After four years of running the We Are Wearables community, founder Tom Emrich has announced that We Are Wearables is merging with AWE, a global community with conferences in the US, Europe, and Asia, and meetup chapters in San Francisco and New York.
The organization has a reach of 250,000, and focuses on ‘XR’, which includes augmented, virtual, and mixed reality. We Are Wearables will rebrand to AWE Nite, and AWE Nite TO (link removed as website was removed) will be focused on Toronto’s augmented reality industry. The Chicago, Ottawa, and Montreal We Are Wearables chapters will be closing down later this month as the organization consolidates efforts around these areas.
“Beyond our community’s new focus on augmented reality and a new brand, the merging of We Are Wearables with AWE comes with many benefits,” Emrich wrote in a blog post (website was removed, so link was removed), in which he also took the opportunity to thank supporters like co-organizer Paula Kwan and former MaRS business manager Karen Schulman Dupuis.
“AWE’s global network provides members and those who participate on one of the AWE stages with a wider reach and worldwide exposure. The AWE social networks will act as a powerful tool to unite the AWE community and help each local area promote what is happening to the global audience.”
AWE Nite’s new leading team include Emrich, Xesto CEO Sophie Howe, Impossible Things co-founder Ian Kelso, MRSV.io CEO Isaac Rayment, and *no campfire required co-founder Emily Smith.
The first official AWE Nite TO meetup will take place on May 8 and is open for RSVPs now (link removed as event is over and the website no longer exists).