To us sounds as common sense. Due the fact our chapter/affiliate has a great alignment with our online community.
We have legitimacy when doing public appearances and advocacy because we are not only affiliate representatives, but also editors. We recommend to other affiliates that they include more online editors in their structures, to avoid the problem of lack of legitimacy (like European blackout). This should be a step previous to the implementation of this recommendation.
The European case proves the need of a structure when dealing with such cases.