With over 3 million residents already in its metropolitan area, Dubai is still one of the world's fastest growing cities. After just two events, the city's first major domain conference, Domain Days Dubai (DDD) looks to be on a meteoric growth track too. After a very promising launch last year, DDD staged its second annual event November 5-6, 2024 at the Marriott Resort Palm Jumeirah and everything about this one was bigger and better. Tickets sold out well in advance and sponsorships doubled. While Founder Munir Badr (also the founder of UAE-based registrar and hosting company AEServer.com) created DDD to put the Middle East & Africa region (MEA) in the spotlight, attendees from around the world, who know a growing market when they see one, have also descended on Dubai.

Above: DDD Moderator James Williams (AKA Mr, Connectivity) and
DDD Founder & Curator Munir Badr (at right) ready to get the2024 party started!
(All photos in this article are courtesy of Domain Days Dubai).

Above & Below: On November 5 at 9am (local time in Dubai), James brought Munir onstage to welcome a Domain Days Dubai 2024 audience made up of industry professionals from around the world. 

20 minutes later, in the first of 11 business sessions that were held on opening day, an excellent Keynote Address featured two headliners - Dr. Marwan Alzarouni (CEO, Al Dubai Dept. of Economy & Tourism & CEO, Dubai Blockchain Center) and Afra Bin Fares (Advisory, Former Head of the National PKI Program, Dubai Electronic Security Center). In their presentation, Digital Dubai, AI & Cyber Security in Dubai, they covered many of the latest developments in the rapidly growing Middle East and Africa (MEA) region.

Above & Below: Dr. Alzarouni shows a rapt audience the key principle Dubai was built on.

 Above: Afra Bin Fares contributed her vast knowledge with additional anecdotes and details
 that completed a keynote that was a perfect way to get the 2024 conference started.

Above & below: Next up at 9:40, Mohammed Mubarak Al Falasi (Manager - Digital Resources for the UAE's Telecommunication and Digital Government Regulatory Authority) covered How the .AE Top Level Domain Achieved Over 350,000 Registrations Using AI. 

Above & below: As most of you know, ICANN is now planning another round of new TLDs. That topic was in the spotlight at 10am when ICANN representative Fahd Batayneh (Stakeholder Engagement Director - Middle East), seen above, provided an update on where things stand, what progress has been made and anticipated future work. Fahd also covered two key programs that launch this month - the Applicant Support Program (ASP) and Registry Service Provider (RSP) program, so interested parties can start preparing.

Domain Days Dubai built some extra networking opportunities into the schedule with morning and afternoon breaks for coffee and snacks. Here are a few shots from the 50-minute morning break that started at 10:25am:

At 11:15 attendees reassembled in the conference hall to hear Christopher Niemi (Manager, Strategic Initiatives Markmonitor Inc.) talk about The Reality of Owning a .Brand TLD. 

Christopher, who has managed multiple TLDs through all aspects of the program (application, evaluation, delegation, and launch), provided insights about .Brand TLDs, UDRP, and DNS Abuse, as well as other relevant issues.

Next up at 11:45, the topic was The Future of Digital Presence: Why Smart Linking Matters with Vaughn Liley (General Manager, Nova Registry - the administrator of .link), seen above, and Kyrylo Medvediev (COO & Founder, HeyLink.me), below, providing expert commentary.

Above: Audience members were able to ask questions to close out each session, assuring they could find out just about anything they needed to know that had not been covered in the talk.

Above & below: At 12:05pm attention turned to Champions of DNS: Women Pioneers and Innovators with a panel discussion featuring four industry leaders, (left to fight) Moderator Tess Diaz (.it.com), Kamila Sekiewicz (Internet Commerce Association), Selina Bieber (GoDaddy Corporate Domains) and Natalija Japerte (it.com Domains). Kamila is also seen answering a question in the photo below.

