By Anthony Savona The Residential Systems SmartBrief will not be publishing on Friday this week so that the team can enjoy the extended holiday weekend with their families. And while I am in this mode of thankful thinking, it seems very appropriate to pass along my appreciation for you, dear SmartBrief reader, for taking a few minutes out of your busy days to spend with us.

I can expand that gratitude to the entire custom installation industry, which is a fun and exciting business to cover. I consider myself lucky to work in it, and a privilege that you let me cover it for you.

I hope you get to take some time off, but if you are one of those pros who can’t completely turn off — or are outside the U.S. and are just celebrating another Thursday — I have some past stories to share that are very relevant for this time of year.

For years, Resi’s marketing columnist, Katye McGregor Bennet, has been offering ideas on how to make clients feel special during the holidays. In “Giving Thanks,” she shares ways to share gratitude without breaking the bank or being cliché. And her article “5 Ways to Send Meaningful Season’s Greetings” explains itself in the headline.

If your food coma starts sending your brain toward ways of improving your business as one year ends and another begins, Katye’s “5 Steps for Creating an Effective Marketing Plan” will get those synapses firing. And Krissy Rushing Tomlin’s “6 Ways to Win Through Process” can inspire you to reexamine your workflows.

If your resolution for 2025 was to get better at making marketing videos, you still have a month to check that off your list, and Sarah Hales’s “Mastering YouTube for Marketing” can give you a head start.

Or maybe you just want to get caught up with the latest gear and figure out how you can use it in 2026? You can start with the 28 products in our Fall Product Guide and then dive into our CEDIA Expo 2025 Best of Show Winner Tech Showcase, which has details on 53 innovations.

If the Black Friday shopping bug grabs you, Future’s consumer sites will have you covered — check out the updates on TechRadar, What Hi-Fi?, and Tom’s Guide.

We’ll be back at it on Monday, so until then, I hope the food is plentiful, the company is comforting, and your favorite football team doesn’t blow it.

Happy Thanksgiving!