I was intrigued by Tim Bray's account of IETF 88 and HTTP standardization (https://www.tbray.org/ongoing/When/201x/2013/11/05/IETF-88-HTTP-Security), especially the part about "humming for proposals" to get an idea where the discussion stands.
Turns out, it is standard IETF procedure. I had never heard of it.