Executive Profile
Name: Emiko Beck
Title: Manager, Global Accounts
Organization: HelmsBriscoe
Location: Orlando
Birthplace: Royal Oak, Michigan
Education: Ohio Dominican University, Bachelor of Arts in International Business and Marketing
Career History:
• USA Today, regional marketing manager, 1998–2013
• TravelClick, director of strategic sales, 2013–2014
• Emilate, principal, 2014–present
• HelmsBriscoe; manager, global accounts, 2019–present
Emiko Beck grew up in Detroit in a middle-class family with a dynamic that was uncommon at the time: her mom was a white American, and her dad was Japanese.
“Biracial marriages weren’t allowed until the Loving trials in 1967,” she said. “I’m a product of one of the first biracial marriages.”
Beck went to public school and then got a bachelor’s degree from Ohio Dominican University with a focus on marketing and international business. She got married at age 18 and started a family at 21. She launched her career in advertising and circulation sales with USA Today, and the company took her first to Pittsburgh and then to Orlando, where she has lived ever since.
She worked with USA Today for almost 17 years before switching gears and moving into the meetings and events industry. In 2014, she started her own marketing firm, Emilate. It was when she was developing materials for her first marketing client’s upcoming meeting that she realized a need for people who could help groups book their hotels.
“I asked her if she wanted to put the logo of the hotel on their save-the-date invites, and she said they hadn’t yet chosen the hotel,” Beck said. “I ended up helping them book their meeting, which led me to become a licensed associate at HelmsBriscoe.”
HelmsBriscoe is the world’s largest hotel and venue site selection company. As one of their global accounts managers, Beck supports a network of clients in the entertainment, sports, media and travel industries, finding meeting solutions for groups that may have up to 100,000 attendees. The move has proven to be a good one. She has won numerous awards and has helped organize momentous events like Pope John Paul II’s final U.S. visit and five Super Bowls.
“I have over 50 clients that I book meetings for,” she said. “I do meetings as small as seven people or as many as 700 people. I’ve booked hotels in America, Canada, Mexico, Holland, Spain, Italy, France and England. My clients are primarily construction companies, fitness companies, and food and beverage franchises.”
One of the biggest surprises for Beck when she started working for HelmsBriscoe was the sheer size of the meetings and events industry. She often attends events like the Small Market Meetings Conference, where she is able to meet several suppliers in one place and learn about the meeting spaces they have. She also appreciates the friendships and relationships she’s been able to forge over the years within the hospitality industry.
Beck has also acquired a certificate in hotel management and continues to seek out other educational opportunities while running her marketing agency. She encourages anyone thinking about pursuing a career in the meeting planning space to go for it.
“There is plenty of business out there,” she said. “We really don’t have to compete with each other — people are still meeting. Meetings are still crucial to business, and we have a great meeting and event planning community. There are tons of educational opportunities out there: webinars, podcasts, etc. Get out there and meet people and see people and build business and be friends — it’s all good.”
Tips from Emiko Beck
• Get involved, get out there and remember — you have something important to say to a new prospect! So don’t be afraid to pick up the phone and call someone who may need your services.
• Stay calm.
• “No” just means “not yet.”
