Lynn Ramsey, the former president and CEO of the Jewelry Information Center (JIC), was honored for her more than five years of work turning the organization from a little-known operation to one of national prominence.

Steven Kaiser, JIC chairman, presented Ramsey with a plaque during a brief ceremony at the JIC booth during the JA New York Winter Show.

”Lynn was very instrumental in taking the JIC to where it is now,” Kaiser said during the ceremony in front of about 30 industry executives and friends. ”We are proud to have someone of Lynn’s caliber.”

Kaiser later told JCK that Ramsey set the standard for the organization so that it will succeed long into the future. ”She took it from scratch. The work now is much easier because she set the foundation.”

To understand how far the JIC has grown one has only to look at the JIC booth at the JA Show. Posted on the board are color magazine covers from the best-known consumer magazines in the country. Six years ago, the board would have been covered with black-and-white newspaper pages from mostly small-town newspapers.

Ramsey also served as the jewelry industry spokesperson, appearing on many national and local television show, including NBC’s ”Today,” CBS’s ”The Early Show,” CNN News, ”Oprah,” and ”New Attitudes.”

In total, publicity for the organization and jewelry industry increased more than 250%.

In addition, Kaiser noted that the Center’s budget, through an alliance with Jewelers of America (JA), has doubled and membership has increased 300%.

Ramsey said that she had a lot of help in building the organization.

”With the help of a lot people, particularly JA, we were able to build the PR and the visibility we needed,” Ramsey, who resigned from JIC Sept. 30, told JCK.

Before joining JIC, Ramsey was vice president of N.W. Ayer & Partners, where she ran the Diamond Information Center for seven years. Before that she was a vice president of Cunningham & Walsh Public Relations, where she was instrumental in the launch of SWATCH watch. And she was a former magazine editor and author.

Ramsey told JCK that she is enjoying her time off while carefully pursuing her next position.

”I’m looking for a challenge-hopefully in jewelry,” she said. ”But I’m looking very slowly. It’s important to take time off and reflect about what I want to do with my life. To take on a challenge at the end of my career that is as awarding and stimulating as the beginning and middle has been. I’m looking at that next step.”

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