ReportWire

Tag: Skip

  • [INTERVIEW] From Flights to Food – Skip and WestJet Team Up – Pointshogger

    [ad_1]

    Skip (a.k.a Skip the Dishes) and WestJet have taken a step towards linking their loyalty programs together. Today, we have the opportunity to learn more from Rachel MacAdam, VP of Marketing at Skip regarding this new partnership. Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions Rachel!

    1) Please tell us about yourself and your role with Skip?

    I’m Rachel MacAdam, Vice President of Marketing at Skip. I’ve spent my career championing best-in-class customer experiences and reshaping loyalty programs in Canada, and today I lead the team responsible for Skip’s brand, customer strategy, and our fast–growing loyalty ecosystem.

    My role is really about shaping how Skip shows up for Canadians every day – from the emotional resonance behind our Skip to the good part brand promise, to the partnerships and programs that deliver meaningful value and convenience. It’s an incredibly exciting time for Skip. We’ve evolved from a food delivery app into a purpose-led convenience platform that helps Canadians get what they need, when they need it. And I get to work with an amazing team that brings that vision to life.

    2) This is the first chance we have to interview someone from Skip. Please tell us about Skip?

    Skip is Canada’s homegrown delivery network, founded in the Prairies and now serving more than 450 cities and towns across the country. What began as a local start-up in 2012 has now transformed into a Canadian tech success story – connecting millions of Canadians with more that 50,000 restaurants, grocery, convenience, and retail partners.

    Our mission is simple: empower everyday convenience. Whether that’s dinner on the table, groceries for the week, or everyday essentials you need right now, we want to help Canadians ‘Skip to the Good Part’ of their day.

    At our core, we’re a proudly Canadian brand focused on bringing more joy, ease, and value to the people and communities we serve.

    3) Please tell us more about this Flights to Food – Skip and WestJet Team Up initiative?

    Flights to Food is the latest step in our expanded partnership with WestJet – and it’s something we’re really excited about. Together, we’ve linked Skip and WestJet Rewards so Canadians can earn and redeem WestJet points with Skip.

    For the first time, WestJet Rewards members can redeem their points directly through Skip, and use them for everyday essentials: grocery, pharmacy, retail, restaurants – you name it. And every qualifying Skip order earns WestJet points that can go towards flights or vacations.

    In a challenging economy, loyalty points matter more than ever. This partnership gives Canadians real, everyday spending power – whether they’re saving for their next trip or covering the cost of dinner tonight. And with perks like 500 WestJet points upon linking, six months of free Skip+ – a membership program with $0 delivery fees, reduced service fees, and exclusive perks – and ongoing “WestJet Wednesday” challenges in the app, we’re offering convenience and value in a way that really meets Canadians where they are today.

    4) What else can we look forward to with Skip?

    We’re continuing to evolve Skip into a broader convenience platform – one that truly reflects the rhythm of Canadian life and provides enhanced value for customers. A few areas you’ll see more of:

    • An expanded loyalty ecosystem: Skip’s partnership with WestJet is just the beginning. We’re building deeper, more connected experiences with partners across travel, entertainment, and financial services, giving Canadians more ways to earn, redeem, and unlock value.
    • Category growth: food delivery will always be at the core, but we’re leaning further into grocery, convenience, and retail, helping people get what they need when they need it.
    • Expansion of national and exclusive launches: with new restaurant and retail partners like Dollarama and Walmart joining Skip, we’re strengthening our role as a go-to for Canadians to find everyday value through local and global favourites.
    • Leaning into our Canadian DNA: we recently worked with Seth Rogen on a new ad spot around our brand promise, ‘Skip to the good part,’ and we’re excited to continue investing in great Canadian talent to help bring Skip’s story to life. Ultimately, everything we do ladders back to helping Canadians Skip to the good part – with speed, value, personality, and a sense of joy.

    5) Any closing thoughts?

    At Skip, we know that convenience isn’t just about delivery – it’s about creating moments of ease, delight, and connection in people’s everyday lives.

    Our partnership with WestJet is a great example of how we’re thinking differently about value and loyalty, and there’s much more ahead.

    We’re excited to keep bringing Canadians more ways to Skip to the good part of their day – whether that’s great food, everyday essentials, or their next vacation.

    [ad_2]

    Matt

    Source link

  • Mario Kart Players Land Groundbreaking Trick After 27 Years

    Mario Kart Players Land Groundbreaking Trick After 27 Years

    [ad_1]

    Skips and speedruns are basically like magic, to me. The tenacity it takes to find ways to break a game and circumvent entire sections is a skill and patience I don’t have. That being said, I’m always glad to watch someone just walk or drive through a wall and end up somewhere they weren’t supposed to be yet. It’s delightful. It’s an art form that people are always chipping away at, and that means sometimes these skips can be found in old games like Mario Kart 64. After 27 years, someone has managed to pull off a skip in the Bowser’s Castle course so difficult to execute, it’s almost impossible to repeat…until now.

    For a lot of us, Mario Kart tech is mostly just about using your items strategically and knowing when to drift. Maybe you know a good shortcut, or can pull off drifting. But for the speedrunning community, it’s about carefully studying each track and nailing down frame-perfect maneuvers to shave off even the smallest fraction of your time. For the Mario Kart 64 speedrunning community, Bowser’s Castle has presented a white whale in the form of a skip that requires you to drive through a specific wall. The technical breakdown is pretty complex and boils down to some walls in the game being built in such a way that there’s a tiny gap for players to squeeze through. It’s all about hitting it at the right angle and using speed items like the mushroom. But luckily, YouTube user Abyssoft has an entire video breaking down the skip, the tech behind it, and how multiple speedrunners have suddenly been able to utilize it after all these years.

    Abyssoft

    The first time the skip was first introduced in 2021 was by speedrunner Forest64, which sparked a fire in the community to attempt to recreate it. However, it wouldn’t be until almost two years later that it was recreated and used in a speedrun, resulting in some shifts in the track’s speedrunning records. Forest64 himself managed to implement the skip in a run after over 200 hours of grinding and thousands of attempts on March 11, 2023 beating the previous non-shortcut time by just four-tenths of a second. This was impressive because it both dethroned the original time, and was the first time the skip was successfully pulled off through play, rather than testing.

    However, that reign would be short lived, as speedrunner Christian C. hit the skip and shaved off a second of his time just two days later on March 13. The following day, speedrunner Aaron Jablonski also managed to hit the skip but wasn’t quite able to overtake Christian’s time. Abyssoft’s video breaks down some of the ways this run can still be improved by using the skip, but given just how difficult it’s proven for the pros to pull off, it may be some time before anyone manages to improve the run through this method.

    Ironically enough, after all the hubbub the world record for Bowser’s Castle was overtaken again by Beck Abney on April 4 without using the skip. As of this writing, Abney’s record of 1’49″38 sits on the top spot, but there’s still room for the speedrunners to cut down the already impressive time if the skip is implemented.

    What remains to be seen is if The Super Mario Bros. Movie actor Jack Black can beat the record after beating his castmates in Mario Kart for all to see.

    [ad_2]

    Kenneth Shepard

    Source link