The saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” obviously doesn’t apply to Helmuts Meskonis, the founder of the Domain Summit. Following the success of the London Summit in 2022, he launched a series of well-received and continuously expanding events in 2023 and 2024. It stands to reason that he could have chosen to “play it safe” for the fourth summit held on September 2-3, 2025, but Helmut adhered to the concept of “either go big or go home” and brought major changes to the summit – not only moving the exhibition to a larger new venue in London, but also changing the brand name to “Domain Name Europe” to officially start the global expansion plan. And a few days ago, he announced that the first African Domain Summit will be held in October, which also indicates that the plan has taken a substantial step forward.
Helmut also revealed new changes to the Domain Summit, with a goal of having around 90% of speakers from the region where the event is held. This is a lot of change since last year’s event at the London Hilton Metropole. We spoke to Helmut again to ask why the 2025 summit is moving to London’s historic Business Design Centre, a building that has served London’s creative community since 1861.
“The first two summits were held at the Metropole in August each year,” Helmut explained, “but September is more crowded than August, and to use the ballroom in September, the hotel required us to book 400 rooms in advance without negotiation. At our current stage of development, the cost did not match the structure of the event and was simply not feasible.” (Editor’s note: The Domain Summit has the lowest ticket price of all major events in the domain service and investment field. Tickets for the 2025 summit are only $50, and this excellent price is due to the generous support of sponsors who are willing to make up the difference to ensure that anyone interested in attending can afford it.) Helmut added: “The Hilton Metropole venue team I previously worked with is no longer there, so there is no continuity. We needed a new venue with more flexibility and lower upfront risk. The Business Design Center fits the bill. It is in a great location, has a reasonable layout, can easily accommodate 500 people, and allows us to run the event according to our needs.”
(Above: The new venue of the 2025 Domain Summit – London Business Design Center.)
In After Domain Summit 2025, which took place on September 2-3, 2025, Helmut has a better idea of the new venue. Even if it turns out that the new venue is not a perfect fit, he has already made plans for the next few years. “I recently reconnected with Hilton [management] and we may return there again in 2026, perhaps in one or two of their largest ballrooms,” Helmut told us, “or Domain Summit Europe may move to another European capital. We have received some very attractive proposals, which are still in the early stages but deserve serious consideration. The future is bright for Domain Summit Europe!”
(Above: Domain Summit founder Helmuts Meskonis is scouting the Business Design Centre in London for the right venue for the 2025 summit.)
This begs the question: Why did the decision to include the word “Europe” in the name of the UK-based Domain Summit, when Domain Summit already attracts so many Europeans to London? “This is part of our early plan, and the roadmap will take us global,” Helmut said. This September, the European Domain Summit will take place as planned. In February 2026, the African Domain Summit will be held at the five-star Villa Rosa Kempinski in Nairobi, Kenya, co-hosted by KeNIC (the .ke country top-level domain registry). Summits in Asia and the Americas will follow soon. Each summit will serve the local market with a similar structure, but with its own characteristics, local partners and unique energy.
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