(See Part 1 of this series here.)

Sometimes it seems that standards groups and organizations that support them are populated by engineers and programmers who revel in the complexity that building standards demands. Some of this is true, but other constituents populate the committees, too. Some are product marketing people who want to embrace standards to help their products grow. Some are consultants trying to define the best practices they can recommend to their clients. Others are evangelists representing the voice of designers and end users of communications. It is a diverse group which is why developing standards and getting them codified and approved is a big job.

There are groups that take on some of the work of defining standards, recommending changes, and promoting the use of standards. You may know the names but not how they fit into the big industry puzzle. Here is a rundown of the ones I watch and why!