{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Cheers & Tiers: Design Leadership Tales Retold","title":"029: Amy Jo Levine & MaeLin Levine of AIGA San Diego Tijuana","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3067,"description":"Amy Jo and MaeLin Levine have been running Visual Asylum together since 1987—and spending nearly as long proving that fearlessness is a San Diego AIGA tradition. In the early days, the chapter had $500 in the bank. A board member named Guy said: take money off the table and dream big. The answer became Y Conference, which ran for 26 years and inspired chapters across the country to launch their own events.This is a conversation about framing Soviet posters when the USSR fell, following Bennett on an epic Toronto restaurant walk where people dropped like flies, and why Terry Marks couldn’t get a date. It’s about saving a chapter post-COVID with one email (not a single person said no), winning a World Design Capital bid during a pandemic, and the direct line from AIGA leadership to starting charter schools. Also: why you should never, ever suggest auctioning lawn chairs at a board meeting.Key TakeawaysFearlessness becomes culture: When your chapter starts by importing Soviet posters during the fall of the USSR, you set a precedent for taking on big challenges.Remove money from the equation first: The Y Conference was born when someone said “take money off the table—what would you want to do?”Sell sponsorships to cover costs, sell tickets for profit: This funding model sustained Y Conference for 26 years.Leadership retreats create lifelong bonds: AIGA friendships lead to weddings, godparenthoods, and collaborations that last decades.What you give comes back tenfold: Ron Muriello's advice proved true—AIGA leadership builds confidence and opens doors you never imagined.Chapters need to pass the torch: The generation that built these programs is getting tired of schlepping water bottles—new leaders need to step up.Key Moments in This Episode03:20 – Framing Soviet posters: How MaeLin got recruited to work shoulder-to-shoulder with San Diego’s design who’s who06:00 – The posters that wouldn't leave: When the Soviet Union fell, there was nowhere to send them back to—so...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/fRTE46TBHbhBelcFPNhk4XdGpc9OMvYRuOAUT6lBkhM/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8xZTdk/YjAzMjhmMTE2ZTc1/YTU4N2RjMTQ3ZTY4/ZDM1NS5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}