Long-Term Memory

This file contains curated knowledge that Claude should remember across sessions. Read this at the start of every conversation.

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About Reuben

• Role: Emerging Technology Lead at Stanford Accelerator for Learning (SAL)
• Team: Accelerator Studio - with Josh Weiss (Director) and Joe Sherman (Digital Media Lead)
• Timezone: Pacific Time (PT)
• Location: Works remotely, occasionally on Stanford campus

Signature Programs

• AI Flash Lab - Hands-on workshop format for rapid AI tool exploration (designkit.stanford.edu)
• Build-a-Bot Workshop - Train-the-trainer for chatbot building (bot101.app)
• Technical prototyping - Helping faculty/researchers build tools (AI Comic Studio, VFT Camera, etc.)

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Working Style & Preferences

Communication

• Prefers concise, direct communication
• No emojis unless explicitly requested
• Values “cards on the table” transparency

Written Voice (for drafting in Reuben’s style)

Sentence structure:

• Longer, flowing sentences that build on themselves—not choppy fragments
• Comfortable with complex sentences with multiple clauses
• Uses em-dashes to add parenthetical thoughts within sentences
• Avoids the “dramatic one-liner paragraph” style common in LinkedIn/Medium posts

Tone:

• Earnest without being sappy—says things like “my job and my passion are the same” and means it
• Self-aware but not self-deprecating
• Dry humor, often self-directed (“at least I’m in good company”)
• Doesn’t perform expertise—shares what he’s actually working through
• Avoids grandiose concluding statements

Structure:

• Story-driven—opens with a moment or anecdote, not a hot take
• Connects personal experience to bigger ideas—shows how he arrived at conclusions
• Builds arguments across paragraphs—each section sets up the next
• Doesn’t use listicles or bullet points for emphasis
• Comfortable with long-form (2,000+ words) when the idea requires it

Voice markers:

• “So very tempting!” (wry, self-aware)
• Uses “twitchy” to describe discomfort
• Pilot—uses aviation metaphors naturally (“different altitude,” “pull over to the side of the sky”)
• Builder—talks about shipping, vibe-coding, tools

What to AVOID:

• Short punchy sentences for dramatic effect
• “I felt seen” and similar therapy-speak
• Overly dramatic phrasing (“stopped me in my tracks,” “blew my mind”)
• Unnecessary self-introduction
• Formulaic thought-leader cadence
• Bullet points and numbered lists as the primary structure
• Claims he can’t back up (“the skill no one is teaching”)

Email Voice (different from essay voice)

Openings:

• “Hi [Name],” is the default
• Often leads with connection: “It was great to talk to you today” or “It was so good to see you on Zoom!”
• Quick check-ins: “Hope you’re doing well!”

Tone:

• Warmer and more effusive than essays—exclamation points show genuine enthusiasm
• “I was so excited about potentially working with you that I built a quick prototype”
• Light self-deprecation about technical stuff: “tightened it down a bit too much 😅”
• Emoji used sparingly but naturally (occasional 😅 or ✅)

Structure:

• Short, scannable paragraphs
• Bullet points only for technical details
• Clear calls to action at the end
• Brief—most emails are 2-4 sentences

Sign-offs:

• “Reuben” (just first name, most common)
• “Warmly, Reuben” for international/more formal contacts
• “Thanks! Reuben” or “Best, Reuben” for quick replies

Characteristic phrases:

• “Let me know if that works and I’ll send a calendar invite”
• “If there’s anything I can help with… just let me know”
• “I’ll keep you posted!”
• “Looking forward to…”

What to AVOID in emails:

• Corporate jargon
• Passive-aggressive phrases (“Per my last email…”)
• Over-explaining or unnecessary context

Note-Taking

• Self-described as “sparse and sporadic” note-taker
• Dumps raw notes into INBOX.md for later processing
• Needs help extracting signal from noise

Productivity Patterns

• Bad at keeping Airtable updated (Joe is the model, Reuben is the “cautionary tale”)
• Likes the inbox → process → route workflow
• Prefers structured daily prep to start the day
• Claude should ask about current time when orienting at session start - helps provide contextually appropriate guidance (morning vs. evening priorities differ)

Scheduling

• Preferred days: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
• Preferred time window: 10am - 3pm PT
• Avoid: Mondays and Fridays when possible
• Never suggest meetings before 10am unless timezone requires it
• Absolute earliest: 8am PT (only for international timezone accommodation)

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Family

Name	Relationship	Birthday	Notes
Christyl	Wife	Dec 7, 1980	Married June 8, 2002. Choir Teacher at Tahquitz High School, Hemet, CA
Jonathan	Son (older)	Oct 2, 2009	10th grade at Tahquitz High School
Micah	Son (younger)	Apr 5, 2011	9th grade at Tahquitz High School

Home: Near Tahquitz High School in Hemet, CA (4-minute drive to school)

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Key Relationships

(Full profiles in people/ directory)

Person	Role	Relationship
Josh Weiss	Director, Accelerator Studio	Manager - 1:1 on Thursdays
Joe Sherman	Digital Media Lead	Teammate
Isabelle Hau	SAL Executive Director	Skip-level
Victor Lee	Faculty Lead, AI & Education	Key faculty partner
Cathy Chase	Senior Research Scholar	AI Comic Studio collaborator

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Recurring Cadences

What	When	Notes
Josh 1:1	Thursdays	GPS goals, strategy, approvals
AS:DE Team Meeting	Tuesdays 11am	Full Accelerator Studio team (Josh, Joe, Reuben)
Airtable Transfer	Mondays 9:30am	Weekly update task
End-of-Month Meeting	Last week of month	Activity, Trends, Stories, Changes

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Important Decisions Made

(Add new decisions here with date and brief context. See decisions.md for full decision log.)

• 2026-01-22: Started using Claude Code executive assistant system
• 2026-03-12: SMART goals finalized with Josh — Q1 targets locked
• 2026-03-09: Two-tier ISTE IP model confirmed (open materials + proprietary training)
• 2026-03-16: Logic model shown to Josh, incorporated into SMART goals. Plan: keep updated as projects progress — it’s a living strategic tool, not a one-time exercise.

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Current Context (Updated Periodically)

Q1 2026 Focus

1. Team Communication Architecture & Values (75%+ seed grantees with 3+ tags)
2. Strategic Influence in AI+Education (4 workshops, 10 strategic consultations)
3. Build Scalable Educator Capacity Programs (3 scaling methods)
4. Sustainable Leadership Practices (3 sustainable routines)

Key Q1 Projects

• ISTE Partnership (train-the-trainer, IP/licensing under discussion)
• Build-a-Bot scaling
• Health Coach Bot prototype (with Marily Oppezzo & Michele Patel)
• Flash Lab rename / “special sauce” positioning
• LAUSD Foundation partnership exploration

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Things I’ve Learned About How Reuben Works

(Claude adds observations here as we work together)

• Likes to explore technical tools and figure out how they could apply to his work (e.g., analyzing Clawdbot memory system for our executive assistant setup)
• Values having a system but acknowledges he doesn’t always follow it perfectly
• Thinks ahead about infrastructure (“should we set this up before we need it?”)

Markdown Formatting Notes

• Tables need a blank line BEFORE them - always add a blank line between any text/header and the table’s first row, or it won’t render as a table
• Tables need no blank lines between rows - blank lines break markdown tables. All rows must be continuous after the header row.

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Explicit “Remember This” Items

(When Reuben says “remember that X”, add it here)

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Last updated: 2026-03-13