diff --git a/internal/telemetry/event/export.go b/internal/telemetry/event/export.go
index 82afb8917b..fd470278c7 100644
--- a/internal/telemetry/event/export.go
+++ b/internal/telemetry/event/export.go
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ package event
 import (
 	"context"
 	"sync/atomic"
+	"time"
 	"unsafe"
 )
 
@@ -33,12 +34,16 @@ func SetExporter(e Exporter) {
 	atomic.StorePointer(&exporter, p)
 }
 
-// ProcessEvent is called to deliver an event to the global exporter.
-func ProcessEvent(ctx context.Context, ev Event) context.Context {
+// dispatch is called to deliver an event to the supplied exporter.
+// it will fill in the time and generate the basic tag source.
+func dispatch(ctx context.Context, ev Event) context.Context {
+	// get the global exporter and abort early if there is not one
 	exporterPtr := (*Exporter)(atomic.LoadPointer(&exporter))
 	if exporterPtr == nil {
 		return ctx
 	}
-	// and now also hand the event of to the current exporter
+	// add the current time to the event
+	ev.At = time.Now()
+	// hand the event off to the current exporter
 	return (*exporterPtr)(ctx, ev, ev.Map())
 }
diff --git a/internal/telemetry/event/label.go b/internal/telemetry/event/label.go
index 7faec1ef88..5892e7f842 100644
--- a/internal/telemetry/event/label.go
+++ b/internal/telemetry/event/label.go
@@ -6,14 +6,12 @@ package event
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"time"
 )
 
 // Label sends a label event to the exporter with the supplied tags.
 func Label(ctx context.Context, tags ...Tag) context.Context {
-	return ProcessEvent(ctx, Event{
+	return dispatch(ctx, Event{
 		Type: LabelType,
-		At:   time.Now(),
 		tags: tags,
 	})
 }
diff --git a/internal/telemetry/event/log.go b/internal/telemetry/event/log.go
index 6029585809..abbe2206b9 100644
--- a/internal/telemetry/event/log.go
+++ b/internal/telemetry/event/log.go
@@ -7,14 +7,12 @@ package event
 import (
 	"context"
 	"errors"
-	"time"
 )
 
 // Log sends a log event with the supplied tag list to the exporter.
 func Log(ctx context.Context, tags ...Tag) {
-	ProcessEvent(ctx, Event{
+	dispatch(ctx, Event{
 		Type: LogType,
-		At:   time.Now(),
 		tags: tags,
 	})
 }
@@ -22,9 +20,8 @@ func Log(ctx context.Context, tags ...Tag) {
 // Print takes a message and a tag list and combines them into a single event
 // before delivering them to the exporter.
 func Print(ctx context.Context, message string, tags ...Tag) {
-	ProcessEvent(ctx, Event{
+	dispatch(ctx, Event{
 		Type:    LogType,
-		At:      time.Now(),
 		Message: message,
 		tags:    tags,
 	})
@@ -38,9 +35,8 @@ func Error(ctx context.Context, message string, err error, tags ...Tag) {
 		err = errors.New(message)
 		message = ""
 	}
-	ProcessEvent(ctx, Event{
+	dispatch(ctx, Event{
 		Type:    LogType,
-		At:      time.Now(),
 		Message: message,
 		Error:   err,
 		tags:    tags,
diff --git a/internal/telemetry/event/metric.go b/internal/telemetry/event/metric.go
index 7d4aaa5903..23af8d5e53 100644
--- a/internal/telemetry/event/metric.go
+++ b/internal/telemetry/event/metric.go
@@ -6,13 +6,11 @@ package event
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"time"
 )
 
 func Record(ctx context.Context, tags ...Tag) {
-	ProcessEvent(ctx, Event{
+	dispatch(ctx, Event{
 		Type: RecordType,
-		At:   time.Now(),
 		tags: tags,
 	})
 }
diff --git a/internal/telemetry/event/trace.go b/internal/telemetry/event/trace.go
index 878ca4a859..57095ab702 100644
--- a/internal/telemetry/event/trace.go
+++ b/internal/telemetry/event/trace.go
@@ -6,20 +6,17 @@ package event
 
 import (
 	"context"
-	"time"
 )
 
 func StartSpan(ctx context.Context, name string, tags ...Tag) (context.Context, func()) {
-	ctx = ProcessEvent(ctx, Event{
+	ctx = dispatch(ctx, Event{
 		Type:    StartSpanType,
 		Message: name,
-		At:      time.Now(),
 		tags:    tags,
 	})
 	return ctx, func() {
-		ProcessEvent(ctx, Event{
+		dispatch(ctx, Event{
 			Type: EndSpanType,
-			At:   time.Now(),
 		})
 	}
 }
@@ -27,8 +24,5 @@ func StartSpan(ctx context.Context, name string, tags ...Tag) (context.Context,
 // Detach returns a context without an associated span.
 // This allows the creation of spans that are not children of the current span.
 func Detach(ctx context.Context) context.Context {
-	return ProcessEvent(ctx, Event{
-		Type: DetachType,
-		At:   time.Now(),
-	})
+	return dispatch(ctx, Event{Type: DetachType})
 }