Talks of moving to Florida!

My wife and I have had fun little talks over the last couple years about moving to somewhere warm. Neither of us are stuck in a particular career/job here in Minnesota and both of us have spent our life here absolutely sick of the winters. The talks have become more and more frequent. We've got our eyes set on the Orlando & surrounding area. I'm just on the cusp of starting to look at jobs, housing, golf courses :) etc.

Anyone have advice on big moves like this? Any advice on Florida/Orlando area in general?

The first place I'm looking into for a possible position is the Golf Channel.

My background is television production.

Depends on your life style.

If you like the night life and parties, it would be South Beach/Miami area.

On the other hand, if you prefer quiet neighborhood and nice beaches, Naples is very good with a lot of great golf courses.

But I am sure Florida residents can give you a much better advise.

Smart man.  I grew up in Wisconsin, but learned long ago that there are roads that go south, and that staying up there is a self-inflicted wound.  Fine if you like it, but there are certainly options!

Orlando is great.....and with CBS/GC here, along with plenty of local TV stations, could be a good fit.  The only downside is that if you're into the beach scene, you're in for an hour drive to get there.  Really not all that bad though.

I'd recommend staying away from the tourist corridor, unless you're really into the restaurant, social scene.  Northeast of Orlando, is much quieter and although morning rush hour is like any big city, the truth is that you can move around the entire metro area pretty conveniently.  If you want to do the attractions, or some of the restaurants or clubs in that area, you can get there without any real problem.  Consider Winter Springs, Maitland, Altamonte Springs, and Lake Mary.

Yeah the wife & I are more suburb people...or quiet metro people. An hour to the beach is totally fine. I have family 20 minutes outside of Orlando so I'll be asking them some questions as well. We really like to live in a safe area above all (who doesn't?).

It's nice to hear they have a bunch of local stations, I'm not positive I'll even stay in the television business...but I have my eyes set on the Golf Channel, no matter what.

Which leads to my next question. It's been 7 years since I've gone through the application process...and I've never tried to get a job out of state. Keeping the Golf Channel in mind, and the fact that I'll take pretty much any job they're offering and go from there...how would you go about that process? Maybe try to get a hold of their HR? Or just hand in my resume...or both? I don't mind getting my foot in anywhere there.

Where're your family?  I'm in Lake Mary, about 20 minutes outside of Orlando......and there's a very good reason we live here.  Relatively quiet, safe, and good access to the entire metro area, including restaurants, social scene, and of course golf.

They live in Oviedo.

The thought of being able to play year round has me all giddy.

I've found the Human Resource supervisor's (for Golf Channel) Linkedin account. I'm wondering if I should make an account and contact her within the next couple months. Some positions at my current company are very similar to one's at GC. But I have some things to think about...

I wouldn't be moving to Florida until after the summer is over. There's currently an open position at Golf Channel that I could shadow at my current company, however I assume it will not be available by the time I move.

Linkedin is a great place to start.  Connect with one of the HR people at GC and then message them and let them know your situation.  More than likely they will want a resume and make sure to send a cover letter with your resume.  I'm in the Orlando area 1 week per month, and while I can't help you with areas to live, there's definitely a lot of golfing opportunities around.  I wouldn't be able to deal with the traffic around the Orlando area every day, especially with the Ultimate I4 project about to kick off, but I guess it's something you get used to.  Good luck.