Wonder Lunch

It’s impressive to see the Wonder Women lunch, started 7 years ago, fill the same ballroom that the annual Kaitz Foundation dinner uses for its Sept fundraiser. "When I started, women in senior management were the exception, not the rule," said Comedy Central evp, gm Michele Ganeless, who was among the 10 honorees Tues. The event brought its fair share of Women Woman jokes—from History Channel evp, gm Nancy Dubuc’s quip that she was hoping to get the superhero’s invisible jet to WideOpenWest CEO Colleen Abdoulah boldly appearing in a full Wonder Woman get-up in a photo shoot. The biggest laughs came when Bravo evp, programming, production Frances Berwick suggested that a better name for the honor might be the "Lucky Bitch Award." A little rivalry reared its head—in a friendly way—when honoree Cathy Avgiris, svp, gm of Comcast Voice, joked about eating her competition’s lunch. "No offense," she said as she turned to fellow Wonder Woman Marilyn O’Connell of Verizon. O’Connell did stick out on a stage full of cable execs. She drew laughs as she thanked programmers, as opposed to her cable operator competition. "Thanks for cheering us on, even if it is behind closed doors," she told programmers.