BE Conference 2005 Registration Now Open; Go to www.be.org to Register for Once-a-Year Learning Opportunity.

EXTON, Pa. -- Bentley Systems, Incorporated today announced that registration is now open for BE Conference 2005 (www.be.org), to be held at the Baltimore Convention Center, May 8-12, 2005.

"The BE Conference is indeed a once-a-year opportunity for great learning," says Tony Flynn, Bentley chief marketing officer. "It offers training, technology updates, keynotes, best-practice sharing, and pricing available nowhere else.

"The conference is focused squarely on those who use MicroStation or other Bentley products as mission-critical applications in their business. Our singular aim is to provide a cost-effective anchor event for their learning - one that results in more productive users, ideal implementations, streamlined enterprise IT, and a common vision for our future together."

"And BE Conference 2005 is the best yet," continues Flynn. "Even though last year's conference hit a 99 percent satisfaction rating, we've upgraded just about everything." Examples include:

--The always-inspiring management guru and civil engineer Tom Peters is keynote speaker.

--Over 100 best-practice sessions have been added.

--Two stimulating research seminars immediately precede the conference.

--Bentley Institute is unveiling its Star Achievement Program for users.

--The conference now has tracks tailored for the industries of attendees.

--The BE Awards of Excellence, with their crowning ceremony at the conference, have a record number of nominees.

--Expanded opportunities are available to meet and exchange ideas with user group officers and members from around the world.

--The tuition fee for unlimited sessions has been reduced by more than 15 percent, and represents a 30 to 50 percent discount over standard training fees.

Even leading up to the conference, Bentley is offering no-charge consulting sessions on custom fitting the conference into organizational learning plans.

"Our users come to the BE Conference with high expectations, and I'm proud to say that we consistently meet or exceed them," adds Flynn. "Visit www.be.org to see all the great learning and social activities that await you in Baltimore on May 8. With the wealth of sessions and the focused tracks, I look forward to another mutually successful and important learning event."

BE Conference 2005 Keynote Speaker Will Be Tom Peters

"Management guru" is too modest a phrase to describe Tom Peters, a civil engineer and thinker whose ideas have transfigured business - from the seminal 1982 work "A Passion for Excellence" through "Thriving on Chaos" and "The Pursuit of WOW!" He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in civil engineering from Cornell University, as well as an M.B.A. and a doctorate degree in business from Stanford University.

Peters will kick off the BE Conference 2005 agenda with a look at how AEC can benefit from creating what he calls "WOW! Projects." According to Peters, WOW! Projects move at record speed and create a buzz in organizations. Participants and end users remember them for years to come. Says Peters, "Culture change - that big elusive goal - often starts with a single, small WOW! project." An invitation to BE Conference from Tom Peters and his "unplugged" conversation with Tony Flynn are available at www.be.org/tompeters.

BE Conference 2005 Program

This year's conference program offers over 350 information-rich sessions. Only at BE Conference will attendees find:

--Bentley Keynotes - Bentley executives provide insight on business and technology directions. Among the Bentley executives keynoting this year will be: Greg Bentley, CEO; Keith Bentley, cofounder and chief technology officer; Malcolm Walter, chief operating officer; Buddy Cleveland, software senior vice president; Bhupinder Singh, platform senior vice president (MicroStation and ProjectWise); Tony Flynn, chief marketing officer; Brad Workman, Bentley Building vice president; Gabe Norona, Bentley Civil senior vice president; Styli Camateros, Bentley Geospatial vice president; and Jeff Hollings, Bentley Plant senior vice president.

--Best Practices - Sponsored by Bentley Professional Services, more than 100 sessions on the best application of technology from experienced peers and technology experts.

--New Technology- Presented by Bentley Software, more than 45 sessions direct from Bentley developers and product managers on the newest products, including sessions that will give them an early look at, and preparation for, the latest MicroStation "Mozart" release due out later this year.

--Professional Training - Provided by Bentley Institute, more than 300 learning units (LUs) of professional training in more than 125 courses.

