Mark Torigian K8MST is a retired attorney, former general counsel for Hyundai Motor Company, and now a driving force behind establishing strong governance principles with the newly formed Parks on the Air board. Licensed in 2021 after decades of putting off the hobby, Mark dove headfirst into ham radio—and POTA—during the pandemic, first as a hunter, then as an activator with hundreds of parks under his belt. In just a few years, he went from newcomer to board member of one of the fastest-growing programs in amateur radio. With nearly 50 million QSOs logged, 84,000 registered operators, and 85,000 parks across 236 DX entities, POTA isn’t just thriving—it’s reshaping the hobby. Mark brings something different to the table: four decades of legal and corporate governance experience. At Hyundai, his mission was program integrity—building rules, systems, and internal controls that could withstand explosive growth. Now he’s applying that same mindset to POTA. Not to burden activators and hunters with red tape, but to strengthen the foundation behind the scenes: bylaws, board structure, financial oversight, data privacy protections, and clearer rules that eliminate ambiguity. “If ten hams interpret a rule and you get twenty-five answers,” he says, “we need to fix that.” B Behind the curtain, a 21-person volunteer development team led by James Linden, VE3JLN, is rewriting the IT backbone—modernizing a decade-old cloud-based system that now processes more than a million QSOs a month. Add to that the financial reality: roughly $5,000–$6,000 per month just to keep the servers running. No corporate sponsor bankrolls this operation. It’s volunteers, modest book royalties, and community donations keeping the engine alive. And yet, the spirit remains intact. Mark tells the story of operating Winter Field Day at minus 15 degrees—three antennas up in an hour—proving that POTA is more than a game. It’s training. It’s readiness. It’s community. His pledge? Make it better without breaking what already works. Stronger governance. Greater transparency. Seamless improvement. Join the conversation and subscribe to Q5 Worldwide Ham Radio.
Congratulations and thanks for your initiatives. I'm a wilderness expert, rock climber and mountaineer (in denial of my age and always on a diet!). Some thoughts: Would there be interest in a "non motorized, human powered" portable class?; Is there any merit in providing information packages to National, State/ Provincial and Municipal park administrations to sensitize them to our activities?; Would a renewable energy - battery, solar & wind powered class be of interest?; Is there any advantage to coordinating with SOTA and or IOTA to streamline administration and reduce the surprisingly high server costs you mention? These are just thought of mine, I'm not lobbying for any policy personally. I really love portable operations and totally support your contributions on behalf of us all. Big 73!
Kevin - You left out that inconvenient truth part again with the "How POTA was Born" folktale. Here is a link to the 2017 Ham Radio360 podcast with W3AAX in case you misplaced it. Will the board apply some terminology like 'Credits' to differentiate between an actual QSO made by RF, versus the manufactured output out the mythical, #-fer, pota-plier process?
Change for the better is usually a good thing and often times, fresh eyes are what leads to the next great thing. I just hope POTA doesn't become the complicated corporate mess that the ARRL awards system has become (although most of the complications are in the IT space). POTA is a hobby and I hope it remains simple and easy way for folks to play radio.
Spot on! I think that we can make it clear, simple and fun. Definitely not going to be "corporate" that is what we want to avoid.
This is definitely news to follow. I have been a hunter the past few years and now I am about ready to spread my wings to try to do an activation.
Pota has gotten me to many locations I would of never experienced. I find myself looking at the site often and working on plans for the next activation. As a club president I've encouraged quite a few members to join. I'm happy to say it's helped grow more interest. I look forward to many more activations. As a hunter I enjoy making contacts with anyone. But when you hear a familiar call it's like taking to a friend. I want to thank the volunteers for everything they do. POTA ON. KE7KE
I remember when all I wanted to do was be a hunter, my friend W1SRR took me out to do an activation but it still took me several months to go out solo and try it. But once I did I was hooked. I have one park with over 35 Kilos an another approaching 7 Kilos. I have met the best people from around the world and helped others to get started. POTA has been a game changer for the hobby and the sky is the limit. Great to have you in my Log Mark. Looking forward to seeing what's down the road for POTA. Pota On!! Miguel The Manatee Whisperer
Is there a transcript of this video on the "https://parksontheair.com/index.html' site? As both a continent-wide activator and a home station hunter I would like to understand what the "POTA Board" truly want's to accomplish without having to filter out the obvious commercial addon's and the blah, blah, blah...
Great interview. Was fortunate enough to work Mark multiple times during his New Mexico rove in January. He is a super nice guy. I look forward to his work on the POTA board to fine tune the POTA World to make it even more enjoyable for all of us.
Many thanks Mark for your beautiful qsl card. At my age of 85, still love to make digital contacts to all the parks on the air. Ham radio has been a God Send in keeping me alert and motivated. What a fabulous hobby at 50 years. Appreciate everything you do to help ham radio stay alive. 73s wa8le Les Elder Upper Michigan.
James - thanks for kind word. Look for me starting 4/10 to 4/28 going across the country on POTA rove MI to NM and Back try to hit 10 states! still love your call sign ha ha Mark
