One day during a recent visit to San Francisco, I boarded BART unaware that I was about to cross the water into Oakland, or that I’d find such great things on the other side. While the scenery didn’t quite compare to what I consider one of the most beautiful, charismatic cities I’ve ever visited, I was pleasantly surprised to find a hidden gem right near Lake Merrit on 22nd St – the Pandora offices.

I thought GlobalGiving’s office was fun with its Wii in the conference room and gong in the middle of our desks, but when I walked into a meeting room that doubles as a sound studio, where employees were playing ping-pong and Mario Kart, I knew Pandora was on an entirely different level.

Behind the laid back game-playing exterior is a very successful platform soaring in popularity. It’s an exciting time at Pandora, where having one of the most popular free apps on the iPhone has only added to the online radio’s millions of registered users. And true to Pandora’s down-to-earth mentality, it remains committed to giving back to the music community. For the second year in a row, Pandora is holding a poster contest. From October through December, Pandora will give one of three winning designs to donors who give $10 or more to designated music-related GlobalGiving projects through Pandora’s philanthropy project.

Time is running out to enter your poster designs – submissions end this month so that voting and printing can happen in time for October. Last year, Pandora gave away thousands of the posters below, and this year is hoping to give away thousands more. For full details on the second annual Pandora poster contest, click here.

Happy Designing!