Avantages
I was there for almost the entire lifetime of the company. The people were the best part of this job. The original owners were always very open with the staff, and were terrific, smart, dedicated people. During the first five years or so, we had semi-weekly company meetings which were often fun. You felt part of a team, and company growth was phenomenal.
Inconvénients
Typical variety of both very good and very bad management. Company grew so quickly that bureaucracy took over. Since a lot of people stayed with the company for years, the early people became extremely jaded and discontent, since the atmosphere completely turned upside down within five years. Then we were plagued with legal issues, and there were bitter internal disputes. Several employees saw this coming, but deluded themselves for years. Sad, because there were so many good, dedicated people. Some stuck around longer than they wanted, due to "golden handcuffs."
When we were finally sold (misrepresented as a merger) to Affinion, it really all went downhill quickly.