The Petit Paumé

Le Petit Paumé

Format	400 pages
Founded	1968
Language	French
Headquarters	Ecully
Website	www.petitpaume.com

The Petit Paumé is a student association of EMLYON Business School created in 1968, which name comes from Jacques Brel's popular song Les Paumés du petit matin (1962).

The Petit Paumé's aim is to design and to distribute a critical and free guide of the city of Lyon. Thus, the association tests all the city restaurants, bars and shops that it wishes to mention in its annual guide.

Several sections

The Petit Paumé is made up of several sections - which vary according to the year of publication - such as:

• "Lyon pratique" (Practical Lyon)
• "Cycle de la vie : Naissance, Étudiant, Célibataires, Mariage..." (Life cycle: Birth, Student, Singles, Wedding...)
• "Temps Libre : Activités, Offrir, Coiffeur, Beauté, Voyage..." (Free time: Activities, Gifting, Hairdresser, Beauty, Trips...)
• "Culture : Événements, Livres, Musique, Théâtre, Musée..." (Culture: Events, Books, Music, Theater, Museum...)
• "Péchés Mignons : Pâtisseries, Salons de Thé, Pain Vin Fromage, Épiceries, Traiteur" (Little weakness: Pastries, Tea house, Bread Wine Cheese, Delicatessen, Caterer)
• "Restaurants"
• "Bars"
• "Boîtes" (Nightclubs)
• "Fripon" (Naughty)

The Petit Paumé's work

Each of its members (about thirty) is both a tester and a full-fledged writer, even though the activities of the association are divided in sixteen committees in which each one is specialized. With a budget of 600,000 euro,^[1] the Petit Paumé is the second biggest student association of France in terms of financial means, which enables it to print 300,000 copies of the guidebook each year. Half is distributed in October during the official launching, on Place Bellecour as well as in Lyon Part-Dieu shopping center. The remaining copies can be acquired by sending a mail to the association ^[2] or by going to its office on the French campus of EMLYON Business School in Écully.

The Petit Paumé manages in fact many products and services:

• A paper version of the guide (reviews of travel agencies as well as restaurants and nightclubs for instance)
• A paper version dedicated to
• A weekly newsletter sent by e-mail, which lists Lyon's top tips
• A website: www.petitpaume.com
• An iPhone and Android application

Events

Beyond all its publications, the Petit Paumé also organizes several events:

• The "Village Médiéval" (the Medieval Village): in May or June, the Medieval Village brings together more than 20 craft producers on Place Saint-Jean during a historical reenactment ambiance around a company of medieval actors.^[3] This two-day event attracts about 65,000 people.
• The "Lancement du Guide" (the Guidebook Launching): in October, the launchings in the Lyon Part-Dieu shopping center and above all on Place Bellecour gather together more than 150,000 inhabitants of Lyon. These launchings are usually accompanied by concerts, street shows, etc. designed to entertain the crowd.^[1]
• The "Nuit du Petit Paumé" (the Petit Paumé Night): organized each year at the time of the Guidebook Launching, the Petit Paumé Night is a party which notably enables several thousands of people to get a limited edition of the brand-new guidebook. One of the main issues of the party is to remind people that the guidebook is made by students.

A few figures

• 300,000 copies of a free guidebook of 416 pages distributed each year in Lyon, with 1,155 reviews altogether and 519 restaurants tested ^[1][4]
• Overall recognition rate of 84% among Lyon inhabitants (according to a survey carried out by IPSOS in December 2009)
• Approximately one Lyon inhabitant out of two consults the Petit Paumé before going to the restaurant, according to the same IPSOS survey
• The website won a student "City Guide Award" ^[5] and receives more than 70,000 visitors per month
• The entire paper version of the guide on line with more than 2,000 reviews in addition

References

External links

• Official website of the Petit Paumé: www.petitpaume.com
• EMLYON Business School website: www.em-lyon.com
• Issuu (old editions scanned): Issuu