People always say automation kills human connection. That it makes everything feel robotic and cold.

Sometimes they’re right. But it usually means they’re using it INSTEAD of human connection. But I want to tell you how I used it to make space for connection.

I spoke at Reno Startup Week last week. Great crowd. But I knew I had a problem.

After any talk, there are fifteen people who want to connect. You exchange cards. They stuff them in jacket pockets. Three weeks later, they find your card in a pile and cannot remember your face.

That is not connection. That is contact collection.

I decided to do something different. Something that would protect my time and energy, and also ensure I could connect with anyone who wanted to.

I ended my talk with a QR code. Not to my website like everyone else. To a simple Fillout form.

The flow looked like this.

• Person scans code and fills their name and email

• They get an instant email from me with my info and a scheduling link

• I get cc'd on the same email

Five minute setup. Zero fake anything.

(Fillout has a workflow feature— you can build automations easily within their interface. If you’re using Typeform, Google Forms, Pandadoc, or Microsoft Forms, this is a far superior tool even on the free plan.)

After my talk, I had nineteen emails in my inbox from people who wanted to connect.

But even better: It was also in their inbox. Not crumpled in a pocket.

Six people booked calls straight from that email. The rest I can easily follow up with. Now I can be human with all of them. Real follow up. Real conversation.

The detail I loved: I TOLD people the email was automated and they LOVED it.

The automation did not replace connection. It created space for it.

Now I skip the boring contact juggling and get to the part where I actually help people.

Still very much a human,

Jamie

P.S. This is the mindset shift we practice inside the AI Operator Bootcamp. Our first cohort is totally full but I just opened cohort #2, starting Nov 2!