The Wei of Storytelling
In briefAI summary — tap to read
District Governor Hung Wei shared Rotary's impact through personal storytelling, explaining how districts support clubs through learning opportunities, service projects, and fellowship. She emphasized that Rotary members are invisible helpers changing lives worldwide, and highlighted mental health awareness as a priority under International President Gordon McInally's vision, inspired by personal loss.
Key takeaways
- District 5170 comprises 63 clubs with ~3,950 members across Silicon Valley to Watsonville, providing learning opportunities, service projects, and fellowship for $55 annual dues per member.
- Rotary members serve as invisible helpers whose impact often goes unrecognized; increasing club membership expands resources and capacity for greater service.
- Mental health awareness is critical; reaching out with genuine care to friends, family, and club members can make life-saving differences, as emphasized by International President Gordon McInally.
- The e-Club model demonstrates Rotary's evolution toward flexibility, with hybrid and online options allowing participation regardless of geography or schedule constraints.
- Small clubs can thrive through collaborative projects, satellite club structures, and partnerships rather than mergers, preserving their unique cultures while expanding impact.
About Rotary District Governor Hung WeiHung Wei is the District Governor of Rotary District 5170 (Silicon Valley area) and a member of the Rotary Club of Cupertino, California. She also serves as a city council member in Cupertino.
AI-generated from the meeting recording — AI can make mistakes, so check the recording for anything important.
MEETING FOR THE WEEK OF Feb 5, 2024
This Meeting at a Glance:
Program: The Wei of Storytelling
Speaker: Rotary District Governor Hung Wei
Is this your first time to visit us? If so, welcome to our weekly online meeting! To complete our meeting, please continue reading from here to the bottom of this page. Each Monday our week’s meeting is posted early in the morning, U.S. Pacific Time. These meetings are designed so that you can read and watch what we post anytime during the week. The entire meeting takes about 60 minutes to complete, with the video conference recording of the program being the bulk of the time. Note that you can easily read this meeting with your favorite device, so feel free to take our meeting on the go with you. Please also make sure to complete the attendance form at the bottom and leave a comment. Enjoy!
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Read and watch the content below in its entirety.
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Complete the attendance survey.
Everyone is also encouraged to leave a comment in the Disqus section at the bottom of the page.
Message from our president
Greetings Members and Friends of Rotary e-Club of Silicon Valley. As President of our Club, I want to welcome you all today.
Weekly Funny with Shags
We believe laughter is an important part of life, and we should all make time to laugh a little. This segment of our meeting is meant to tickle you just enough. These funnies are curated by member Steven "Shags" Shagrin!
Mother Calling
A man answers the phone and has the following conversation:
"Yes, mother, I've had a hard day. Colleen has been very difficult - I know I ought to be more firm, but it is hard. Well, you know how she is. Yes, I know you warned me. I remember you told me that she was evil and would make my life miserable and you begged me not to marry her. I should have listened to you. You want to speak with her? All right."
He looks up from the phone and calls to his wife in the next room, "Colleen, your mother wants to talk to you!"
Inspiration
Every week we share a short video highlighting innovation, education, entrepreneurship, or whatever we think might inspire you to see the world in new ways.
The work of this artist is at another scale, and may take you back to a time when you built models, too. This week, we're featuring Luke Towan, with a hat tip to Insider Art for the story.
Learn something new
The Science of Cuteness
Joshua Paul Dale shares why we want to squeeze cute things.
Club news
Members
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Club Nominations! Our annual club election nominations have been sent to your email (PS. you can nominate yourself!). We will elect a President-Elect for 2025-2026, Club Secretary, and a General Board Member. We also need several Committee Chairs and Member volunteers. If you have thought that your ideas and commitment could have an impact on the future of our club, then this is the right avenue for you to express your talent and time. As a member of the board, you help determine the club's direction and the experience members will have. As a club officer, your leadership will have a direct influence over the direction the club takes during your term. Without volunteering for Club Service, you are missing an opportunity to participate fully in the Rotary experience, and our club cannot grow and function properly without members’ participation at the Board and Committee Chair Levels. Remember, being a Rotarian means more than just being a member, being a Rotarian means you are willing to do Rotary work. Please volunteer! If interested, please complete the nomination form by Friday, Feb 9th.
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TRF & Every Rotarian, Every Year (EREY)
It’s not too late. Help our club join others in District 5170 to achieve 100% EREY. Only a $25.00 donation (more is welcome if you can) per member will qualify us for the District EREY lottery. The winning clubs will earn extra DDF funds to help us in our efforts to make a better world. Remember, our DDF comes back to us through your TRF giving. Sign-up today for your TRF contribution - https://www.siliconvalleyrotary.com/trf
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Is your latest information posted on our ClubRunner Members site at: https://portal.clubrunner.ca/8370/Page/ShowHomePage. After logging in, please be sure to access the MyClubRunner tab, and select My Profile. Please update your personal information here, which automatically updates our club directory.
