By Shaun Di Gregorio, CEO of iProperty Group

I hope that everyone enjoyed the festivities and holidays with family and friends. I can’t believe that we are already in the month of September. It seems like just yesterday, I ushered in the New Year and was gearing up to face the challenges that 2011 had to offer. As per my previous post, the start of 2011 for the team at the iProperty Group was exceptional.

Our challenge is to continue with the momentum we have built and finish the year on a high note.

To ensure that we do, the Senior Management team recently had a team building session to review how the start of the year was, how we can further improve the results for the rest of the year and of course plan for 2012.

Like all team building sessions, it wasn’t all work but we also had some time to bond over activities. I firmly believe that it is critically important that the team is aligned and work well together. After all, the success of any business lies with its people.

Another piece of exciting news that we have to shout about is the revamp of one of our popular property websites, thinkproperty.com.my, as a community centric focussed website. This was done in line with our commitment to provide consumers with a great experience and also a platform for them to share and discuss all things property.

With a befitting new tagline – Your Neighbourhood Community Website, and a new integrated SOLR Search technology, a popular, blazing fast open source enterprise search platform, visitors to the site will now not only be able to conveniently search for properties but also participate in various informative forum discussions more efficiently. But don’t just take our word for it, drop by the site and browse through these changes for yourself. Do let us know what you think and if there are any areas we can improve on.

This month, we are also in the midst of preparing the layout and ground work for the publication of our book, a high quality illustrative coffee table publication entitled Malaysia Top Developers. The book will feature the most prominent and renowned developers in the country.

We are excited to announce that Malaysia Properties Incorporation (MPI), a government organisation set up under the Economic Planning Unit to drive investments in real estate into Malaysia, is also rendering their support toward this book.

Among the other things in the pipeline for this month, which the team is actively working on is the revamp of the iproperty.com.my website. The site will have a cleaner and more vibrant look and feel. We also will be equipping it with sufficient and new information that will help you make an informed decision with minimal stress when choosing your desired property. Do stay tuned for this!

Last but not least, this week is also the week of our Annual iProperty Group Conference. Members from Indonesia, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia will be gathering to mingle and share ideas on how we can further grow the industry to serve you better.

Have a great weekend!