Two years ago (December) I got the offer from DVC and got the $50 GC! My December 2012 hotel stay had already been booked and was in the reservations system, so I suppose DVC scanned the list of people who were booked and sent me the 'during your upcoming trip, come and see us' postcard and gift card offer, inviting me to make an appointment to see them when I was at DLR. A couple of weeks after I received the offer I called and made the appointment for a Monday morning.
So I marched from the PPH over to the DVC office on the DLH property. I met with a lovely DVC rep/CM. I was given free Starbucks coffee and free Pepperidge Farm Milano cookies. I was also given a free blue DVC tote bag and their assorted information books and brochures.
I sat in a quiet room and watched a short video, then met with the CM. She showed me how the whole DVC system works. She gave me my $50 Disney gift card, She then took me on a tour of the beautiful model of an Aulani villa/room, which was fun.
All in all, it was time well spent and very worthwhile!
ETA: I did notice that DVC called me in the last week or two -- I had stepped out and missed the call, but I saw the Caller ID info. I wondered if they were just doing a 'touching base' phone call to see if I was ready to become a DVC member, or if there was another gift card offer in the works.