Immersive Web Leadership changes

Hello Immersive Web folks!

This past Tuesday (July 24th) the Immersive Web Community Group had a
face-to-face meeting in Seattle, during which we discussed some leadership
changes to the Community Group in preparation for the formation of an
Immersive Web Working Group (a more formal group within the W3C with the
ability to propose specs for "candidate recommendation" status.) The intent
is that the WebXR Device API will be managed by the Working Group once
formed, and the Immersive Web Community Group will continue to function as
an incubator for new features and specifications to support the Immersive
Web. As those features, APIs, and specs become similarly stable and
demonstrate wide support, they can be adopted by a WG. We expect many
proposals will be adopted as additions to the WebXR Device API and thus
managed by the Immersive Web WG, but that’s not a foregone conclusion for
every incubation and will be decided on a case-by-case basis. The Immersive
Web Community Group will still incubate features that are recommended to
other Working Groups like the CSS Working Group.

As many of you know, I've been acting as a de facto group chair and spec
editor since the group's inception by virtue of being one of the earliest
developers working on the WebVR spec. It's been my honor and privilege to
work with you all in that capacity! We have an insanely talented group of
people developing the Immersive Web, and I could not be happier with the
results so far. However, as the WebXR Device API draws closer to readiness
and work the group does becomes more diverse, it's becoming necessary to
put more formal leadership roles in place. After some internal discussion
and announcement at the face-to-face, we wanted to ensure the rest of the
Immersive Web CG was also notified of the proposed changes:

Ada Cannon (Samsung) and Chris Wilson (Google) are being recommended as
co-chairs of the upcoming Immersive Web Working Group. Ada's developer
relations experience at Samsung provides a valuable and much needed insight
into the needs of the developers who will be using the APIs the group
produces, and she brings some welcome geographic diversity to a group that
has been a bit too USA-west-coast-centric thus far. And Chris' prior
experience working with multiple W3C standards is already proving critical
as we navigate this transition.

Trevor F. Smith (Mozilla) is being recommended to take on the role of chair
of the Immersive Web Community Group. As the WebXR Device API transitions
to being managed by the working group the Community Group will continue to
operate as an incubation ground for exposing to the web the variety of new
technologies we expect this fast-moving field to produce. Trevor leads some
of Mozilla's Mixed Reality efforts, and has already been serving in a
chair-like capacity leading our AR-centric calls on alternating weeks.
He'll provide a steady hand in the most volatile area of the Immersive
Web's ongoing development.

Finally, we’re recommending that Nell Waliczek (Amazon) continue to work
with me (Brandon Jones, Google) as spec editor on the WebXR Device API.
Nell is a Principal Engineer on the Amazon Sumerian team, which is building
tools for creating cross-platform immersive content on the web. She also
brings with her a wealth of XR expertise from her previous role as a
Principal Engineering Lead for Microsoft's Windows Mixed Reality platform.
And I've been working on WebVR and now WebXR since their inception, pulling
on previous experience working on the WebGL API to make a high-performance,
developer friendly Immersive Web a reality.

Spec editing isn't a new role for either of us, but up to this point it has
meant that we both informally took on a variety of chair-like
responsibilities as well. With the group chair roles officially filled it
frees us up to focus on the technical aspects of finishing the spec, which
should help us reach that all-important shipping point faster and more
confidently.

I cannot express how thrilled I am with the talent and experience of the
team that's come together to guide the Immersive Web forward, and that of
all the CG members working alongside us! Thank you for your continued
support!

--Brandon Jones