghoriafi
Sedo Premium Broker  

idea in mind - one meant to show everyone in Dubai and around the world just how far he and his company are willing to go bring attention to premium domains people want to sell or acquire. At this point - words no longer suffice, so I'll just let you see it for yourself! 

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Editor's note: Our complete review of the Domain Days Dubai 2024 conference has now been published in a Home Page Feature Story. Read it here - The Definitive Domain Days Dubai 2024 Review - An Hour By Hour Look at How Organizers Dazzled Attendees From Around the World 

Domain Days Dubai 2024 Wraps Up an  Energizing Two Day Run - Here Are Some Early Highlights from the Big Event

As I write this at 2pm Wednesday, November 6, the 2024 Domain Days Dubai (DDD) conference was entering the final minutes of a VIP evening Yacht Cruise that brought the curtain down on the second annual event at the Marriott Resort Palm Jumeirah (it is 9 hours later in Dubai than here). 

Founder Munir Badr (also the Founder of AEServer.com),  created DDD to serve domain investors, registrars, registries, monetization & traffic companies, Web 3 domains, hosting & cloud providers, SaaS, and industry enthusiasts based in the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region. However, players in those fields from around the world were also immediately attracted to the event to make connections in that rapidly growing market.

The inaugural edition last year drew raves reviews, resulting in huge jumps in both attendance and sponsorships this year. While the two-day 2024 event is just winding up it is already being praised in social media posts by attendees. 

We selected a few photos from those to give you an early inside look at some of the activity at DDD. We will soon be getting professional photos from the event and will be putting together a comprehensive review of Domain Days Dubai 2024 that we expect to publish early next week.

 

Above: After Munir Badr and conference moderator James Williams (MrConnectivity) welcomed the crowd Tuesday morning, Nov. 5, 2024, Dr. Marwan Alzarouni (CEO, Al Dubai Dept. of Economy & Tourism & CEO, Dubai Blockchain Center) delivered the Official Keynote address. Dr. Alzarouni discussed Digital Dubai, AI & Cyber Security in Dubai. (Photo credit: Domain Days Dubai 

Below: Ten business sessions followed Tuesday including Champions of DNS: Women Pioneers and Innovators that was one of the highlights from the morning sessions. It featured (left to fight) Moderator Tess Diaz (.it.com), Kamila Sekiewicz (Internet Commerce Association), Selina Bieber (GoDaddy Corporate Domains) and Natalija Japerte (it.com Domains). (Photo credit: Natalija Japerte) 

Above: The busy slate of sessions after lunch Tuesday included Aftermarket Insights: Real Data & Statistics from MEA and Beyond. The panelists (left to right) were: Braden Pollock, at podium, (LegalBrandMarketing.com) Adel alTerkait (Domain Name Investor, DALLAL.com), Ayoub Kehel ( Founder, ArabDomainAcademy.com), Monte Cahn (President, RightOfTheDot.com) and Giuseppe Graziano (GGRG.com).
 
Below: All of the sessions drew a crowd at DDD 2024. (Photo credits above and below: Helmiuts Meskonis/DNFourm.com)

Above: Also on opening day Tuesday afternoon, Sedo Premium Broker Mark Ghorafi (left) and Sedo Senior Broker Dave Evanson (center), with Moderator James Williams, provided advice on Navigating Tough Cross-Border Negotiations: Buyers, Sellers and Their Differences.
(Photo Credit: Mark Ghoriafi)

Above: InterNetX CEO Elias Rendon Benger (left) meets with Munir Badr just before Elias took the stage for the session show below that closed the opening day business schedule.  This look at Future Horizons: AI, Web3 and New Domains featured (left to right): Fred Hsu (CEO, D3), Darpan Munjal (Founder & CEO, Atom.com), Elias Rendon Benger and Dr. Kimberly Darwin (Senior Corporate Services Executive, 101Domain.com). (Photo Credits: Above & Below - InterNetX)

Above: Since the closing day two at Domain Days Dubai just concluded, few photos have been posted online about the Wednesday activities yet, but Sandy Carter, the COO at Unstoppable Domains, did put up this shot from the first major online domain auction staged in the Middle East. DDD teamed up with Monte Cahn's RightOfTheDot.com to conduct the sale. The auction will actually be continuing for another week so you may still find something you like in the listings. 

While Domain Days Dubai was about business, there was also plenty of fun thrown into the mix.  These gentlemen were obviously enjoying themselves! Left to right are Ryan McKegney (DomainAgents.com), Alpesh Shinde (GoDaddy) Leo Golan, Deepak Daftari, Nikul Sanghvi and another friend. (Photo Credit: GoDaddy).

