Social coaches call it “working the room” and sell a six-week course on finding your people at parties.
Delegate to a professional. A customs beagle retiring after nine years at Arrivals holds strong opinions about who is carrying undeclared food, and will escort you directly to the guest with a sausage roll in their coat — statistically the most interesting person there. Field notes report a 100% strike rate on snacks and, to date, no other category of friend.