Invest Atlantic, the leading conference for the Atlantic Canadian startup community, has announced a series of regional events to help novice entrepreneurs try their hand at pitching and provide more meet-and-greet opportunities.

Pitch101 will kick off with an event in Charlottetown at McDougall Hall at the University of Prince Edward Island on Feb. 1, and hold a second event March 1 at Dalhousie University in Halifax.

Invest Atlantic founder Bob Williamson has long considered smaller events around the region. He decided on Pitch101 as a means to hold a networking event and meet the need to help novice entrepreneurs hone their pitching skills.

“The idea became apparent when attendees at the conference were saying, ‘We need to keep this momentum going until next year’s conference,’” said Williamson, president of Jameson Consulting.

He said surveys of attendees showed they wanted more events throughout the year. Each of the three annual Invest Atlantic conferences has featured a pitching den, so Pitch 101 aligns nicely with the larger conference.

Each session begins with a one-hour “fireside discussion” among audience members and special guests on a subject of particular interest to the sector.

For example, the topic at the Charlottetown event will be access to capital, and the guests include two Island-born entrepreneurs who’ve had successful exits, GoInstant co-founder Jevon MacDonald and Cogsdale co-founder Duncan Shaw.

Following a networking break, about 15 startups will be invited to pitch for one minute to the house, and a panel of judges will give them feedback to help them shape their pitches into more forceful presentations for when they meet real investors.

The top three pitchers will receive prize money of $500, $300 and $200, and the winner will be invited to pitch at Invest Atlantic in the autumn. The winners will be announced during a networking reception at the end of each Pitch 101 event.

The format is based on the G60 (Gone in 60 Seconds) series of events that Jeff Amerine, director of technology ventures at the University of Arkansas, has rolled out across that state. Amerine described the G60 events during the keynote speech at Invest Atlantic last September.

Admission to Pitch 101 will be $25, while students, special guests, judges and pitchers are admitted free.

(Full Disclosure: Principals of Entrevestor have done work organizing and promoting Invest Atlantic in the past.)