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Above: Nordic Domain Days
attracted a record 450 attendees from 77 countries this year. These
two Brits and three Americans were among the international crowd in
Stockholm for the event. Left to right are James Iles (GoDaddy), Alan
Shiflett (GoDaddy), Monte Cahn (RightOfTheDot.com), Braden
Pollock (LegalBrandMarketing.com and Mark Ghorafi (Sedo.com).
While Mark and James are from England, Mark is now based in Fort Lauderdale,
Florida.
As
you would expect, NDD Founder Lars Forsberg was thrilled with the turnout
but he told us, "the number that matters more is that nearly
every person I spoke to during the event told me they had already met
someone new, made a connection they did not expect, or learned something
they could take home and use on Monday morning. That is the whole point.
When I started
this event in 2015 with 120 people from 7 countries, I could not have
imagined what it would grow into. But I always knew what I wanted it to feel
like, and this year it felt exactly right!"
Above: Guests began arriving Sunday
(May 24) to get settled in for the two full business days that would follow.
NDD gave them a warm Scandinavian welcome at this 5pm gathering at
the Clarion's Hotel's Living Room Bar that provided a convenient and
spacious spot to congregate throughout the conference. (This photo and all that follow
are courtesy of Nordic Domain Days. It was the great work of their camera crew
that made it possible for us share the full NDD experience with you).
Above: There were many familiar
faces among the early arrivals including, in the photo above, one of the
longest tenured veterans in the global domain industry, Pinky
Brand. The Texas-based consultant entered the business 1n 1996
- 30 years ago! - and he was one of the earliest employees of the first
domain registrar, Network Solutions (starting in 1998), followed by a
stint with .com administrator Verisign in 2000.
Above & below: At 8pm it was
time for one of NDD's marquee annual events, the opening night VIP Dinner.
Here you see NDD Founder LG Forsberg going table to table welcoming
his guests to Stocholm.
After dinner, many headed back to
the Living Room Bar (above) to continue catching up with friends old
and new. Then, when the clock struck 10, it was time for a raucous .blog
Karaoke Sing-Off that was held on the show's Main Stage (below). Sunday
evening's events gave everyone a chance to raise a glass, belt out or sing
along to some favorite songs and appreciate the celebratory tone that
would be the hallmark of the days ahead.
Above & below: Doors to the
NDD conference hall opened bright an early Monday morning (May 25) at 8, giving everyone tine to visit the registration table to pick up their
badges and find a good seat for the opening session. Below, Fruits.co Co-Founder
& CEO Dr. Fabian Heuschele and RightOfTheDot
Founder Monte Cahn were among those ready to get
the party started.
Above & below: At 9am Monday,
LG Forsberg took the stage to officially kick off Nordic Domain Days
2026. When asked what it felt like, looking out at the biggest crowd in
NDD's 11-year history, LG told us, "the thing that keeps coming back to
me is the energy in the room!" Those sparks would continue
flying non-stop for the next 48 hours.
Above: In the first business
session at 9:05am Monday, Kristian Ørmen (Internetstiftelsen) laid
out the differences between thick and thin registry models and why Internetstiftelsen is removing postal addresses from the
.se registry (.se is Sweden's ccTLD). Kristian covered data minimization, privacy, and how registries can
modernize their operations.
Above & below: At 9:35am, Stuart
Dinnes, Verisign's Head of Channel for EMEA, shared domain industry insights, market drivers, and practical tools for partners and registrars looking to grow their business. Drawing on Verisign's EMEA channel data and Stuart's
experience building the partner ecosystem behind .com, his session
served as the gTLD counterweight to Kristian's ccTLD-centric show opener.
Above: One of the hottest current
topics in the industry is this year's opening of a new round of gTLDs
from ICANN. NDD brought in a speaker with high level insight into the
process, industry veteran and Porkbun CEO Raymond King. Having
applied for, auctioned, operated, and sold TLDs in the 2012 round, and now
running one of the most popular new registrars in Porkbun, Raymond detailed
what the new round looks like from both applicant and registrar perspectives
- what's changed, what hasn't, and what people should be paying attention
to.
At 10:30am it was time for the
first of two daily Swedish Fikas (a mid-morning break at 10:30 and a
mid-afternoon respite at 3pm each day). The fikas feature freshly brewed coffee and
an array of sweet and savory Swedish delights. While the coffee bar is always
open, fika time is considered sacred (this photo should
eliminate any further need to explain why that is the case)!
Above: At 11am, everyone was back
in their seats for one of the Monday highlights, an ICANN Keynote
address from Theresa Swinehart, ICANN's SVP Global Domains &
Strategy. Theresa gave attendees and invaluable inside look at the evolving
domain name ecosystem and ICANN's role in shaping its future.
Above: Theresa's ICANN
colleague, GDD Accounts Senior Manager Aysegul Tekce, followed at
11:30 to advise the audience on what to expect from ICANN's 2026 round of new
gTLDs: the landscape, the process, and what applicants and the industry should be preparing for.
Above: At 12 Noon it was time for
the lunch break (though after seeing all of those treats on the Fika
table 90 minutes earlier, I'm not sure how anyone had room for more! On the
other hand, they say "an Army marches on its stomach" and a domain
crowd is pretty much the same way. With their typical conference day and
night starting around dawn and not ending until the wee hours of the next
morning, proper sustenance is a must!
