Still trying to increase your visibility?

When I was a mid-level developer at a large company, becoming more visible seemed difficult to do.  You have a job with specific duties and expectations as part of a team with a specific role under a chain of command guiding your work. And there are tens or hundreds of people around you in exactly the same situation.  Even when you sign up for the company sponsored mentoring programs, show up at all the company sponsored events and excelled at your job,  it never seems to make much of a difference.  

Only being outside looking in, as I am now, has it become clear that increasing visibility is just not that difficult. Managing increased visibility so that it remains a positive force on your career over time -- that's the hard part.