By all means, turn the CB on to msg someone, then turn it off after you've chatted with the Senior Person In Charge to explain yourself (if necessary). I think the CB is a neat distraction, but I like to see it; and I understand others may not want to see it. I found the Users Currently Logged In node (or whatever it's called) to be very distracting, and hence I deleted it from my view. That's the beauty of being able to configure the site the way you want it.