I ended up getting about 13 interviews at
URTA (Chicago) as well as a few outside schools.
After that, as far as who I talked seriously to: UNLV initially...I couldn't do a site visit though so they broke it off after that...and then they called back again the day after the "
URTA deadline".
CCM was a big one that I talked to and Mr. Gage was a great help and mentor leading up to
URTA. He gave me all kinds of pointers of what people like to see on your table and it paid off big time. I am originally from Ohio so I did have a part of me that wanted to go there.
I also had numerous discussions with
Cal State Fullerton but we were never really able to work anything out. They were willing to pay for most of the trip, if not all of it, to come visit but we were never able to find a time that worked for both of us.
I also began talking to The University of Texas until I heard about their situation within the department. They essentially cleaned
house or something so the had a temporary chair until they hired a new dean and then they could start the search for a new chair. Since you are from Florida, I'm sure you are aware of the situation that I went through in undergrad. Our old chair "retired" but remained in the department. I was there for the last summer that he was in charge, then in the fall we had an Interim Chair from within the department until we found someone. The following year we hired someone and not too much after that, that certain person left and the process started over again and remains that way today. I didn't care to go through that again so I pretty much ended it there. I wanted to find a place where the likelyhood of stability was there. My friend did chose to go there though and sure enough one of the professors is leaving and "may" come back in a year. So I'm glad I didn't make that pick.
Also a certain university may have contacted me and I may have ended it right there due to certain person above...I don't care to go into details beyond that which is probably understandable. I did have some enjoyable conversations about the transition with them though.
Beyond that, I'd say those are the only real universities I talked to extensively. I did talk to a few other universities in Ohio as well as several people who went to KC/
ACTF last year. I was there since the show I designed traveled. But nothing really ever grew from that. I was supposed to stop at UF on my way back from the FSU trip but I never even made it that far before the roads were closed and I had to turn around. At that
point, we both mutually decided to move on.