It depends a lot on the club. If its an academic club where they have a lot of presentations and such I usually like to take it slow. Its important to arrive early to the meeting. Being the one of the first ones there allows you to catch people as they are walking in before the rest of their pre-estabished group shows up. Once the cliques start forming it can be a little difficult to squeeze yourself into a conversation.

So, once you arrive early what you want to do is just casually say "hey, whats up? Im _____. Im new to the club. how are you?" Then you can transition into the classic "So whats your major?" Now its important to actually keep track of peoples majors. You can use that information later by saying something like "Oh so you're also a ______ major? Wow I noticed there's a lot of those in this club."

Then its all about just letting the conversation flow organically. "So how long have you been in this club?" "Oh that long huh? So, what are some cool things this clubs done in the past?" "Oh wow that sounds cool. I've never done that before myself. I hope we do something like that again! So is this the only club you're apart of or do you know of some other interesting clubs? I've been wanting to try some others out."

Etc. etc. The key to a successful first conversation is to always start with a statement then follow with a question. That way it gives the person you are talking to the chance to also start with a statement (in response to your question), then follow up with their own question which in turn allows you to again make a statement and follow up with a new question (etc. etc.).

So, now that you have arrived early and have developed a small network of people with which you have had small casual conversations with the next step is to make sure you stay relevant by connecting your network. Find one person in your network and start talking to them. Then, at some point in the conversation try to use something you learned about someone else to connect those two individuals. "Oh so your a Biology major? That guy over there is also a biology major and he was telling me this cool thing he discovered last week. HEY GUY! Come over here and tell this guy about that cool thing you discovered!"

BAM! Now you just formed your first Clique. From here on out things get a lot easier. Now you can let other people in your group carry the conversation a little bit while you sit back, nod your head, and look interested in what they have to say. At this point its ok not to talk so much because you have already established yourself as a contributing member of the group.

Now when you go to future meetings you are no longer alone and you can say hi to those first few people you met and use them to help you meet new members who join the club later. Be the guy that makes new members feel like they have someone to talk to and eventually you will know everyone in the club.

FYI a lot of this is me talking about my ass, but Ive used this technique quiet a bit to various degrees and it mostly works for me.