I thought the only way to prevent people from spamming you on Facebook was to unfriend them, but at some point they made it possible to block invites from people without unfriending them! I don't know when they added this feature, but it's about fucking time.
Privacy Settings → Block Lists (at the bottom) → Block Event Invites
And there was much rejoicing.
After you've blocked all of your promoter friends who spam the living shit out of you three times a week, it's safe to turn Event Invitation emails back on.
Fuck yes.
That feature has been there for quiet a while. You can also block your updates from showing up on *certain friends* walls.
I may actually unblock some "friends" now. Then again, maybe not.
You can also block each individual person when you get an invite from them. Click on the "X" next to the invite and it will give you the option to block all future invites from that person.
Flip side of this coin: (not for jwz, as he already knows this) if you sign up for a club or show's Facebook group, which exists to send announcements about said club or show's events, do not then write the moderator a Chicken Little-level Freak-Out letter because you then receiive such announcements (having, you see, signed up for them) in your otherwise precious, holy and inviolate Facebook mailbox.
Another valuable and likewise tidbit: do not sign up for the sorts of groups described above when the clubs or shows are in distant places you will never go to, and then post bitter messages on your Facebook wall like, "Hokey Smokes! Why do I keep getting these invites from the Swedish speed-metal club I signed up for! Don't they know I'm never going to go to Sweden??"
No, they don't know that.
Unfortunately Facebook doesn't seem to make it possible to "like" something -- which means something between "read the posted updates of" and "show vague support for" -- without also subscribing to all the invitations.
For example, someone who was never going to go to Sweden, but did want to see the photos posted of all those pretty, pretty speed-metal girls. Ok this analogy is failing.
Hold on, I think you're on to something here...!
Now, if only it were possible to turn off Facebook mails entirely, so when someone tries to send you a message, it would say "please email this person at [address]"...