Happy Thanksgiving weekend from all of us here at AMT Lab! Even if your celebration looked a bit different this year, we hope you were able to relax, connect with those you love, and reflect on the things that you still have to be thankful for in what has been an at times bleak year.

Here are some ways technology has helped us celebrate Thanksgiving in new ways and more tech engagement opportunities for the weekend.

1. Traditions go online

My family always has the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade on while we’re beginning Thanksgiving preparations, so I was glad to hear that the parade would go on despite the pandemic. This year, it was a made-for-TV event to avoid the gathering of large crowds. The route for balloons and floats was only one block long, and the broadcast also included several pre-taped Broadway performances. There was also a 360-degree immersive video experience that you could access from your phone from Verizon’s “Parade Portal.” In case you missed the parade on Thursday, the YouTube stream is still up.

Zoom also lifted its 40-minute free meeting limit for Thanksgiving day, allowing families to spend more time sharing old photos, playing games, or coaching less experienced family members on how to make the standard dishes. Google Trends identified that “Virtual Thanksgiving games” was the most searched item related to virtual Thanksgiving. If you didn’t video chat with family and friends yesterday, these are still fun ways to connect over the weekend. Or, you could step away from screens for the weekend.

2. Ways to celebrate Native American Heritage Day and Month

Thanksgiving is not an innocent holiday: it is a day that brings pain for many Americans. Friday was Native American Heritage Day—falling at the end of Native American Heritage Month—making it an excellent time to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ brilliance and for non-Native people to learn more to become better allies.   

I’ve taken some time to explore the Native Lands Map: an interactive map that allows people to discover what nations originally occupied land across the Americas, what languages were spoken there, and treaties that impacted ownership.

Cultural Survival has also compiled a list of resources for celebrating Native American Heritage Month, including ways to decolonize Thanksgiving, Indigenous stories to read and listen to, and Indigenous businesses and organizations to support.

3. Final touches to prepare for Giving Tuesday

In our most recent Let’s Talk episode, the Angela and B discussed some digital fundraising trends leading up to this year’s Giving Tuesday on December 1, including the impact of the earlier Giving Tuesday Now event.

Since Giving Tuesday is normally a very online campaign, it has not had to pivot much in response to the pandemic, but this is still a strange year. One recommendation from Giving Tuesday is to start the social media posts the day before with messages like “one day to go!” since it builds excitement and many people will already be online for Cyber Monday deals. With 2020’s abnormality, there has been some concern about donor fatigue. To counter that, organizations can also use Giving Tuesday as an opportunity to show gratitude to their supporters.

One recommendation from our Let’s Talk episode is to go live on social media on Tuesday to thank supporters and ramp up support. In this digital environment, people have become more accustomed to watching people’s live videos, and it also provides a more organic way to connect.

Finally, we here at AMT Lab are thankful for our readers. We’re looking forward to another year of research in arts and tech.

Here’s a look back to past years:

• 4 Technology Tips To Make The Most Of Your Thanksgiving Weekend!

• 'Tis The Season: Giving Thanks

• In Case You Missed It - November 2011