Local software engineer Serene Yew enjoys taking her kids to the Calgary Stampede and hitting the Midway for the great selection of exotic foods.
Only she didn’t think the Stampede’s PDF map for finding all the great dishes really did the snacks any justice. So, she designed an app and made it available to all Calgary Stampede guests.
“I love the Calgary Stampede and taking my kids to the midway to try new foods,” said Yew, CEO and Chief Technology Officer of Pixeltree.
“But trying to match up what they wanted to eat with a PDF map didn’t make it easy to find what they wanted.”
This year, along with the traditional favourites of corn dogs, lemonade and mini-donuts, and a host of other eats, the Calgary Stampede has added 68 new food and drink options on the Midway.
“Every year our exhibitors push the boundaries, spending months developing imaginative and unexpected dishes exclusive to the Midway,” said Ashley Warner, Midway Manager at the Calgary Stampede, in a media release.
“It’s about delivering outrageously bold, fun and irresistible creations that give guests new ways to experience the excitement, creativity and spirit of the Calgary Stampede.”
To access all those new foods with a little more ease, Yew’s team developed a fully mobile responsive Stampede food map website. The beta testing on July 5 saw more than 100 people an hour charting their food adventures on the Midway.
Jamie Nhieu, one of the beta users on Sunday, who is also a local food reviewer, was looking for Hankki’s Seoul Stampede Fries.
“Pixeltree’s map helped me to get right to Hankki’s food truck, and even let me know there were mini donuts nearby to have while waiting in line,” said Nhieu.
“On Family Day at the Stampede, this saved me wandering around in crowds trying to find what I was looking for and got me back to enjoying the attractions.”
The map is being offered ad free and does not have user tracking, Yew said. She felt it was an opportunity to blend Calgary’s growing tech scene with economic development and the tourism economy.
“Knowing that Calgarians were able to find food faster and get back to the fun of the Stampede was a great feeling,” said Yew.
Interested users can find it at stampedefoodmap.com.
