The PIBEO process incorporated four vehicles for public participation; community forums, stakeholder workshops, civic leader workshops and a design charrette. Advertised Community Forums were open to anyone interested in influencing long range planning in Richland County. Such forums were used initially to identify the participants' views of the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats that affected current and future planning. Later, they were used to test participant consensus on the Vision Team's conclusions and proposals. The facilitator used brainstorming, nominal group technique, community scans and consensus-testing to help the groups to make effective use of their time. Initial forum participants and others known for their interest in planning, transportation, development and environment were asked to volunteer additional hours to work in greater depth at Stakeholder Workshops. 

Three sets of Stakeholder Workshops were held throughout the County, with diverse stakeholders representing business, residential, rural, urban, suburban, conservation, transportation, safety, appearance and other interests. The increased time commitments allowed the participants to explore and expand upon forum results in greater detail. These workshops employed a number of facilitated techniques to maximize group effectiveness, such as user-based photography, visioning breakouts and goal-setting worksheets.

Civic Leader Workshops were held to monitor progress and solicit additional points of view. Participants included elected representatives, senior staff and stakeholders representing local governments, school districts, police agencies, planning commissions non-profit organizations and neighborhoods. The first such workshop reviewed the results of the first forums and stakeholder workshops. It generated seven goals, endorsing the work of the community volunteers. In December 1998 County Council endorsed these goals, covering future growth, cooperative planning, safety, appearance, transportation and neighborhoods, as well as open space and rural preservation.

A second Civic Leader Workshop reviewed the Vision Team's response to the community, and provided a strong endorsement of its proposals.

The fourth vehicle, a Design Charrette, was used to generate resident contributions to a specific Vision Team demonstration project. Citizens of the Town of Eastover identified problems and opportunities for revitalizing their rural town, using maps, sketches and worksheets. 

The PIBEO process produced a rich and detailed view of Richland County, as seen by the people who live there. Participants identified the following factors affecting the County's long range planning:
 

Strengths
• Cultural and educational facilities
• Interstate Highway system
• River system
• Rural open space
• Diverse citizenry
• Good neighborhoods

Weaknesses
• Declining sense of community
• Inadequate transportation options
• Concentrated poverty
• Uncontrolled sprawl
• Rezoning instead of an identity and vision
• Poor schools in some areas
• No greenway or bicycle system

Opportunities
• Support for better planning
• Serious public participation
• Tourism
• Smaller rural businesses
• Re-use of older buildings
• Alternative transportation links

Threats
• Overcrowding of schools
• Schools and water line extensions determining unplanned growth patterns
• Environmental degradation
• Sexually-oriented businesses
• Loss of rural lands
• Cycle of abandoned businesses and new developments

The Community Forum participants stressed the need for more collaborative planning in which the city, county, towns and school districts acted in concert rather than in competition. They looked at themselves, too, and recognized the need for the community to cross-collaborate among neighborhoods instead of engaging in territorial or budgetary disputes. Finally, they confirmed their need to be participants in the implementation process, beyond the vision.

Using one-time panoramic cameras, workshop participants took over 1,200 photographs of specific likes and dislikes. They self-selected the best 400 examples to communicate their values to each other and to their leaders. These photographs helped to build a visioning vocabulary, and contributed to the creation of citizen-based goals.

The Stakeholder Workshop participants also contributed directly to a vision of Richland County in 2020. By addressing four strategic questions, they concluded that:

If making no changes, then Richland County would face:

• Grid lock and unacceptable traffic
• Inadequate parks and open space
• Declining river quality
• Substandard businesses
• No equality in education
• Older neighborhood decay
• Being reduced to being just a cultural suburb of Charlotte, North Carolina.

• Open space being preserved through County-wide policy decisions
• Columbia as a great Capital City and a Mecca for business
• Less crime
• Small towns thriving rather than disappearing.

• Redevelopment and revitalization
• Greater citizen participation and pride
• Walkable communities with diverse densities
• Improved environment and economy
• Using rivers as linear parks
• Dealt with unsightly signage and poor landscaping

• Collaborating on planning and government
• Managing a strong comprehensive plan
• Zoning in ways that implement the vision and plan
• Electing County-wide Councilors
• Keeping schools open continuously for all age levels to maximize capital investments
• Providing innovative transportation choices.

Participants indicated their general support for the proposals, along with desired refinements and clarifications. This public and civic leader response also included endorsements of the participatory process itself, as the participants in earlier forums and workshops saw evidence that they had been taken seriously.