How can you contribute to standardization initiatives?
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If you run email programs for a living, you already have something standards bodies genuinely need: real-world experience. Technical experts write the specs, but operational senders know where those specs break down in practice. That perspective is valuable, and organizations like M3AAWG and the IETF know it.
Here's where to start, depending on how deep you want to go.
Join M3AAWG. This is the most accessible entry point for email practitioners. M3AAWG (the Messaging, Malware and Mobile Anti-Abuse Working Group) is a membership organization focused on anti-abuse best practices. You don't need to be a developer. They have working groups where marketers, deliverability specialists, and operational folks contribute alongside engineers. Attending a conference, joining a working group call, or reviewing a draft document all count as participation.
Follow IETF working groups. The IETF is where technical email standards (think SPF, DKIM, DMARC) get written as RFCs. You can read drafts and submit comments publicly without being a member. The IETF mailing lists are open, and reading along is a low-commitment way to understand what's coming before it ships.
Share what you actually know. The most useful contributions aren't always technical. Have you seen a new standard cause unexpected problems in production? Have you noticed that a best practice document doesn't reflect how real senders operate? That feedback, submitted clearly and specifically, shapes how standards evolve. Review a draft, note where the guidance doesn't match reality, and say so.
Show up consistently. Influence in these communities builds slowly. Attending conferences, participating in cross-industry discussions, and engaging in working group threads over time earns you credibility. It's less about having the right credentials and more about showing up with useful, grounded input again and again.
You don't need a title or a technical background to contribute. You need experience and the willingness to share it clearly. That turns out to be rarer than people expect. (And more welcome than most newcomers assume.)
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