American Express Meetings & Events has rolled out a new meeting planning and sourcing service aimed at organizations that don’t have a centralized meeting management program.

“Many companies need to start somewhere,” said Issa Jouaneh, vice president and general manager of American Express’ AEME division, announcing the official launch of Meetings Expert at an October 11 press conference at the IMEX America show in Las Vegas.

The Meetings Expert program, Jouaneh said, can help ad hoc planners mitigate risk and control spend by putting them in touch with AEME experts who will negotiate all aspects of a meeting contract, including conference rooms, sleeping rooms, and food and beverage.

AEME also announced new alliances with European communications companies Le Public Système in France and WRG Creative Communication in the U.K. The new collaborations are expected to bring AEME’s meeting and event services and budgeting, compliance, and expense management expertise to the integrated marketing services these European companies are known for. The new partners’ high-profile events include the Papal visit to the United Kingdom, organized by WRG, and the annual Deauville American Film Festival in Deauville, France, managed by Le Public Système.