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Your Service Hours reporting will now take you directly to your ClubRunner Login and Entry for Volunteer Hours. From this point forward, your Service Hours will report to Rotary from ClubRunner.
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TRF and EREY - There’s still time to consider your gift to Rotary for the annual TRF Fund. There are several ways to give: outright payment (Check or Credit Card), monthly payments billed to your credit card, allocation to several funds, etc. Our TRF Chair, Phil Dean will be in touch with us soon regarding your pledge and methods for collecting. Our Club is striving to be designated as “Every Year, Every Rotarian”. Your gift matters, either a small amount or a large amount (that is up to you - we will never tell you how much to give). A portion of our Annual fundgiving will come back to us for our DDF usage.
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THOUGHT OF THE WEEK: 5 February
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”
– Margaret Mead
District 5170
Read the latest news from District 5170 - https://rotarydistrict5170.org
Service report
Tell us about the service you’ve done recently for the Club or in your community. Also, post here if you attended another Rotary Club meeting this week
Click here to post your Service Hours directly to ClubRunner
Service Project Opportunities
For upcoming club projects in District 5170, check out the District 5170 website. Also, if you have some time available for projects, be sure to let your local area Rotary Club know that you are available to volunteer for their upcoming projects.
Happy Dollars: do good by sharing something good
Each week we ask our members to share stories with the club and toss in a few dollars to support our efforts. The primary goal of this section is to provide a fun way of getting to know each fellow members and guests, while giving back to a good cause.
Happy dollars is an opportunity to share something positive that has happened in your life whether it is personal or business. Think of it as your opportunity to brag a little, but also put a little bit into a karma jar. The money donated through happy dollars is put to charitable use.
Send Happy DollarsProgram: The Wei of Storytelling
Speaker: Rotary District Governor Hung Wei
Every week we bring you a new program on innovation, entrepreneurship, and education, and how those contribute to service to others.
The Rotary eClub of Silicon Valley seeks to explore perspectives on service from across the world. The views of the speakers in our programs are their own, and unless stated otherwise, are not necessarily reflective of the views of our eClub or Rotary International.
If you have an idea for a cool speaker, please feel free to reach out to them directly or submit THIS FORM so our Program Committee can contact them!
Today we'll hear from Rotary District 5170 District Governor, Hung Wei.
District Governor Wei was born and raised in Taiwan. She came to the States in 1979 to study at UCLA, received a Master’s Degree in Teaching English as A Second Language, and moved to West San Jose in 1981 and to Cupertino in 1990. While her children were in school, she volunteered in many school activities and took leadership roles as PTA President, School Site Council member, and several event and fundraising chairs. More recently, she served as School Board Trustee and past Board President with Fremont Union High School District from 2007 to 2018, serving 10,000+ students and parents.
Our DG also serves on many local non-profit boards - the Northwest YMCA, Fremont Union High Schools Foundation, Asian American Parent Association, Quota Cupertino, League of Women Voters of Cupertino-Sunnyvale, and is an active member of the Rotary Club of Cupertino. Hung was President of Cupertino Rotary from 2014-2015, has served as District Assistant Governor, District Membership Chair, and Lieutenant Governor, and is serving as District Governor this Rotary year (i.e., from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024).
In November 2020, DG Wei was elected to the Cupertino City Council. She believes in servant leadership and is committed to dedicating her passion, energy, and action-taking ability to Rotary and public service in the next decade.
Members and guests, please welcome District Governor Hung Wei!
To learn more, go to:
https://rotarydistrict5170.org/
Important Announcement - “Weekly Rotarian” Full Meeting Podcasts
Announcing: Our main program speakers are now available as audio podcasts in addition to YouTube videos! Each week they are available on Spotify, Google, and Apple podcasts.
Or you can simply click below for this week’s speaker:
And our original podcast, featuring Some of the best of our previous speakers is still available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, and Google Podcasts
Upcoming program recording schedule
All of our guest speakers and programs are recorded live online over Zoom video conference. We welcome members and guests to join us in one of these upcoming recordings. Recordings are approximately 30 minutes long and are subject to change without notice.
Our online video conference room link for these recordings is always http://zoom.siliconvalleyrotary.com/. You are welcome to join us! Please note the timezone listed for all recordings is US Pacific Time (San Francisco, California, USA).
If you can’t join the live recording, please send your questions for an upcoming speaker to programs@siliconvalleyrotary.com.
