If you are doing hard work and helping to build the Community, it WON'T go unnoticed. And before you respond with, "There are plenty of people who do hard work and don't get recognized," you should realize that they probably aren't evaluating themselves on the criteria that we use when decisions are made to promote people. Besides, I guarentee 85% of those that would "apply" for another position wouldn't deserve it. Oh, and who wants to sit around and sift through applications where people are just talking themselves up?
And going off of what Hylander said, it means more when you are recognized by your peers for your performance, not by yourself.