Who Needs AI Notetakers? Visit Iceland Offers 'Knittakers' Instead

They'll attend online meetings in your place, needles at the ready

You in the top-left Zoom square, knitting … you’re not Jim from finance!

Visit Iceland riffs on AI notetakers through a free, bookable service developed with M+C Saatchi.

Famed for its innovative campaigns, the tourism group will provide “Knittakers” across Iceland to attend online meetings in your place and knit … er, take notes. Actually, they’ll do both.

Once the meeting adjourns, they’ll report back with a brief knitted summary. Examples in the clip below include “Pivot,” “ASAP” and “Hard Stop.” (Presumably “Quit!” would’ve been too on the nose.)

Þóra Hilmars from Skot Productions and Erlendur.tv directed the video. And those are genuine Icelandic rainbows peeking through. Sorry, AI.

“Today, we are increasingly inundated with unnecessary meetings, back-to-back video calls and AI tools promising to make us more productive, but often adding to the noise,” Stevie Archer, regional CCO at M+C Saatchi N.A., tells Muse. “So we thought, how can we create a way for people to truly escape the buzzword-filled meetings that go nowhere, and genuinely reclaim time, and perhaps actually go to Iceland instead?”

OK. But why focus on knitting?

“It has been part of Iceland’s heritage for centuries, reflecting the country’s creativity, craftsmanship and cultural identity,” Archer says. “At a time when people around the world are rediscovering the value of handmade crafts and human connection, it felt like the perfect distinctly Icelandic response to our increasingly digital working lives.”

Between 20 and 30 knitters repping each of Iceland’s seven regions are on call. Once a meeting ends, users can receive their wooly summary by mail.

Folks can book Salka Sól Eyfeld—the project’s “Chief Knitter”—who views participating as “a chance to bring a little Icelandic creativity and humor into people’s working days, while giving them some valuable time back.”

“No tokens, no subscriptions, no hidden fees,” adds Archer. “We just ask that you put that saved time to good use. Perhaps by even planning a trip to Iceland!”

To sell the idea to Visit Iceland, M+S Saatchi provided a compelling demonstration.

“Our account lead, Magnús Magnússon, from our partner agency Peel, enlisted his mother to knit actual notes for the presentation,” Archer recalls. “In just one weekend, she knitted ‘WTF’ and ‘Meeting Over’ in Icelandic wool; and even shared a few baby photos of Magnús alongside her yarn selections, much to his embarrassment.”

In a broder sense, “Our campaigns are designed to do more than showcase Iceland’s landscapes. Instead, we want to build an emotional connection,” says Daði Guðjónsson, marcom chief at Visit Iceland. “AI Knittakers brings Iceland’s personality and culture to life in an unexpected way, while reminding people of the value of taking time for themselves and inspiring them to experience Iceland firsthand.”

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