newdomains 2013 – Intended for industry decision makers and participants, the conference will assemble experts of the internet community to discuss important changes to the top-level domain structure and their resulting implications. The conference includes expert presentations, panel discussions, question and answer sessions and provides an environment for open dialogue. (Click to Register / Discount code: “AfiliasDISCOUNT2013”)Afilias is proud to be a Diamond Sponsor of the 2013 newdomains event, running 28-29 October 2013 in Munich. The timing of the event couldn’t be better since ICANN has now taken a giant step forward in the new gTLD program with the delegation of several new TLDs—two in Russian, one in Chinese and one in Arabic.

“Delegation” refers to putting a top-level domain into the Internet “root.” It’s the last step prior to the official launch of a TLD when consumers can register and activate names. The delegation of these domains heralds major changes to the Internet and also opens multiple opportunities for businesses online. And topics like those are what will be discussed at NewDomains.org 2013.

Afilias team members will participate in several sessions, including:

Day 1: Monday, 28 October 2013

10:00 a.m.: “Marketing: How a major Chinese digital tech company plans to use their new dot Brand” with Afilias Senior Vice President and CMO Roland LaPlante and Li Yinxiu, CEO of aigo

4:45 p.m.: “Ask the Experts” panel with Afilias Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer Ram Mohan

Day 2: Tuesday, 29 October 2013

2:45 p.m.: “Market Impact of new gTLDs—How will the implementation of new gTLDs in 2014 affect existing TLDs” with Afilias Board Member Jonathan Robinson

3:30 p.m.: “A free DNS as Guarantee for Diversity of Access—DNS vs. Closed Systems/Apps” panel featuring Afilias Chairman of the Board Philipp Grabensee

4:45 p.m.: A recap of “Lessons Learned” by Afilias Executive Vice President & Chief Technology Officer Ram Mohan

An important point to keep in mind: businesses that did not apply for a gTLD in the initial round must understand both the imminent competitive impact of new gTLDs and how to best prepare to apply for their own gTLD in ICANN’s next round. And the diverse selection of panels, speeches and networking opportunities at NewDomains.org 2013 will certainly help with that.

By the way, as a sponsor of the event, Afilias is glad to share a 20% ticket discount code for NewDomains.org 2013. Just enter “AfiliasDISCOUNT2013” during registration.

We look forward to seeing you there!