South by Southwest is in full swing in Austin. It's a conference where some now-huge companies first caught their big breaks. Twitter, for example, launched and caught fire at SXSW a few years ago. Then Foursquare exploded in Austin. Group-texting service GroupMe also gained traction at SXSW before it got acquired by Skype.
This year, live streaming apps Meerkat and Periscope were expected to steal the show. And they're getting some love from patrons. But they're not getting nearly as much love as another product, the selfie stick.
Once mocked for being the ultimate tourist tool, people are shamelessly letting their selfie sticks fly on the streets and in the bars around Texas.
Selfie sticks, it seems, have gone totally mainstream.
Here's one girl getting a great shot of herself and Sir Mix-a-Lot of "Baby Got Back" fame from Kiip's party last night:
Business Insider/Alyson Shontell
And here are a some selfie sticks being waved around at the Busta Rhymes YouthNation concert:
Business Insider/Alyson Shontell
Business Insider/Alyson Shontell