Weekend planner

Find time-sensitive things to do with your family each week.

Create your family profile

Before you create the cron job, give Hermes a short profile of your family. This makes the recommendations much better.

Paste something like this into Hermes:


Remember this for family weekend planning:

Family:
- Two parents, son age 6, daughter age 3

Location:
- Home base: San Mateo, CA
- Max travel: 60 minutes one way for special events, 30 minutes for routine outings

What we like:
- Outdoor activities, hikes, beaches, farms, places where kids can run
- Street festivals, maker fairs, holiday markets, free museum days
- Live music, kids' theater, outdoor movies

Constraints:
- Walking limit: 2-3 miles max for the 3-year-old
- Nap: 1-3pm, plan around it when possible
- Lunch by 12pm and dinner by 6pm

Places we loved:
- Coyote Point in San Mateo
- Hidden Villa farm in Los Altos
- Filoli holiday lights in Woodside

Change the details for your own family. The sharper this is, the better Hermes gets.

Create the weekend planner

Ask Hermes from Telegram:


Every Wednesday at 8pm, send me a weekend planner on Telegram.

Find 10 time-sensitive things to do this weekend that fit my family profile.

Focus on festivals, special events, limited-run exhibits, seasonal nature programs, free days, performances, and anything else that is actually happening this weekend.

Skip generic playgrounds and permanent attractions unless they are hosting something special.

For each option, include:
1. Name, date, time, and location
2. Why it is special
3. Age fit for the kids
4. Cost
5. Distance from home

End with "My pick" and the 1-2 options you would actually recommend.

Name the job "Weekend planner."

Wednesday night is a good time because you still have a few days to buy tickets, invite friends, or bail because everyone is tired.

Test it now

Do not wait until next Wednesday to find out the planner is bad.


Let's do a test run of the weekend planner.

Hermes should search multiple sources, find real events, and send the results back to Telegram.

If you get generic ideas like “go to a park,” tell Hermes to search harder for time-sensitive events. The whole point is to find things you would not have found yourself.

Make the results better

After the first run, tell Hermes what you liked and what was useless.

Good feedback sounds like this:


For future weekend planners, avoid crowded indoor play places. Prioritize outdoor events, farms, festivals, and anything within 40 minutes of home.

Or:


This was too far away. For the weekend planner, only include options more than 45 minutes away if they are truly special.

Hermes should remember these preferences and use them next time.

Once this works, you have a real assistant scouting your weekend before you even think about it.