After 30 minutes of a cappella oldies playing in the background, the room is mostly full and Kanter finally arrives.

Alexandra B. Seru '01 and Julia M. Butler '01--the group's co-presidents--briefly welcome the 30 or so assembled in the green room, and Seneca member Katharine S. Jackson '01, a family friend of Kanter's, introduces the professor.

Kanter discusses her rise in the world of business academia and how women can network both with other women and with male colleagues. She jokes about some of the speeches she's given at conventions across the country. She praises the Seneca.

"What you're doing here is so important," she says. "We need to hear more authoritative comments from high pitched voices."

Hanging on Kanter's every word, the women in the audience are clearly pleased: this is exactly the type of event the Seneca wants to sponsor, members say.

"We are a Harvard specific group trying to make things better for women," Butler says.

The idea is not new, but the approach is.