Were there any warning signs of this decision? I quick look at their blog[1] doesn't raise any red flags. Who knew about this? I'm sure the community would have kept them going if they had known. Is there more to the story?
The local chapter organizers I know were totally surprised. There was apparently no indication that this was coming.
Update: apparently there had been some notice that funding was tight, and local organizers had been asked to donate, but the degree of criticality was not made explicit.