For those who do not know me, my name is Lars, but most people in this industry know me as LG. I am the founder and curator of Nordic Domain Days, a role I have held since the event first came to life in 2015. Before that, I spent over 20 years working in the domain name industry, at Loopia, at Internetstiftelsen with .se and .nu, and now as CTO at iQ. I started out in tech, spent a decade in communication and marketing, and eventually found my way back to development. Somewhere along the way, I also started organizing a conference.
Looking back at the first decade
Last year, we celebrated our 10th anniversary, and it was nothing short of magical. More than 400 participants joined us at the Clarion Stockholm, over 30 speakers took the stage, and the evenings were filled with moments I will never forget. Basic Element on stage, Dr. Alban making a surprise appearance, and Gunther and the Sunshine Girls had every single person on their feet.
But the numbers only tell part of the story. What makes me most proud is how far we have come as a community. Nordic Domain Days started as a small domain name track during the Swedish IT conference Internetdagarna, with 60 to 80 attendees from mostly Nordic countries. In 2015, we gave it a proper name and had 120 attendees from 7 countries. Fast forward to today, and we regularly welcome over 400 attendees representing 55 nationalities and more than 180 companies.
We have gone from local to global, and we have done it without losing the thing that makes NDD special: the feeling that everyone belongs, that no one needs a special invitation to feel included, and that the best conversations happen when the right people are in the same room.
What is coming in 2026
Our ninth event is shaping up to be something special. We recently published the first draft of our 2026 program, and I wanted to share some of my personal highlights.
Robert Jacobi returns to host two segments: the Domain Industry Update and The Future of the Internet. We have several speakers from ICANN joining us this year, including a keynote and a session dedicated to the second round of new gTLDs, which opens just days before our event on April 30th. The timing could not be better.
Giuseppe Graziano is back curating our Domain Investment segment, and this year we are giving it more time than ever. The aftermarket and investment community has always been an important part of NDD, and we want to make sure they feel that.
Tuesday remains our home for policy, abuse, and tech, with Lars Steffen and Ulrich Wisser returning to lead their respective segments. We are also introducing Master Classes on the second floor, a new format that lets attendees go deeper on specific topics in an interactive setting. And in the afternoon, TopDNS and ECO return with their DNS Abuse Workshop.
Our new Stage Director, Sebastian Krüger, is already hard at work making sure every session feels intentional and engaging. There is more to announce in the weeks ahead, both in terms of speakers and activities, and I cannot wait to share it all with you.
A few words from me
I have been in this industry for a long time, and I have seen cycles come and go. For the better part of a decade, the domain name industry has been defined by consolidation. Companies merged, portfolios were acquired, and the landscape got smaller in terms of the number of players at the table. But something has shifted. I see new energy, new ideas, and new people entering the space. The second round of new gTLDs, opening on April 30th 2026, is a big part of that. It has been over 13 years since the first round, and the anticipation is real. At NDD, we will have speakers who can walk you through what it means, what to expect, and how to position yourself.
Then there is AI. It is impossible to talk about the future of any industry without talking about AI, and the domain name industry is no exception. We are seeing tools emerge that can genuinely shape the trajectory of a startup or a small business, for better or worse. Personal AI assistants like OpenClaw are turning heads, promising to handle everything from your inbox to your calendar to running commands on your behalf. Whether you see that as exciting or terrifying probably depends on what day of the week it is. But it is happening, and it is happening fast. This is one of the topics we will explore on stage.
On a personal note, I am looking forward to sharing more about our extended agenda in the coming weeks. The Master Classes are something I am particularly excited about. They represent a new way of learning at NDD, more hands-on, more interactive, and I think our community will appreciate the format. We also have a few things planned for the social side of the event that I am not ready to talk about yet, but trust me when I say we are turning it up to 11.
Nordic Domain Days has always been about people. About bringing the right people together in the right environment and letting the conversations happen naturally. That has not changed in 11 years, and it will not change now.
I hope to see you in Stockholm this May.
Lars "LG" Forsberg
Founder and Curator
Nordic Domain Days