okay so my social life sucks and a few friends invited me to a ball. i would like to try meet some girls there but how? what should i open with?

i dont want to look like im trying to pick them up. i know that sounds stupid. but i guess it would be great to make some friends!

My main problem with bars/clubs, etc is when the music is very loud and you can't really have a conversation, apart from screaming in each others ear. If that is the case you could try one of the approaches that doesn't require much talk. One I'd love to try soon, if you can muster up enough confidence(I'm not there yet) is: you spot a girl you like in a group, you go to them and say "Do you guys wanna see a magic trick?". Then you tell them to close their eyes, you take her by the hand, and take her away. Preferably if you can take her outside then say something like "This place is boring, lets go somewhere fun" then take her in a venue where you are more comfortable and do your think. Or if you're a good dancer forget all that and just take her dancing, light conversation, more touching.
And please correct me if I'm giving him bad advice guys, still new on this scene and trying to figure alot of stuff out.

Walk into the venue looking confident - smile ! Think 'I'm approachable, playful and friendly'.
If the 'party's pumping' try to get a few hi-fives from random people on your way to the bar. Look like you're enjoying yourself.

The bar's are normally a bit quieter. The venues normally do this intentionally for the bar staff to hear people.
Ask a female member of bar staff what she can recommend, what's her favorite drink etc. This'll make you feel/seem confident.
If there's a nice girl at the bar with nice hair, say "nice hair ! is it real?" as an opener. Or if she's got a nice dress on "Nice dress ! I've seen a few people wearing that tonight" (only for HB8.5 and upward).
If you know some bar tricks that's even better - do them. Open up a group of women with an opinion question. e.g. "do you think it's ok to dump someone over text message?" or Jealous GF or "Who lies the most men or women?"..."Who tells the most white lies and who tells the most serious lies?" etc etc.

Move into DHV by thinking of or learning a funny story - plenty of them on this forum.

Then get their name(s) - AND REMEMBER THEIR NAMES.

Decision: either:
- Isolate one of them for further conversation
- Tell the group you've got to get back to your friends. I normally use "...but if you see me later on come over and I'll play a game with you" (5-lies)

Isolate: On to fluffing (rapport) - where you from? what do you do for a living? Are you out for a special occasion? what have you got planned for the rest of the weekend? Which Friends character are you most like? (there's a neg in there somewhere) Where in the world is your fav place to visit?

See where the wind takes you.... if you're only after new friends, that's fair enough. Get numbers or emails (facebook) using the old "...we should catch up again sometime...".

Everyone is good at fluffing if you're interested in the person you're talking to. If you're not interested, excuse yourself and get back to your pals.

Sorry for the long winded reply but it's easy when you know how.

Good luck, enjoy the party. Don't think negatively on the night at all, be happy !