A few bubbles from me as well.
Having dabbled in site / forum board admin a bit, keeping sponsors is tough and most hobby forums are run by volunteers. So that means how to attract sponsors ... there is no direct marketting staff. Traffic and exposure = more reason for Sponsors to jump on board. It's a business decision where a business can get the most value for dollar. Many hobbyists have moved off into the chatter-sphere of FaceBook, Instagram and Twitter, that means that focus forums like these attract less traffic and therefore sponsors with limited cash move elsewhere ...
Personally the chatter-sphere is way too much information and I like the community feel of this and other forums so that's where I spend my on-line time but that is not the trend. I think the same is true of clubs ... the VAHS is a great club, great people, a couple social events and popular auctions that are well attended ... how many of us are members?
Also as LFS become less and less available ... where are new hobbyists going to come from, where are we going to get solid advice and information that relates from this region as opposed to a site we discovered on the internet with water parameters and a context far different than our's?
I can make a clear argument for the resurgence of forums and clubs, but if we want to keep them around, we have to support them and the sponsors that make make them possible.