More than 100 million people supposedly watched yesterday's Super Bowl. I was not one of them (I don't care for football). I went grocery shopping during game time, just like last year, and enjoyed unobstructed aisles, neatly stacked shelves, and swift checkout.

Going against the grain often has advantages. Hotels may cut great deals for groups on Christmas eve, Christmas day, and on many weekends in January (in cold climes). Taverns want to fill empty barstools on Monday nights, and restaurants just can't fill all the tables at the end of July or beginning of August.

If your group is composed of a demographic that differs from the majority, take advantage of it. You may be able to save money and offer your members more than they expect.

Unplugging electronic appliances can save phantom energy, since devices aren't really "off" when turned off. Employees in large offices may be able to do that with some degree of ease. But that may not be practical in many homes and small offices.

Workstations in large offices usually face away from walls. Electric sockets and device attachments are generally accessible and some even plug into the floor. Computers, monitors, printers, faxes, cell phone chargers, and other equipment often connect to one surge protector, which can be easily switched off by the employee at the end of the day, and back on again the next morning.

Homes and small offices present greater difficulties.

In those settings, workstations (designed to face away from walls) are often flush against walls, and sockets and device attachments may be out of reach (computer repair people complain about that all the time).

Surge protectors are frequently dropped out of sight, between a desk and a wall, and can only be reached by crawling under the desk and groping blindly behind a dust-infested barricade. Wall sockets may be hidden forever behind heavy furniture, fortified desks, or rows of file cabinets.

Unplugged cables swiftly fall behind desks and are extremely difficult to retrieve.

Homes present even more problems, as electronic devices are not all in one place. An occupant has to roam through many rooms, unplugging numerous devices in the evening and plugging them all in again each morning.

Many wires and cables - especially those connected to media devices - are beyond reach, behind wall units and other pieces of furniture that will not be moved until equipment requires service or needs to be replaced.

So, stopping phantom energy may be a positive action. But doing so is not always practical (so don't worry so much about it).

A conference registrant called the day before the event to ask for a refund, since she wasn't going to be able to attend, and was surprised to learn she wouldn't get her money back. The organization offered to send her the program handouts, though.

An association member registered at the "previous attendee" rate even though he had never before attended the conference. He said he was signing up "in place of" a colleague who had attended the previous year but couldn't be there this year.

Another member called six weeks into an eighteen week program to ask for a refund, because he had not attended any sessions up to that point and wasn't likely to be able to attend any in the future. The registration form he submitted clearly stated, "No refunds for any reason after the start of the program."

Registration and cancellation deadlines, late fees, and pricing are usually reasonable, yet customers (and members) often treat them as guidelines, not rules.

Stores, restaurants, movie theaters, hotels, and countless other businesses make exceptions all of the time, so people expect associations to do so, too.

But how flexible should associations be? Refunds are often requested after all event expenses have been made so organizations lose money when they acquiesce to refund demands.

If you often bend the rules, there may be something wrong with the rules. To correct the situation, you can establish less rigid rules, make the rules clearer and more specific (but who knows if that will help), or just turn people down when they request an accommodation.

It's OK to occasionally make exceptions. Just don't make a habit of it.

How would you feel about paying an extra twenty cents to get pickles placed on your hamburger?

That's just one of the many bizarre fees reported by consumers to the Chicago Tribune. Association executives offered some other outrageous fees.

Instead of nickel-and-diming people, companies might have better luck advertising, "No additional fees."

Even if the cost of a product or service was higher than that of a competitor, customers wouldn't have to worry about surprises on their bills.

The same principle would work for association membership and programs. Set a price that takes into account all of your costs.

If the product or service has value, consumers (and members) will pay. Especially if they know that you've quoted the final price and that other fees won't be added...and added...and added.

We've already told the outgoing CEO to write a transition plan for a successor and to leave quickly.

Additionally, the outgoing CEO should not launch any new initiatives, overhaul the web site, hire new staff, or sign binding vendor contracts. Leave as much as possible for the successor to decide, even if that means deferring an important decision (if time permits).

A new CEO should not be locked into arrangements and relationships set by a lame duck predecessor.

Associations frequently curry favor with public officials who have influence over public policy that affects the association's members.

That is fine - but not during elections.

Once candidates have filed petitions for elective office, the association should not do anything that appears to favor a candidate - even if the candidate deserves being favored.

Associations that do not endorse electoral candidates should follow these guidelines:

1. DO NOT invite the candidate - even if that candidate is a current officeholder - to speak at an association meeting. It implies an endorsement, even if the candidate does not talk specifically about campaign issues or appeals for votes.

2. DO NOT invite the candidate to sit on a conference panel. It gives the candidate an unfair advantage over opposing candidates and implies an association endorsement.

3. DO NOT print the candidate's picture on a web page or in any association publication during the campaign.

4. DO NOT publish biographical or governmental information about the candidate.

5. DO NOT mention the candidate's role in supporting association programs. Save that for after the election.

6. DO NOT promote the candidate in any way that appears to favor that person over opposing candidates.

The association attorney may declare all or some of these actions to be legal - but that does not make them ethical.

Maggie McGary shared another one of her refreshingly frank observations about social media. She decried the disappearance of privacy on Facebook.

Apparently, privacy isn't as valued as it used to be.

While speaking at yesterday's meeting of the Illinois Association of Park Districts and the Illinois Parks & Recreation Association, I asked attendees of a breakout session if they used Twitter.

They were parks and recreational professionals, most of whom worked for Park Districts or municpal Parks & Recreation departments.

Of the thirty-some people present, none used Twitter.

When you conclude your service as an association CEO, the best thing you can do is leave.

Whether you've retired, resigned to accept another position, or have been fired, you should get out of your successor's way.

Don't assume a Board position. Don't serve on a committee. Don't accept a consulting job with the association. If the Board wants to reward you, it should give you a nice severance payment.

Don't hang around the office.

Even if you are committed to the association and its mission, your job is over. The new CEO needs to be able to lead the organization without you looking over his or her shoulder, and without Board members asking how you would handle matters.

It's appropriate to accept a consulting arrangement that requires you to be available to the new CEO for a specified period of time. But you should not initiate contact. Let the new CEO contact you - or not contact you.

It may be difficult if you've led an association for a long time. But you are not the leader anymore. Somebody else is now in charge.

When a volunteer wanted to learn how to do data entry for the association, he first had to learn how a computer worked (he was retired and had never used a computer). His only experience with databases had been with a master file composed of index cards.

We showed him how to open and read a file in the database, how to make changes to a file, how to add a file, and how to delete a file (he was directed to never delete a file).

He said there appeared to be much more work involved on the front end of these tasks than there was in managing an index card file. He wondered if it was really necessary.

We told him the front-end work was definitely necessary so that the database could perform countless tasks that would have been impossible with index cards. Taking short cuts at the beginning would limit the effectiveness of these tasks and just create more work later.

Wes Trochlil observed association personnel taking shortcuts on the front end of databasing tasks, apparently unconcerned about how that would affect projects at a later stage.

"Maybe sometimes it's better to do more work now, so you can do less work later," he rightly stated.