I think that "after 8BC" the offline tendency spread out, people started to work their scene locally. I speak for myself . The only way to expand (if you want it) chipmusic here is creating partnerships and interacting with other musicians from different segments. It is not easy, but good people will eventually notice that you are making your own music, with strange devices. When i first listened to Ralp, was at 8bc, now he has the Lowtoy collective growing and helping artists to release and spread the music. Since the beggining he was not a "chiptuner" and somehow i think that kept his mind open. Also, Chema is making some great effort at Mexico, releasing material and with Format DF festival. In Australia we have Square Sounds festival, bringing in some "hybrids" to play, like Doshy, wich plays "fake chip", but hey, at least this is connecting different cultures, that's positive. As Quarta 330 did in Japan, when kode9 set his release on Hyperdub, Maybe the first gameboy remix in a nice eletronic music label. The 8static from US, of course, is still there and strong. Recently Chippanze made a co-op release with Hexawe, and for me that's a good sign. And there are many many more, doing stuff locally.
Sometimes i play with Dj's, wich is fun, and somehow i try to influence them to make a live set, or play their own songs, in a good way. This year i played with my former band also, making an introduction act with my favourite trackers. I feel that this was kind of educational also, I surely prefer to play with my guys from the label, but that's not always possible here. So, to play chipmusic outside of the scene, will be mostly shocking to people, wich is what i expect when i go out to watch someone playing.
Sorry if i don't actively post here, but i am so glad to know that there is a place to talk about this! As 4mat said, chip is all over the net, not centralized. maybe this is the expansion tendency. I have a list of websites for chip related stuff, wich makes the thing very much alive for me. and of course, my friends here (pulselooper, subway sonicbeat) wich can give imediate feedback.
I hope that my humble experience can put some light into this matter. I am not a scene guy, so you should consider the relevance of this