Nordic Domain Days gears up for international conference in May

Conference takes place in Stockholm this May.

Nordic Domain Days is gearing up for the eleventh anniversary of its original standalone event. This year’s conference will take place May 24-26 in Stockholm, Sweden.

The conference originated in the late 90s as a domain-focused track within Internetdagarna (The Internet Days), a long-running Swedish IT conference hosted by Internetstiftelsen, the registry for .se and .nu.

In 2015, founder Lars “LG” Forsberg evolved the Domain Name Track into the standalone event Nordic Domain Days. The first year attracted 120 attendees, 85% of whom came from the Nordic Region.

Eleven years later, Nordic Domain Days is preparing for its ninth conference (it skipped two years during the pandemic). Its audience has grown in both numbers and diversity: last year’s event had over 400 attendees, with only 28% coming from the Nordic countries. The audience represented 55 nationalities and 180 companies.

The English-language event covers issues impacting domain name companies worldwide, not just the region.

“While we honor our Nordic roots and always host in a Nordic country, Nordic Domain Days has evolved into a truly international event,” Forsberg said. “We like to say we’ve gone from being a conference for the Nordic countries to being a conference in the Nordic countries for the global domain industry.”

For 2026, Forsberg expects the conference to have about 450 attendees.

“We already have registrations running about 20% ahead of where we were at this point last year,” he said.

This year’s theme is “Turning it up to 11,” a reference to the event’s eleventh anniversary.

The next round of new gTLD applications will be a major topic. Programming will also cover DNS security, European policy issues such as NIS2, and the growing role of artificial intelligence in the domain industry.

Beyond programming and networking, the timing works well for those visiting Sweden.

“Stockholm in late May is beautiful,” Forsberg said. “The days are long (17+ hours of sunlight), the weather is typically pleasant, and the city really comes alive. It’s a wonderful time to explore before or after the conference.”

Forsberg emphasized that the conference is independent of any one registry, registrar, or organization. He also said the event is designed to welcome both newcomers and industry veterans.

“Whether you’re a seasoned industry veteran or attending your first domain event, you’ll find your place at Nordic Domain Days,” Forsberg said. “That’s by design.”