How can I make this better (and take it faster)

Some people might scold me for this, but I never mess with my flash during receptions aside from changing the flash head direction. I would shoot bouncing back left. That tends to give nice, even lighting. I do 9 times out of 10 and I get pretty solid results:. Straight from camera:

I bounce using ETTL 99.9% of the time, I was playing in this case to try for this exposure that I got. It was actually a dark reception, you can see the ceiling, no lights are on. Just a couple cans on the dance floor. I know a faster lens will help exposing the room, but not a lot of options on the crop. Without the iso 3200 and 1/40 exposure time and add higher power or ETTL flash and I would have had a good exposure of the subjects, would have looked better than Uncle Franks DSLR, but wouldn't look professional. Most of my shots look like yours, but in darker rooms without lighting the entire room with a couple OCFs (which I've done, but this rooms ceiling was lowww), how to get a good all around exposure compensating for BG and subjects.

I also see you're in Dallas (where I'm from and work), I've been trying to network with some local photographers to form a support net for pretty much anything from help to emergencies. PM me if you know anyone I can join or are interested