Much more to come on Domain Days Dubai 2024. Keep an eye out for our full conference review early next week.

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Global Domain Registrations Rose By 3 Million Since Last Year But  New Verisign Report Shows .Com and .Net Down, ccTLDs and Non .Com gTLDs Up

 VeriSign, (the administrator of the .com and .net TLDs) has released their latest quarterly Domain Name Industry Brief (DNIB) covering the 3rd quarter of 2024. This update showed that the total number of domain registrations across all TLDs worldwide ended the most recent quarter at 362.3 million. That is a slight tick down from 362.4 million at the end of the previous quarter but 3 million domains higher than the number at the same point a year earlier, representing a 0.8% year-over-year increase.

.Com remains, by far, the dominant TLD on the Internet but .com's total number of registrations continued a recent trend of slipping from the previous year. With 156.7 million domains at the end of 3Q-2024, .com was down about 4.1 million from the same point in 2023, a 2.5% decline. .Net has continued to tread water each year but wound up with a slight decrease year over year after shedding about 100,000 domains to come in at 12.9 million at the end of 3Q-2024. 

ccTLDs finished the latest quarter with 140.1 million registrations, 2 million more than a year ago, representing a 1.4% increase YOY. New gTLDs enjoyed the largest jump but, being newer, they are of working from a much smaller user base than the .coms and ccTLDs. Still, by adding 5.2 million domains the new Gs hit 35.4 million domains at the end of 3Q-2024, giving them an impressive 17.4% increase year over year. 

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All Systems Go for Sold Out 2nd Annual Edition of Domain Days Dubai - Rapidly Growing Event Will Include Middle  East's 1st Major Online Domain Auction

Domain Days Dubai (DDD) made a great first impression when conference founder Munir Badr and his team launched the event in November 2023. So much so that sponsorships and demand for tickets for the second edition of the event, coming up November 5 & 6, 2024 at the Marriott Resort Palm Jumeirah, exploded. Though seating was expanded, tickets still sold out over a week ago and sponsorship participation has doubled. Munir said more than 40 sponsors are backing the show this year. The list we saw included it.com Domains, AEserver, Sedo, RightOfTheDot™, .One Registry, Above.com, InterNetX, Atom, Unstoppable Domains, the ICA, Radix (.store), DN.com and ICANN to name just a few.

It is also interesting to note that attendees and sponsors are coming from all over the world even though Domain Days Dubai was created to focus primarily on Domain Investors, Registrars, Registries, Monetization & Traffic, Web 3 Domains, Hosting & Cloud Providers, SaaS, and Industry Enthusiasts in the Middle East & Africa (MEA) region. The fact that so many want to interact with participants in that region is a testament to the tremendous opportunities for growth there.

Another unmistakable sign that everyone is getting on board for Domain Days Dubai is a new partnership the show has with  RightOfTheDot.com (ROTD) to present the first-ever major domain and digital asset auction in the Middle East. The auction will be entirely online and timed, making proxy bidding essential for those in different time zones. The auction will start with a curated selection of premium domain names and Web3 assets that will end on the closing day of the conference, November 6. Bidding is open now with lots closing on the 6th from 12:15–1:15PM Dubai Time (3:15–4:15AM U.S. EST, 12:15–1:15AM U.S. PST). Additional names will close the over the following the week.

ROTD's Scott Pruitt told us, "We’re featuring some premium .AE domains and other Middle Eastern-themed names in this auction, making it truly unique. You can register for the auction and start bidding here, and download the catalog here."  

Munir Badr
Domain Days Dubai Founder

This year's list of speakers is loaded with industry visionaries and thought leaders who will share their insights and expertise across a range of digital topics. Among those featured on the jam-packed agenda will be Dr. Marwan Alzarouni, Keynote Speaker and CEO of Dubai Blockchain Center; Sandy Carter, CEO of Unstoppable Domains; Monte Cahn, President of RightOfTheDot™; Selina Bieber, VP of International Markets at GoDaddy; Mark Ghoriafi, Founder of MrPremium.com & Broker at Sedo.com; Joe Alagna, CSO at it.com Domains; and Braden Pollock, a prominent domain name and angel investor and entrepreneur.

Last year's most popular social event and its grand finale, the VIP Yacht Party, will also return under the sponsorship of it.com Domains and Nova Registry (.link). The 144-foot Desert Rose mega yacht will leave the dock at 7pm November 6. 

This exclusive event is reserved for VIP badge holders, including sponsors, partners and top industry executives. The cruise, with Dubai's stunning skyline as a backdrop, will be a special opportunity to unwind with colleagues, make ir strengthen connections and forge deeper relationships that will be invaluable long after you leave Dubai. For more information on Domains Day Dubai visit the conference website here.

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