IAAPA Expo 2026 · Orlando · For IDA Team 3 — Ocumira Creative
Mastering the IAAPA Expo
With Danny and Andy. Hints and tips for the Ocumira Creative team on showing your work to the industry, meeting the big players and getting your names out there.
- Education
- 16–19 Nov
- Show floor
- 17–20 Nov
- Venue
- OCCC N · S · W
The mindset
All week- You're not students asking for favours. You're designers with a portfolio piece. A 100% Schematic Design package is something the industry produces itself. Your numbers give you the same language as the people you'll meet. Talk like colleagues.
- Asking for feedback opens more doors than asking for a job. "We designed around a suspended vehicle, how close did we get?" will get a ride vendor's engineer talking for 20 minutes. "Are you hiring?" ends the conversation in 20 seconds.
- The industry is small and everyone remembers everyone. The person behind you in the coffee queue could be a creative director. Be good to everyone, including booth staff, shuttle drivers and other students.
Before you go
Now → 15 Nov- Agree one sentence about C.O.A.S.T. that everyone uses. Then each person adds their own 30-second line: "I did the ride timing and capacity," or "I designed Sylvia's greenhouse scene." Specific beats general every time, and the "authored by" credits on the sheets already show who owns what.
- Nobody will look through 171 sheets on a show floor. Put a hero set of 8 to 10 images on a phone or tablet: the land overview, a couple of the POVs, a capacity sheet and a character. Add a short screen recording of the ride running in the visualiser, so you can show it moving anywhere on the floor. Have a QR code linking to a portfolio page or LinkedIn on cards and phones. Business cards still matter at IAAPA.
- Sort out the confidentiality notice. The cover threatens legal action against anyone holding the package without an NDA. As a team, agree which version can be shown and shared publicly, so nobody hesitates mid-conversation.
- Update LinkedIn now. Headline, IDA, Ocumira Creative, C.O.A.S.T. and your role on it. People will look you up that evening.
- Do the homework. Get the Connect+ app, map the floor, and each pick 10 to 15 must-see companies. Include the ride, AV, lighting and effects suppliers whose kit you specced, because that's an instant conversation. Email or LinkedIn the people you want to meet now, because calendars fill weeks ahead.
- Check the side events. These include ticketed networking events and TEA (Themed Entertainment Association) gatherings, and a lot of the real networking happens after hours.
On the floor
16–20 Nov- Pace yourselves. This year the Expo spreads across the North, South and new West buildings, which means a lot of miles. Wear broken-in shoes, carry water and snacks, and dress in layers because the halls are cold and outside isn't. Set three goals a day, not thirty.
- Read the booth from the exhibitor's side. Exhibitors are there to sell to operators. If someone's mid-pitch with a park buyer, come back later. Late afternoons and especially the last day are quieter, and that's when people have time to chat. Ask "who here works on the design or creative side?" Sales staff will usually happily pass you on.
- Move in pairs, not a pack of twelve. A crowd at a booth is intimidating. Split the target list, share leads in a group chat, and introduce each other: "You need to meet Iris, she did the land overview."
- Write it down straight away. After each good conversation, photograph the card and record a 10-second voice note: name, what you talked about, the follow-up. By day three every face blurs together.
- Ask about their work. People remember the person who was curious about them, not the one who talked at them.
- Rest is allowed. It's fine to find a quiet corner or skip an evening. A burnt-out day four wastes everything you set up on days one to three. Go to the parties, but the 9am meeting the next morning matters more.
After the show
From 21 Nov- Follow up within a week, and make it personal. Mention what you talked about, include one image or link, and ask one easy question. Hardly anyone does this well, so it stands out.
- Post about the project and tag the team. IDA, Ocumira Creative, C.O.A.S.T. and what you learned. The people you met will see it.
- Play the long game. Hiring here comes in waves tied to project wins. A good conversation in November can turn into a role in March.
What makes C.O.A.S.T. stand out?
Your talking points171A3 sheets
460 msuspended track
622THRC
69.5 sbetween vehicles
- The 3D model: the ride building, track, scenes and suspended vehicle built as one model, with the screens UV-mapped so real media plays on them. It's clean enough to load into a real-time media server's visualiser, which is how studios review a ride before anything gets built.
- The ride simulation: the vehicle travels the track to your own scene timings, so the 3:20 ride in the timing sheet can be watched as well as read. Few student projects get anywhere near this.
- Ride timing and capacity sheet: a scene-by-scene speed profile, a headway calculation (the minimum gap between vehicles) and the 3.99 → 4 vehicles rounding. That's real ride-planning work.
- Facility input summary: power, water, crew and control rooms, the things most concept packages skip.
- Staffing model: headcounts, shifts and wages in both USD and HKD.
- Sustainability that changes the design: building around the two protected willow trees, and kinetic "energy nodes" triggered by mission bands that teach how renewable energy works.
See it ride
Live in PerformerThere will be a server running 7thSense Performer's visualiser, playing the ride through your 3D model in real time, with media running on the screens in Sylvia's greenhouse (SC06) and Willow's wind turbines (SC07).
- Moving pictures stop people walking. A drawing set needs an invitation. A ride running on a screen does the inviting for you. Use it to start the conversation, then go to the sheets.
- Have a 60-second tour ready. The control room, the flight over C.O.A.S.T., then the greenhouse and the wind turbines. Know what's playing on each screen and who designed that scene, and hand over to them.
- Point at the screens you specified. The projectors behind the greenhouse windows and the 18.15 × 6.75 m LED wall in the turbine scene come straight from your video plans. Seeing them from the vehicle shows the design works from a guest's seat.
- Use it as your invitation. "Come and see it running" is the best follow-up of the week. Book people in for a time rather than hoping they wander past.