We explored possible titles in the Comm Mgr Facebook Group
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=3553055120&topic=4523

I think this kind of organization would not only have to have the “foresight” to invest in this but also be prepared to trust that it can be a good thing to invest in something you cannot utterly control. I think for a lot of control and line-management focussed organizations, the idea of a free floating agent that somehow connects people and things across all these nice and orderly compartments and triggers strong dynamics towards open ends is a scary thing.

I almost responded to your post yesterday about Chris’s definition of Community Manager for the very reasons you bring up in your post today. It’s a broader, more far reaching role and it is about extending and managing the network (as you say).

Sometimes I like to look at these “new” roles emerging in our Web 2.0 cloud and draw comparisons with extant organizational roles. Some that came to mind: Relationship/Partner management, brand management, marketing. These all Relationship Management in the 2.0 world is harder, because there is no fixed set of “partners” and communities (companies) need to always be on the alert for new opportunities in relationships and establishing connections at various levels of formality.

Brand management came to mind because of the need to stay aware of what others are saying about us, and commenting where needed to clarify and positioning. And marketing, of course, because “market in everything.”

Thanks, both Chris and Nancy for an engaging conversation.

/patti

“Instead we are talking about scanning for things important for our organizations - conversations about us, niches or needs we can fill, feedback and suggestions for improving what we do. It is filtering and redirecting those messages to where they can do good. It is a little bit like listening to the universe.

Instead of managing conflict or spammers in a walled community, we are seeking to make connections between people that advance our organization’s learning and goals. That includes between disgruntled people and the people who might address that problem, between ideas, links and content to people who might use them, and between communities that exist within the humus of the network garden.

Instead of spawning or archiving threads, we are tagging and remixing. Instead of inviting in or kicking out members, we are mapping the network of relationships, looking for where to respond, and where to catalyze action.”

That has me thinking. I wish I could answer back with wit and engagement, but instead, I’m a bit silent at the points you’ve made, because you’re at once both right and profound. It’s a lot harder than it looks.