You are welcome to just watch, to practice ties on yourself, or to try to find a partner, either at the meeting or using the online group.
However, the absolute best advice we can give to anyone: show up at events, be sociable (but not pushy) and get to know people as people (not potential play partners). It goes against common social sense to agree to be tied up by someone you don’t know in a strange place, so don’t expect that. As people get to know you and become comfortable with you, they may start to let you tie them / be willing to tie you at public events. Trust and comfort takes time. People will be watching to see if you’re willing to put in that time and can be trusted over time. That’s the best and truest answer we can give.
But here are some other things you can also do …
To look for partners online, find the post for that event (always linked through the FetLife event page) and add a comment indicating the type of partner you are seeking (someone to tie, someone to tie you, etc.). You may also find that others have posted in the thread seeking partners. In addition, we have a dedicated partners thread for seeking partners that aren’t specific to one event.
To look for partners at the meeting itself, try to arrive at the start time. We usually have about half an hour of socializing time before the actual practice begins. This is a good time to meet new people and find out if anyone is un-partnered and willing to work with you. However, please respect the wishes of anyone who does not wish to work with you. Everyone has different comfort levels.
Finally, you can ask any of the group leaders if they know of someone who is also looking for a partner. If they do, and the other person doesn’t mind, they will share that information with you.