I used to open almost all of my adult classes with an activity similar to this. However, I had a list of questions and kept questions on slips of paper. I would give them specific questions to ask their partners, usually somehow related to the lesson of that class or the class before. Each person has a different question. They would talk for a few minutes and change partners. In a small class, I would try to arrange it so that everyone talked to everyone else. My classes always loved it. Be sure to include (as much as possible) everyone's interests, serious questions, fun questions, etc.
A good list of questions is at:
http://iteslj.org/questions/