@classmethod
def get__by__column__exact_then_ilike(cls, dbSession, column_name, seed):
    """classmethod. searches for an exact match, then case-insensitive version of the name column if no match is found"""
    item = dbSession.query(cls).filter(getattr(cls, column_name) == seed
        ).first()
    if not item:
        item = dbSession.query(cls).filter(getattr(cls, column_name).ilike(
            seed)).first()
    return item
