You're on the right track and you've come to the right place.Spend the next 6 months browsing these forums, reading the blog posts, reading a couple of books, and continuing to go to those local meetups. 

Browse the forums, listen to relevant podcasts, read a few books.After you have a good foundation of education, start researching different markets.

If you're browsing listings on AirBnB then you may begin to notice some are managed by companies rather than individuals.

Ive been browsing the forums and it seems a bit overwhelming as far as what to look for when buying one.

Never heard of Tranio until now, but their partners are very limited and after browsing I would have to conclude not at all aimed at investors. 

Before trying something automatic like that, do a small number of inquiries in very rapid succession to see if they will put up a captcha or something similar to see if a human is doing the browsing or not.

Anyway I've just finished reading a book on foreclosures and have been browsing this site as well for information.

Absolutely not on time spent reseraching new acquisitions, especially not browsing zillow. 

I have browsed through ODesk and ELance but would love to have a recommendation of an individual or team who is capable. 

This is directly a function of most landlords/rentals in the area not being pet friendly, so spend some time browsing your local rental listings and see if your area is similar.