Above: At 12:35, in the final session before lunch, Joe Alagna (Director of Sales, it.com) posed both an interesting question as well as an answer to it in a talk titled How to Get Your Own TLD! (and whether you should or should not). Joe hoped over 30 TLDs with their application in the first round including some of those that were among the most successful. He also had an inside view into why others struggled, so Joe was able to share both secrets to success and pitfalls to avoid.

A 90-minute networking lunch break followed at 1pm, giving attendees a chance to make new connections (or strengthen existing ones) and refuel for the afternoon sessions ahead. At 2:30pm it was back to work in the conference hall. 

Above & below: The first afternoon session was a panel discussion that presented some intriguing Tales of Arabia's Web Presence Business. it featured Bashar Al-Abdulhadi (Deputy CEO, KUWAITNET), Sami Ali (Quality Of Service Expert, TRA Bahrain - .bh), Wahid Aziz (CEO, Tasjeel.ae), moderator Leonid Todorov (General Manager, APTLD) and Hamza Aboulfeth (Founder/CEO, Genious.net). This session unveiled the stories behind the region's thriving internet infrastructure and services, shedding light on the unique blend of tradition and innovation that defines the local market.

Below: At 3:15 an expert panel delivered Aftermarket Insights: Real Data & Statistics from MEA and Beyond. That brought to the stage Adel alTerkait (Domain Name Investor, DALLAL.com), Ayoub Kehel (Founder, ArabDomainAcademy.com), Monte Cahn (President, RightOfTheDot/Dot Hip Hop), Braden Pollock (Founder & Owner, Legal Brand Domains, LLC) and Giuseppe Graziano (CEO and Founder, GGRG.com). They discussed meaningful trends that are shaping the domain resale market in the Middle East and Africa (MEA) region and across the globe.

Above: Giuseppe Graziano (GGRG.com) makes a point during the Aftermarket Insights session as Monte Cahn looks on.

3:55pm brought another 50-minute break for networking, coffee and snacks. Conference veterans know those breaks often produce some of the most valuable connections and advice they will get from their entire time at the event.

Above: During the afternoon coffee break Thomas Joe Vis (OpenProvider), at left, 
catches up with Martin Steinkamp (Domainprofi GmbH).

Below: Healthy fuel kept attendees running throughout the busy days at DDD 2024.

Above: After the break two sessions remained on the Day 1 business agenda November. In the first of those, at 4:45, Sedo Premium Broker Mark Ghoriafi and Senior Broker Dave Evanson were on stage to talk about Navigating Tough Cross-Border Negotiations: Buyers, Sellers, and Their Differences.

Above The day 1 business finale followed at 5:15pm when five experts shared their view of Future Horizons: AI, Web3, Emerging Domains. The panel included Fred Hsu (CEO, D3), Darpan Munjal (Founder & CEO, Atom.com), Elias Rendon Benger (CEO, InterNetX), Tess Diaz (Director, Channel Development, it.com) and Dr. Kimberly Darwin (Sr. Corporate Services Executive, 101domain). They discussed How AI is revolutionizing domain registration, management, and security, Web3 concepts and their impact on domain usage and emerging d omain extensions and their relevance in branding and SEO.

Below: InterNetX CEO Elias Rendon Benger answers a question during the Future Horizons session.

With the day's business concluded attendees were free to freshen up and get ready for the evening social event, a 7pm dinner at Grill By The Sea, sponsored by FreeName and Atom.com. Situated on the shores of the Arabian Gulf with Dubai Marina's & Bluewater Island stunning skyline in the background, the Marriott restaurant gave guests a chance to enjoy a beach side International Buffet under the stars with a fresh breeze blowing in from the Gulf. Here are some from photos from that perfect evening out.

With that Day 1 at DDD 2024 was done but an even busier day and night would begin when the sun came up the next morning!

CONTINUE HERE for all of the photos and highlights from Day 2, 
including the evening VIP Yacht Party that brought the show to a spectacular close!