Green Guestbook’s creator, Ellie Carlson, always says that she invented the system “quite by accident.” She was contracted in 2007 to Guest Curate The Route 66 Experience, celebrating the 80th anniversary of Route 66 for the Joliet Area Historical Museum. It is an exhibit with lots to do. There are multiple interactives. Ellie didn’t want a static paper guest book in a bound volume with gold edges and lines of handwriting. She wanted a digital guestbook that worked on a computer touchscreen. Ellie assumed that this already existed and she just had to find the company to buy it from.

It didn’t exist so she had to invent it. The Green Guestbook system is now patent-pending. Ellie and Bill Garvey, of Garvey

Consulting, worked together to create the first version of the Green Guestbook system. It is now collecting data from visitors to The Route 66 Experience and many other businesses, public sites and events. Today, everyone can see that Green Rocks!