This is a posting to get some creative juices flowing.
One shots are fun. They lead to different kinds of behaviors than campaigns by both the DM/GM/Ref/Keeper and the players. More on that later.
Some of the Pros --- a stream of consciousness: requires less commitment, easier to prep for, can be time constrained w/o hurting feelings, allows exploration of less developed notions, can address niche ideas and gaming systems, can be wildly different emotional feeling than a regular campaign from hilarious to soul searingly terrifying, and can focus more on a traditional game view as opposed to a player centric view from behind the screen. Here are some equally chaotic thoughts on some Cons: less emotional and intellectual buy-in and effort from the group, less continuity, less tailoring to match player style, less room for forgiveness if the DM has a bad night, more chrome/descriptive narrative required for context as each scene is described, mechanics focus over setting, no time to develop sweeping themes (i.e., appeals to power gamers and simulationists, but doesn't do as much for role-players, explorers, and story-teller archetype players).
I like one-shots, but mostly as a balance to a long standing campaign. Here some examples of one-shots my Zhalindorian faithful have run over the years: It Came from the Late, late Show, StarWars interlude, One shot intro using Xena & Hercules rules, Rolemaster one-shot run by the dearly departed Joe Gaskill, and the purely silly Legend of Slugotha that was based on Scooby Doo mixed with Call of Cthulhu (the Scooby Doo character is a shoggoth named Schoogie-Doo - who my son played with pants wettingly funny panache).
Here is a small sample of some gaming systems that might be suitable for one-shots (Staats RPG library - needs to be updated).
Here is an alternative that can encompass the best of both worlds, long standing campaign and one-shot fever. You could form a group that does troupe-style gaming and do series of one-shots and mini-campaigns. The key to Troupe-style is that you rotate the DM.
In service,
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Well, another advantage of single shot games (if you always play in the same system and the same setting) is getting to explore more of the rules and more of the setting. If you play, for example, 6 stand alone PF modules instead of 1 AP, you'll get to play more characters and find yourself in a greater variaty of places and situations.
Also, things can have more consequences in stand alone adventures. For example, in an AP you want most of the characters to survive most of the campaign, so a PC death is rather rare (in order to preserve a sense of continuity). However in a stand alone adventure, if a PC dies that's more acceptable.