Gerber Technology has been hosting its user conference in various cities around the country since 1998, but this was the first year the Tolland, Conn.–based maker of apparel equipment and software brought the event to California.

The conference—which has been called Ideation since 2013—was held earlier this year in San Francisco and in Los Angeles.

The concept behind Ideation is to give Gerber customers an opportunity to find out about new Gerber products and get in-depth demos of new software. The conference also gives Gerber a chance to discuss industry trends with customers and introduce new industry partnerships.

In past years, the conference has been held in New Orleans; Nashville, Tenn.; Scottsdale, Ariz.; Miami; Dallas; Las Vegas; and New York.

This year’s West Coast conferences drew not only West Coast Gerber clients but also companies from Asia, said Bill Brewster, Gerber’s vice president and general manager of enterprise software solutions.