[The first in a series featuring LMA members, their technology challenges, and how LMA Tech West is a vital part of their toolkit.]

Jacqueline Madarang is Senior Marketing Technology Manager for law firm Bradley. She oversees and manages the firm’s marketing technology stack, including the implementation of new tools firm-wide to assist in marketing and business development.

Q: Describe a technology challenge you face.

Madarang: Automation of reports and other slice-and-dice data that we want to put in the hands of our partners. For example, since I have been with Bradley, we have launched nine blogs, which are managed by our marketing technology team. We get inundated with requests to analyze the data that come in from various sources. One of our challenges is that we don’t have enough bodies and resources to slice and dice the data and automate. Our year-end reports still take us hours and days to do. While we may have created templates, we are still presented with challenges and not able to automate what we are doing.

Have your technology partners been helpful?

We are fortunate to work with great technology partners who are willing to listen to the good, bad and ugly. I always think that there is room for improvement when it comes to client and technology partner relationships. For example, technology partners should have a good understanding of our needs, our day-to-day, how we use their products and our overall marketing technology strategic plan. It would be great if they suggest solutions rather than us asking “Hey, what else can we do with this? or “Is this the best solution?” Why not reach out to the client directly if there is a better approach? The sale is just the beginning of a strong business relationship and by being proactive, it would only strengthen and solidify the relationship. 

What are some tech issues you are dealing with now?

We are preparing for the EU’s GDPR, the General Data Privacy Regulation. That will affect our CRM database, and how we manage contacts and email campaigns. That’s a huge topic for us, which I am sure a lot of other firms are preparing for in 2018.

How does LMA Tech West help you tackle these challenges?

I’ve been attending LMA Tech West since 2010, when I was based in Los Angeles. I enjoy hearing from my peers on what they are doing at their firms and have learned a lot from the case studies — what they are doing to address some of the same issues we may be dealing with at my firm. It is great to connect with other technology service providers, hear about new products, and catch up with fellow colleagues. I feel that I get to spend more quality time with fellow legal marketers at the regional conferences than at national and really get to dive in to the sessions, since they are a lot more marketing technology/digitally focused. 

It sounds like you found your affinity group.

I have met peers who have been so helpful to me when there are big marketing or business development technology decisions to make. When we were thinking of replacing our email marketing tool, Patty Azimi from Akin Gump jumped on a call with me and shared her experience. I have made connections with people who do the same thing I do.

That has been the most valuable thing—developing a list of in-house people I can reach out to, which I do regularly.

I have learned from both small and large firms, and use their experiences as part of my product research. Then I go back to my firm leaders and say that the recommendation we are putting forward is consistent with what other firms are doing. That has been the most valuable thing—developing a list of in-house people I can reach out to, which I do regularly.

Tell me about the quality of the tech conference content. 

Attendees get to hear straight from the experts, both in-house and technology partners. 

This year, I’m really excited about our programming. It’s in line with what our different needs are. We have a really great lineup of panels, and lot of in-house folks speaking who haven’t spoken before. I get to hear what others are doing. That’s the most exciting part for me.

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[Jacqueline Madarang is Senior Marketing Technology Manager for Bradley. She is based in Washington, D.C., and serves on the programming and sponsorship committees for LMA Tech West. Susan Kostal is a legal content strategist, based in San Francisco. She is on the communications committee for LMA Tech West, and will be speaking on how data analytics should drive content strategy.]