I would absolutely engage a property manager.  

The platform may allow investment by accredited investors only or be open to almost anyoneEach has advantages and disadvantages.The portals that allow anyone to post a deal have not been very successful and they will probably remain a fringe categoryMany investors are familiar with the big players in the industry that provide access to deals sponsored by numerous parties.As an example of a single sponsor platform I will use our own.In the last two years we crowdfunded/syndicated 26 real estate debt deals, raising just over $46,000,000.00 and two months ago completed our first equity raise, raising $1,700,000.00.Additionally, we did a co raise with a major real estate debt crowdfunding portal that was primarily residential and wanted to move into the commercial space.I will tell you that despite many similarities, no two portals operate the same, and there are major differences in deal type, vetting, costs, risks, returns, and transparancy.Keep watching this arena.

are there key players in various regions? 

A handyman is a critical player in your RE team .

Seems to me like the big players have learned from previous mistakes@Wayne BrooksBingo. 

I am wanting to engage more frequently with people more knowledgeable and/or experienced than me.

I am engaged to beautiful women from Bogota Colombia we are waiting for her visa approval hopefully within the next few months.

Seems things have changed.)From the CallHippo Study: Tuesday, 30 May 2017 - The Best Day And Time To Make A Business CallCallHippo did a research on what is the right time to make a call to your prospect,where we took the data of our 1000+ clients that engage with their prospects over calls on a daily basis.

As a side benefit, this has helped me engage with people I might not ever have met except that we got involved and "put our money where our mouths are" when it comes to saying we want to help do some good for other people.It's one thing to say we wish to be generous and to help. 

Also, try attending local real estate meetups to see who the players are and what the strategies are that would work better for you.