Above: After the lunch break, Nadya Frost
(ShareShift.io) kicked off the afternoon sessions at 1pm Monday with her
birds-eye view of Who is winning the AI arms race in Europe? Her data-driven look at AI technology adoption in Europe,
identified the biggest disruptors, surprising trends, and quirky edge cases. Attendees
gained a new perspective on how AI is reshaping the landscape.
Above: At 1:30pm further AI
insight came from Pawel Rzeszucinski (WebPros) who uncovered the invisible infrastructure powering the AI boom.
Pawel explained how a fragmented yet highly concentrated GPU supply chain, rising geopolitical tensions, and the emergence of "hardware 2.0" are redefining what's possible in AI, and at what cost. Understanding this layer is becoming essential for anyone working in the AI ecosystem
Above: At 2pm Monday, Marco Hoffmann
(OpusDNS) was just the guy to provide advice on Launching a New Registrar in Today's Landscape,
considering OpusDNS
just did that! With hands-on experience in building a modern ICANN-accredited registrar from the ground
up, Marco explored how NIS2-driven compliance, automation, and AI are transforming registrar
operations. He also covered what that means in practice for hosting providers, resellers, and large domain portfolio owners.
At 230pm, in one of the most
intriguing talks of opening day - titled The Next Trillion Internet Users: Meet the A-Team
- Paolo Belcastro (Automattic) noted that 30 years ago, the internet's population was still small enough to imagine counting. Today,
billions of people use the internet, and the next wave will be far
larger, stranger, and less human. Paolo's shared his vision of what the internet looks like when a
trillion agents come online.
Above: At 3pm it was Swedish Fika
time again! This point also gives us an opportunity to share how LG
Forsberg, looking back now and knowing you only get one chance to make a
good first impression, thought things went in those important opening hours.
He told us, "The Monday program was some of the strongest content
we have ever had at NDD. The morning's Domain Industry Update
series, anchored by Theresa Swinehart's ICANN keynote on the second round of new gTLD applications and
Stuart Dinnes from Verisign on domain industry trends are topics on everyone's mind right now.
Having Theresa set the tone for the day made a real difference, and the conversations those sessions sparked lasted the rest of the week. After lunch, the Future of the Internet
segment brought two talks I keep thinking about: Nadya Frost on who is actually winning the AI arms race in Europe, and
Paolo Belcastro from Automattic on "the next trillion internet
users." Both were the kind of sessions where the room goes quiet because everyone is genuinely listening.
Above: The remainder of the
opening day schedule was equally compelling under the expert guidance of
Giuseppe Graziano (GGRG.com) who hosted the final three sessions
Monday afternoon. Those began with this 3:30pm edition of The
Breakfast Club featuring (left to right), Alan Shiflett (GoDaddy),
Braden Pollock (LegalBrandMarketing.com) and Giuseppe. As many
of you know, The Breakfast Club is a popular industry podcast that
was born at Nordic Domain Days itself two years ago. It features lively, insightful
conversation laden with practical takeaways from globally known
industry experts. Alan is the General Manager, Domain Aftermarket &
Specialty Brands at GoDaddy, Braden is one of the world's most successful
domain and angel investors and Giuseppe is one the best premium domain
brokers in the business.
Above & below: In the next
session at 4pm, Giuseppe brought a new panel to the stage to talk about What Decades in Domains Teach You.
Some of the most experienced voices in the domain industry reflected on the journeys, decisions, and turning points that shaped how they see the market today.
The distinguished group included (left to right above) Kimberly Darwin
(101domain), Dave Evanson (Sedo), Monte Cahn (RightOfTheDot),
Yiqiu Tao (Dynadot) and Giuseppe Graziano.
Above: the final business session
of opening day got underway at 4:30pm and there was no taking the foot off
the gas pedal now. Giuseppe's next round of guests covered How to Build Your Domain Monetization Playbook.
Domains can earn money, but many people don't know where to start. Giuseppe
got the answers the audience needed in this conversation four industry leaders who have built and scaled real revenue from domain portfolios.
The panelists (left to right) are James Tuplin (Above.com), Claus
Barche (Taku by GMO), Paul Dinin (Giant Panda), Rickard
Vikström (DomainCrawler) and Giuseppe Graziano. The panelists
provided practical frameworks you can apply immediately, and an honest look at what monetization actually looks like in practice.
Above & below: With the first
day of business done, attendees who had not already been splitting their
time between NDD's special attractions and the main hall were ready to jump
in with both feet (or, at least, one arm)! At NDD's real tattoo parlor,
show founder LG Forsberg (above) proved he wouldn't invite anyone to
do anything he wouldn't do himself by finding space for a new tat.
Below, another attendee adding an NDD momento she will always have
with her.
Above & below: The pinball
and arcade games in the NDD Lounge were constantly busy too. Scores were
kept on selected machines so NDD 2026 champions could be crowned once the
shooting was over.
Above & below: After a classic
Swedish Meatball dinner was served at 8pm, it was on to a full night of
live music and dancing with a variety of top tier acts on stage for
NDD's Grand Social Event.
Above & below: With the NDD
crowd rocking around the clock, you can now see how they can get away
with consuming all of those calories at breakfast, Swedish Fikas, lunch,
dinner and snacks in the Living Room Bar!
Don't Stop
Now! Onward and Upward!
Click
Here for Closing Day Photos & highlight at NDD 2026
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