NSSF Promotes Chris Dolnack to Chief Marketing Officer

NEWTOWN, Conn.—The National Shooting Sports Foundation—trade association for the firearms and ammunition industry—has promoted Senior Vice President Chris Dolnack to senior vice president and chief marketing officer, effective immediately.

Dolnack, who has been with NSSF for 14 years, will oversee a broad range of NSSF activities, including marketing and sales operations, communications, branding, membership, business development, SHOT Show, partnership marketing and customer recruitment and retention. As leader of the marketing operations, Dolnack is responsible for NSSF’s media and industry relations, advertising, interactive and emerging media, marketing communications as well as industry research, websites and social media. He will report to President and CEO Steve Sanetti.

Dolnack has been the leader of SHOT Show operations the last several years, writes the SHOT Show blog and has instituted SHOT Show live online chats. He also oversees the NSSF Shooting Sports Summits and is a member of Task Force 20-20, a committee formed at the 2008 Shooting Sports Summit of firearms, state agency and conservation members to explore strategies to increase hunting and shooting participation by 20 percent by 2014.

“Chris has served the NSSF long and faithfully throughout the years,” said Steve Sanetti, NSSF president and CEO. “This new title better reflects the fact that for some time Chris has had both direct and supervisory responsibilities over all aspects of our marketing efforts, programs and communications which are so important to our entire industry. He also has primary responsibility for the ongoing success of the SHOT Show, which under his direction has grown to be the 11th largest trade show in the nation. His exemplary efforts on our behalf reflect great credit upon him and the entire NSSF staff, and I am pleased and honored to recognize Chris in this way.”

Dolnack came to NSSF after a diverse sales and marketing career with firearms manufacturers Smith & Wesson and Colt. He was previously managing director of program development before being named senior vice president in 2005.

“I’m excited to help lead our industry’s trade association into its next 50 years,” said Dolnack, noting that 2011 will mark NSSF’s 50th anniversary. “I’m very passionate about our mission and fortunate in that my vocation is also my avocation. I’m also fortunate to be part of a talented team, and together we’ll keep working hard to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports for the benefit of our members and firearms owners everywhere.”

A lifelong hunter and shooter, Dolnack particularly enjoys time spent with family members at the family’s Pennsylvania deer camp and also on the range with friends, employees and industry colleagues.

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About NSSF
The National Shooting Sports Foundation is the trade association for the firearms industry. Its mission is to promote, protect and preserve hunting and the shooting sports. Formed in 1961, NSSF has a membership of more than 5,500 manufacturers, distributors, firearms retailers, shooting ranges, sportsmen’s organizations and publishers. For more information, log on to www.nssf.org.