Understanding your community manager

Excellent post on community management (or, perhaps, the activity formerly known as community management):

The two words that kept cropping up as I spoke to people from a number of industries (both old and new) were ‘strategic’ and ‘commercial’, and while those phrases might cause some CMs a little concern, I honestly don’t think there is anything to be scared of here. The notion of community as a separate entity, divorced from everyday commercial requirements, is outdated and unrealistic.

Lots of history and good ideas about the future in there. Recommended.