Jeremiah Owyang in his postings at
http://www.web-strategist.com/blog/2006/12/07/community-manager-resources/
talks about the role of a community manager and what a community manager really does.
Lets discuss this and expand on the responsibilities of an effective community manager

* Listening, responding quickly, informing and connecting the right folks.
* Leading the community and engaging the membership of other stakeholders
* Engaging the community around a company and its products, being a company champion, and most   importantly,  a customer advocate
* Organising community interactions and activities on a regular basis
* Generating an atmosphere of fun to keep the interactions vibrant
* Ensuring that the purpose of the community remains aligned with the personal aspirations of the members as well as the business goals
* Networking with potential new community members to promote community benefits
* Informing the right stakeholders in the company what’s happening, this can range from Engineering,
  Product Management, Product Marketing, Bloggers, PR, or forum moderators
* Creating an identity for the community to which people want to belong
* Engaging members & generating a sense of commitment to community activities
* Communicating community benefits and successes to wider stakeholder groups
* Establishing (with members) agreed processes for community activities and events
* Identifying objectives, roles and responsibilities for community members

Once the community is established, rotation of community manager responsibilities is a good way of
keeping the community vibrant, maintaining interest and increasing the scope of influence of the
community. This ensures that the work is not onerous.