TOKEN2049 is two days. The week around it is six, and the Grand Prix is bolted to the end of it. Book the flight home for the Monday.
Over five hundred of them across the city, and the good ones fill before the conference doors do.
Madinat Jumeirah, indoor and outdoor across the resort. Doors early, queues earlier.
The Dubai edition runs as a festival: ziplines, cold plunges, live performances and dining across the grounds, not a hall of booths.
Friday and the weekend are when the after-parties and the beach clubs take over from the agenda.
The organisers count more than a thousand side events across the week. There is no official directory that covers them all, which is exactly why everyone spends the fortnight before scrolling X for invite links.
Announcements land on X first, usually from the host protocol's own account, then on Luma. Follow the funds you want in the room rather than the venues.
The good ones open two to three weeks out and fill in a day. The ones still open the week of are usually the ones with a sponsor to please.
A phone with data, because approval emails and QR codes arrive while you are already in a taxi. This is the single most common way people miss a door.
We keep a running list and mail it when it is worth having. It is free and it is not a newsletter.
We watch the announcements so you do not have to scroll for them. One email with the list and the deadlines that matter.
An ESIM has to be installed over an internet connection. The one moment you will not have one is standing at DXB arrivals wanting a Careem.
In, conference, out. Nothing either side.
Side events, both conference days and the weekend that follows.
The whole week with a day of slack at each end.
TOKEN2049 and a proper look at the country either side.
Dubai stitched onto a longer run through the Gulf.
More than a thousand side events run across TOKEN2049 week and there is no single directory for them. We keep one.
An ESIM has to be installed over Wi-Fi before you fly, and nothing starts counting down until you land. Finishing now costs you nothing.