Candidate for South Central Director

I am Vanessa Carmean and I am currently the South Central Director and am running to stay in the position of South Central Director. I am very active with our local GSP clubs in show, field trial and hunt tests. For the last 9 years, I have been active members of three pointing breed clubs in my area as well as the Gulf Coast GSP Club. Within these clubs, I’ve held multiple voted positions from Club Secretary to Board Member for multiple years.

At a national level, on top of being your current South Central Director, I have volunteered with the GSPCA National Show Specialty (NSS) Merchandise Committee for 4yrs and with the NSS Awards Events in 2021, as well as, attended and competed at the NSS 4 yrs in a row. I have also attended and competed 2 years at the GSPCA National Field Trial in Eureka, KS in both horseback and walking. I have volunteered as on the executive committee for the National Amateur Gun Dog Championship in Pinckneyville, IL the last 3yrs and have been Hospitality Chair on that committee last 2 years. I am not only hospitality chair this year, but also chairing the 2024 event, running the raffle and cooking all the meals! Come join us! I have volunteered and competed at the GSPCA National Amateur Gun Dog Championship the last 3yrs and have had a dog place in the top four dogs last year! All of these positions, roles and volunteer opportunities have allowed me to continue to be a great South Central Director. I am also the liaison for the GSPCA Water Tests as well as have personally held 2 water tests in 2023 in my SC area. In 2023, as the liaison for Illustrated Standard, we worked hard on getting the new standard approved to add black and update the Breed Education.

The last two years, as the current Director, I have focused on getting more information out to my area members. Communication is key. I have also volunteered at many of my South Central Region club’s events, in many capacities including all areas of performance, hunt test and field trial, companion events including obedience, rally and dock diving. I also recently traveled to the west coast to judge a sweepstakes event for a GSP specialty. I helped to coordinate the Meet the Breed in Dallas, TX. It was attended by myself and 3 other GSPCA Members for two full days.

I pride my time management skills. Even with all of this volunteering, I recently finished our second Dual Champion in 2022 and have finished my puppy in the show ring obtaining her Championship at a year old. She will be running in her first field trial to get her puppy points in Nov 2023.

I continue to be an advocate in our region for celebrating Duals, as its the bridge between the field events and the show events. In the sporting dog world, there are very few breeds where owners can compete and win in both the field and show venues with the same dog. The Dual GSP represents a “single breed” where as many of the other sporting dogs cannot offer the same versatility.

I also actively compete in AKC Obedience, Rally and Dock Diving with my puppy and she recently qualified for dock diving regionals in June 2023. My experience and support of members goes far beyond just field work. I want to continue to compete with our dogs in all these venues, as so many other people do not understand the versatility of our breed.

I believe we need to continue to offer support and guidance for our members who do not compete in events and just want to volunteer.

Thank you for considering me to continue to serve as your representative in the position of SC Director. I would love to continue this service with honor.