Passion & purpose beyond business

A fireside chat is an informal, yet structured, conversation between a host, or moderator, and a guest in front of an audience, designed to be engaging and conversational.

- ATTY. MIKE TOLEDO

Think “My Next Guest Needs No Introduction with David Letterman” on a popular streaming service and you get the idea.

The term originated from President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s series of radio addresses during the Great Depression and World War II, which were delivered in a personal and approachable tone that made listeners feel as if he were speaking directly to them in their homes.

Modern fireside chats, either as standalone events or as parts of conferences, mimic this informal style to provide value to the audience through storytelling and insights from the guest.

Just recently, the Penn-Wharton Club of the Philippines, the largest and most engaged US alumni club in the Philippines, and one of the most active Penn alumni clubs in Asia, hosted a fireside chat with our MVP Group of Companies chairman, Manuel V. Pangilinan, or MVP, at the newly-refurbished Meralco Theater in Pasig.