--Networking - An opportunity to network and socialize with peers and friends at a host of events, including our BE Awards of Excellence gala evening.

For the complete list of BE Conference 2005 sessions, visit www.be.org/2005sessions.

Latest MicroStation "Mozart" Release to Be Unveiled

Those in attendance at BE Conference 2005 will get an opportunity to review and test drive, for the first time, the newest edition of MicroStation due out later this year. Included among its many enhancements are a tasked-based interface, workflow modeling, transparent dialogs, element templates, increased graphics performance, and much more. All of these features will be detailed and demonstrated at BE Conference 2005.

Training Plan Consultations Prior to BE Conference 2005

Bentley Institute will provide no-cost training plan consultations to organizations before BE Conference 2005 to outline customized training plans and utilize the conference as an anchor training event for the year. Consultants will help assess present training status, work with managers to determine the conference sessions most beneficial to organizations, arrange custom training sessions at the conference, and create a personalized agenda for each attendee.

Following BE Conference, Bentley Institute consultants will help these managers plan and implement the propagation of new knowledge throughout their organizations and projects.

Bentley Institute Star Program

Also at the BE Conference 2005, Bentley will unveil and detail the Bentley Institute Star Program. The new program will recognize user learning achievement levels - from one to five stars - based on their accumulated learning units.

BE Conference Attendees

BE Conference attendees come from AE firms, architecture firms, design-build firms, engineering consultants, facility owner-operators, departments of transportation, rail companies, site engineering firms, communications and utilities firms, federal government and defense contractors, local government, public works, plant engineering, procurement and construction contractors (EPCs), and plant owner-operators. They are also users of MicroStation, ProjectWise, and AutoPLANT, as well as ESRI, Land Desktop, and PDS users. To view the sessions being offered at BE Conference 2005 for specific market segments, go to www.be.org/2005sessions.

BE Awards of Excellence

A high point of the 2005 conference will be the annual BE Awards of Excellence, which honor the extraordinary work of Bentley users improving the world's infrastructure. These projects set benchmarks for their industries, and showcase the imagination and technical mastery of the organizations that created them. At the 2004 BE Awards, winners representing organizations around the world were selected in 21 categories from more than 160 finalists. A gallery of last year's nominees is available at www.be.org/GalleryofNominees.

Exhibits

Attendees will be able to round out their BE Conference 2005 experience by visiting the exhibit hall to view and find new products and services to support their architecture, engineering and construction (AEC) needs. On display will be offerings not only from Bentley, but also from a broad range of Bentley Developer Network (BDN) and other companies that serve the AEC community.

BE Conference Training is a Wise Investment and a Bargain

The tuition fee at Bentley Conference 2004 was $600 for unlimited training. This year, the tuition fee for unlimited, three-day training is only $495 - a discount of 30 to 50 percent from standard Bentley Institute prices. And special group discounts lower the tuition fee even more. For more on the value of professional training at BE Conference, read Greg Bentley's "The Last Word" column on page 66 in the current issue of BE Magazine at www.be.org/BEmagazine.

To register for BE Conference 2005, go to www.be.org.

About BE

BE, which stands for Bentley Empowered, represents the achievements of Bentley users in improving the world's infrastructure, how Bentley can help them reach their goals, and the common vision and causes Bentley and users share.

About Bentley

Bentley Systems, Incorporated provides software for the lifecycle of the world's infrastructure. The company's comprehensive portfolio for the building, plant, civil, and geospatial vertical markets spans architecture, engineering, construction (AEC) and operations. With 2004 revenues exceeding $300 million, Bentley is the leading provider of AEC software to the Engineering News-Record Design 500 and major owner-operators.

To receive Bentley press releases as they are issued, visit www.bentley.com/bentleywire. For more information, visit www.bentley.com.

Bentley, the "B" logo, BE, AutoPLANT, MicroStation, ProjectWise, and Bentley Institute are either registered or unregistered trademarks or service marks of Bentley Systems, Incorporated or one of its direct or indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries. Other brands and product names are trademarks of their respective owners.