In regards to your question - I think becoming close friends with investors who are doing the type of investing you want to get into is the best way. (biggerpockets.com)
I can imagine how lovely it must be to bond in person with people who become our close friends through blogging. (easyanddelish.com)
The other day I was talking to a man who has become a close friend of a Hungarian government official. (religion-online.org)