In response to the challenging economic conditions, Bentley Systems, Inc., announced that a Be Connected online seminar series will replace its 2009 Be Conference, originally scheduled for this spring in Charlotte. In addition, the company renamed its 2009 Be Awards program the Be Inspired Awards "to celebrate the inspiration demonstrated in [Bentley] users’ projects around the world."

The Be Connected online seminar series will offer infrastructure solution best practices and product information on a regular basis from June through November 2009. Several Be Connected seminar series will be offered and tailored to specific areas of interest including transportation, building performance, sustaining water, and power generation. This content will be available via the Be Communities website. 

In September, Bentley will invite all Be Inspired Awards category semi finalists to a one-day event in Charlotte, N.C., at which the 2009 finalists will present their nominated projects. All of the finalist presentations will be recorded and streamed via the Be Communities website. The winning projects will be selected by an independent jury of design and engineering experts and will be recognized at the awards celebration in the evening.

Additionally, all of the nominated projects will be published in the 2009 Year in Infrastructure book. To view the 2008 Year in Infrastructure book online as well as earlier editions, visit www.bentley.com/yearininfrastructure.

The deadline for Be Inspired Awards nominations is being extended to May 15, 2009.