The BIG Conference

This year’s BIG Conference, happening June 23-25, 2022, will be the 20th anniversary of the Annual Basic Income Guarantee Conference (formerly NABIG Congress). With the success of last year’s first virtual conference, the Planning Committee has decided that this year’s BIG Conference will be a hybrid event with both in-person and virtual attendance options.

In addition to planning for the in-person conference in Portland, OR, there will be virtual options for conference content. All keynote sessions will be livestreamed, with the final day of the conference being fully virtual.

This year we will bring together researchers, activists, artists, and policy makers to focus our collective expertise, experiences, and energies, to move the vision of a universal unconditional basic income guarantee forward. There is more urgency than ever before to more fully understand the myriad ways in which a basic income might impact individuals and society, and to cull the available empirical evidence to inform sound public policy. The final (3rd) day of the conference will also include several sessions focused on Canada.

All registrations will be valid for both in-person and virtual attendance.

Our registration tiers reflect a sliding scale, a tool for establishing economic justice. In this registration pricing system, everyone ultimately pays a similar percentage of their individual or organizational income to attend the Congress. This scale is about recognizing the privileges and resources that make paid events disproportionately more accessible for groups with higher operating budgets and for individuals with greater wealth.

We’re committed to making our virtual conference as accessible as possible. We recognize that the impacts of COVID-19 aggravate and deepen already existing forms of systemic oppression. Beyond COVID-19 and its impacts, we realize that individuals and communities experience continued harm and marginalization as a result of long-standing inequities in the US and Canada. We hope that this sliding scale facilitates increased access to this event and serves as an invitation to both think and speak deeply about the societal factors that create such stark disparities in wealth and resources in the US & Canada. We trust you to evaluate your ability to pay accordingly. Help us keep this conference as accessible as possible!

Consider claiming one of the 100 grassroots tickets ($25) if you:

• Are a youth advocate and/or a young person experiencing poverty.

• Are an unpaid community organizer.

• Are currently experiencing housing instability.

• Make less than a living wage salary.

• Are experiencing financial hardship.

• Are not always able to meet basic needs.

Consider claiming one of the reduced price tickets ($50) if you:

• Can afford to do so.

• Are a paid community organizer.

• Are part of a small organization with less than 25 staff members.

• Are not experiencing financial hardship or housing instability.

Consider claiming one of the reduced price tickets ($100) if you:

• Can afford to do so.

• Can afford to take time off.

• Are a paid community organizer.

• Are part of a medium organization with 25-50 staff members.

• Have access to adequate financial support and stable housing.

Consider claiming one of the full price tickets ($200) if you:

• Can afford to do so.

• Can afford to take time off.

• Are part of a large organization with more than 50 staff members.

• Work for an institution that will cover the cost of your registration

• Have a relatively high degree of earning power

This pricing system applies uniformly to in-person, virtual, and hybrid conference participation.

If the paid ticket prices impose too great a financial burden, please reach out to thebigconference@usbig.org to explore other possibilities.